§ 1152.20 Notice of intent to abandon or discontinue service.

(a) Filing and publication requirements. An applicant shall give Notice of Intent to file an abandonment or discontinuance application by complying with the following procedures:

(1) Filing. Applicant must serve its Notice of Intent on the Board, by certified letter, in the format prescribed in § 1152.21. The Notice shall be filed in accordance with the time requirements of paragraph (b) of this section.

(2) Service. Applicant must serve, by first-class mail (unless otherwise specified), its Notice of Intent upon:

(i) Significant users of the line;

(ii) The Governor (by certified mail) of each state directly affected by the abandonment or discontinuance. (For the purposes of this section “states directly affected” are those in which any part of the line sought to be abandoned is located).

(iii) The Public Service Commission (or equivalent agency) in these states;

(iv) The designated state agency in these states;

(v) The State Cooperative Extension Service in these states;

(vi) The Federal Railroad Administration;

(vii) The U.S. Army Transportation Command, Transportation Engineering Agency, Railroads for National Defense Program;

(viii) The Director of the National Park Service;

(ix) The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board;

(x) The National Railroad Passenger Corporation (“Amtrak”) (if Amtrak operates over the involved line);

(xi) The Chief of the U.S. Forest Service; and

(xii) The headquarters of all duly certified labor organizations that represent employees on the affected rail line.

(3) Posting. Applicant must post a copy of its Notice of Intent at each agency station and terminal on the line to be abandoned. (If there are no agency stations on the line, the Notice of Intent should be posted at any agency station through which business for the involved line is received or forwarded.)

(4) Newspaper publication. Applicant must publish its Notice of Intent at least once during each of 3 consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in each county in which any part of the involved line is located.

(b) Time limits. (1) The Notice of Intent must be served at least 15 days, but not more than 30 days, prior to the filing of the abandonment application;

(2) The Notice must be posted and fully published within the 30-day period prior to the filing of the application; and

(3) The Notice must be filed with the Board either concurrently with service or when the Notice is first published (whichever occurs first).

(c) Environmental and Historic Reports. Applicant must also submit the Environmental and Historic Reports described at §§ 1105.7 and 1105.8 at least 20 days prior to filing an application.

[61 FR 67883, Dec. 24, 1996, as amended at 68 FR 67810, Dec. 4, 2003; 83 FR 15079, Apr. 9, 2018; 91 FR 53367, Aug. 18, 2026]