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Central Kansas Railway, L.L.C.--Abandonment Exemption--in Reno, Kingman, Harper, Rice, and McPherson Counties, KS

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 [Federal Register: December 20, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 245)]
[Notices]
[Page 79917-79918]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr20de00-116]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Docket No. AB-406 (Sub-No. 13X)]


Central Kansas Railway, L.L.C.--Abandonment Exemption--in Reno,
Kingman, Harper, Rice, and McPherson Counties, KS

    Central Kansas Railway, L.L.C. (CKR) has filed a notice of
exemption under 49 CFR 1152 Subpart F--Exempt Abandonments to abandon:
(1) its H&S Branch between: (a) milepost 3.6 at Hutchinson and milepost
31.1 at Kingman; and (b) milepost 48.2 at Rago and milepost 59.7 at
Harper; and (2) its McPherson Branch between milepost 58.0 at Conway
and milepost 77.4 at Lyons, a distance of approximately 58.4 miles in
Reno, Kingman, Harper, McPherson, and Rice Counties, KS. The line
traverses United States Postal Service Zip Codes 67501, 67502, 67503,
67504, 67505, 67058, 67068, 67128, 67142, 67457, 67460, 67554, and
67570.
    CKR has certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over the
line for at least 2 years; (2) there has been no overhead traffic on
the line during the past two 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 and discontinuance 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 January 19, 2001, unless 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
January 2, 2001. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use
conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by January 9, 2001, 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: Karl Morell, Ball Janik LLP, 1455 F St.,
NW., Suite 225, Washington, DC 20005.
    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information,
the exemption is void ab initio.

[[Page 79918]]

    CKR has filed an environmental report which addresses the effects,
if any, on the environmental and historic resources. The Section of
Environmental Analysis (SEA) will issue an environmental assessment
(EA) by December 22, 2000. 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), CKR shall file
a notice of consummation with the Board to signify that it has
exercised the authority granted and fully abandoned its line. If
consummation has not been effected by CKR's filing of a notice of
consummation by December 20, 2001, 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 http://
WWW.STB.DOT.GOV.

    Decided: December 12, 2000.

    By the Board, David M. Konschnik, Director, Office of
Proceedings.
Vernon A. Williams,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 00-32279 Filed 12-19-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-00-P

 
 

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