Columbus and Greenville Railway CompanyAbandonment Exemption in Bolivar and Washington Counties, MS

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Docket No. AB-297 (Sub-No. 101X)]

Columbus and Greenville Railway Company--Abandonment Exemption--

in Bolivar and Washington Counties, MS

Columbus and Greenville Railway Company (C&G) has filed a notice of

exemption under 49 CFR 1152 Subpart F--Exempt Abandonments to abandon

49.14 miles of rail line between milepost 109.3 near the City of

Cleveland and milepost 158.44 near the City of Hollandale, in Bolivar

and Washington Counties, MS. The line traverses United States Postal

Service Zip Codes 38732, 38730, 38773, 38742, 38756, 38722 and 38748.

C&G has certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over the

line for at least 2 years; (2) there has been no over head traffic on

the line during the past 2 years; (3) no formal complaint filed by a

user of rail service on the line (or by a state or local government

entity acting on behalf of such user) regarding cessation of service

over the line either is pending with the Surface Transportation Board

(Board) or with any U.S. District Court or has been decided in favor of

complainant within the 2-year period; and (4) the requirements at 49

CFR 1105.7 (environmental reports), 49 CFR 1105.8 (historic reports),

49 CFR 1105.11 (transmittal letter), 49 CFR 1105.12 (newspaper

publication), and 49 CFR 1152.50(d)(1) (notice to governmental

agencies) have been met.

As a condition to this exemption, any employee adversely affected

by the abandonment shall be protected under Oregon Short Line R. Co.--

Abandonment-- Goshen, 360 I.C.C. 91 (1979). To address whether this

condition adequately protects affected employees, a petition for

partial revocation under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d) must be filed. Provided no

formal expression of intent to file an offer of financial assistance

(OFA) has been received, this exemption will be effective on March 6,

1999, unless stayed pending reconsideration. Petitions to stay that do

not involve environmental issues,1 any additional formal

expressions of intent to file an OFA under 49 CFR

1152.27(c)(2),2 and trail use/rail banking requests under 49

CFR 1152.29 must be filed by February 16, 1999. Petitions to reopen or

requests for public use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed

by February 24, 1999, with: Surface Transportation Board, Office of the

Secretary, Case Control Unit, 1925 K Street, N.W., Washington, DC

20423.

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\1\ The Board will grant a stay if an informed decision on

environmental issues (whether raised by a party or by the Board's

Section of Environmental Analysis in its independent investigation)

cannot be made before the exemption's effective date. See Exemption

of Out-of-Service Rail Lines, 5 I.C.C.2d 377 (1989). Any request for

a stay should be filed as soon as possible so that the Board may

take appropriate action before the exemption's effective date.

\2\ Each offer of financial assistance must be accompanied by

the filing fee, which currently is set at $1000. See 49 CFR

1002.2(f)(25).

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A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to

applicant's representative: Wm. G. Burgin, Jr., 201 North 19th Street,

Columbus and Greenville Railway Company, 201 North 19th Street, P.O.

Box 6000, Columbus, MS 39701.

If the verified notice contains false or misleading information,

the exemption is void ab initio.

C&G has filed an environmental report which addresses the

abandonment's effects, if any, on the environment and historic

resources. The Section of Environmental Analysis (SEA) will issue an

environmental assessment (EA) by February 9, 1999. Interested persons

may obtain a copy of the EA by writing to SEA (Room 500, Surface

Transportation Board, Washington, DC 20423) or by calling SEA, at (202)

565-1545. Comments on environmental and historic preservation matters

must be filed within 15 days after the EA becomes available to the

public.

Environmental, historic preservation, public use, or trail use/rail

banking conditions will be imposed, where appropriate, in a subsequent

decision.

Pursuant to the provisions of 49 CFR 1152.29(e)(2), C&G shall file

a notice of consummation with the Board to signify that it has

exercised the authority granted and fully abandoned the line. If

consummation has not been effected by C&G's filing of a notice of

consummation by February 4, 2000, and there are no legal or regulatory

barriers to consummation, the authority to abandon will automatically

expire.

Board decisions and notices are available on our website at

``WWW.STB.DOT.GOV.''

Decided: January 28, 1999.

By the Board, David M. Konschnik, Director, Office of

Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 99-2559 Filed 2-3-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4915-00-P