90 FR 59 pgs. 14175-14176 - St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad Company—Abandonment Exemption—in Cumberland County, Maine
Type: NOTICEVolume: 90Number: 59Pages: 14175 - 14176
Pages: 14175, 14176Docket number: [Docket No. AB 1117 (Sub-No. 1X)]
FR document: [FR Doc. 2025-05364 Filed 3-27-25; 8:45 am]
Agency: Surface Transportation Board
Official PDF Version: PDF Version
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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
[Docket No. AB 1117 (Sub-No. 1X)]
St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad Company-Abandonment Exemption-in Cumberland County, Maine
St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad Company (SLR) has filed a verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F- Exempt Abandonments to abandon its perpetual freight easement over an approximately 24.23-mile rail line between milepost 1.74 near Deering, Me., and milepost 25.97 at the town line between New Gloucester and Auburn, in Cumberland County, Me. (the Line). The Line traverses United States Postal Service Zip Codes 04101, 04103, 04105, 04021, 04096, 04097, 04069, 04260 and includes no stations. 1 According to the verified notice, SLR discontinued service on the Line in 2015. See St. Lawrence & Atl. R.R.-Discontinuance of Serv. Exemption-in Cumberland Cnty., Me., AB 1117X (STB served Oct. 15, 2015).
Footnotes:
1 ?SLR states that the Maine Department of Transportation is the owner of the underlying property. See Maine-Pet. for Declaratory Ord., FD 35440 (STB served Dec. 10, 2010).
[top] SLR has certified that: (1) no local traffic has moved over the Line since 2015; (2) there is no overhead traffic to 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
As a condition to this exemption, any employee adversely affected by the abandonment shall be protected under Oregon Short Line Railroad-Abandonment Portion Goshen Branch Between Firth & Ammon, in Bingham & Bonneville Counties, Idaho, 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, 2 this exemption will be effective on April 27, 2025, unless stayed pending reconsideration. Petitions to stay that do not involve environmental issues, 3 formal expressions of intent to file an OFA under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2), and interim trail use/railbanking requests under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be filed by April 7, 2025. 4 Petitions to reopen and requests for public use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed April 17, 2025.
Footnotes:
2 ?Persons interested in submitting an OFA must first file a formal expression of intent to file an offer, indicating the type of financial assistance they wish to provide ( i.e., subsidy or purchase) and demonstrating that they are preliminarily financially responsible. See 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2)(i).
3 ?The Board will grant a stay if an informed decision on environmental issues (whether raised by a party or by the Board's Office of Environmental Analysis (OEA) in its independent investigation) cannot be made before the exemption's effective date. See Exemption of Out-of-Serv. 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.
4 ?Filing fees for OFAs and trail use requests can be found at 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25) and (27), respectively.
All pleadings, referring to Docket No. AB 1117 (Sub-No. 1X), must be filed with the Surface Transportation Board either via e-filing on the Board's website or in writing addressed to 395 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20423-0001. In addition, a copy of each pleading must be served on SLR's representative, Justin J. Marks, Clark Hill PLC, 1001 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Suite 1300 South, Washington, DC 20004.
If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, the exemption is void ab initio.
SLR has filed a combined environmental and historic report that addresses the potential effects, if any, of the abandonment on the environment and historic resources. OEA will issue a Draft Environmental Assessment (Draft EA) by April 4, 2025. The Draft EA will be available to interested persons on the Board's website, by writing to OEA, or by calling OEA at (202) 245-0294. If you require an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act, please call (202) 245-0245. Comments on environmental or historic preservation matters must be filed within 15 days after the Draft EA becomes available to the public.
Environmental, historic preservation, public use, or trail use/railbanking conditions will be imposed, where appropriate, in a subsequent decision.
Pursuant to the provisions of 49 CFR 1152.29(e)(2), SLR 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 SLR's filing of a notice of consummation by March 28, 2026, and there are no legal or regulatory barriers to consummation, the authority to abandon will automatically expire.
Board decisions and notices are available at www.stb.gov.
Decided: March 24, 2025.
By the Board, Nathaniel A. Bawcombe, Acting Director, Office of Proceedings.
Eden Besera,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2025-05364 Filed 3-27-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P