Florida Midland Railroad Company, Inc.Abandonment Exemptionin Polk County, FL

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Docket No. AB-325 (Sub-No. 1X)]

Florida Midland Railroad Company, Inc.--Abandonment Exemption--in

Polk County, FL

Florida Midland Railroad Company, Inc. (FMID) has filed a notice of

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

an approximately 0.18-mile line of railroad on the Lake Wales Spur from

milepost SV-967.47 at Scenic Highway to milepost SV-967.65 at Fourth

Street, in Lakes Wales, Polk County, FL. The line traverses United

States Postal Service Zip Code 33853.

FMID has certified that: (1) no local traffic has moved over the

line for at least 2 years; (2) any overhead traffic on the line can be

rerouted over other lines; (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 20,

1999, unless

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stayed pending reconsideration. Petitions to stay that do not involve

environmental issues, 1 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 March 1, 1999.

Petitions to reopen or requests for public use conditions under 49 CFR

1152.28 must be filed by March 10, 1999, with: Surface Transportation

Board, Office of the Secretary, Case Control Unit, 1925 K Street, NW.,

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: Thomas J. Litwiler, Oppenheimer Wolff &

Donnelly, Two Prudential Plaza, 45th Floor, 180 North Stetson Avenue,

Chicago, IL 60601.

If the verified notice contains false or misleading information,

the exemption is void ab initio.

FMID 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 23, 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), FMID 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 FMID's filing of a notice of

consummation by February 18, 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: February 12, 1999.

By the Board, Joseph H. Dettmar, Acting, Director, Office of

Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 99-3976 Filed 2-17-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4915-00-P