40918                        SERVICE DATE – LATE RELEASE AUGUST 5, 2010

DO

 

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

 

DECISION

 

Docket No. AB 914X

 

McCLOUD RAILWAY COMPANY–ABANDONMENT AND DISCONTINUANCE OF SERVICE EXEMPTION–IN SISKIYOU, SHASTA, AND MODOC COUNTIES, CAL.

 

Decided:  August 4, 2010

 

            By decision served on October 14, 2005, the Board, under 49 U.S.C. § 10502, exempted from the prior approval requirements of 49 U.S.C. § 10903 the abandonment by McCloud Railway Company (MCR) of approximately 80 miles of rail line in Siskiyou and Shasta Counties, Cal., and the discontinuance of service provided under a grant of trackage rights over a 31.4-mile line owned by BNSF Railway Company in Siskiyou and Modoc Counties, Cal.[1]  The Board granted the exemption subject to standard employee protective conditions and several environmental conditions. [2]   The abandonment exemption became effective on November 20, 2006.[3]

 

            By decision and notice of interim trail use or abandonment (NITU) served on December 29, 2009, the proceeding was reopened and was modified to implement interim trail use/rail banking, under the National Trails System Act (Trails Act), 16 U.S.C § 1247(d), and 49 C.F.R. § 1152.29.  The NITU authorized a 180-day period, until June 28, 2010, for SAVE BURNEY FALLS (SBF) to negotiate with MCR for the above-described rail line.

 

            On June 28, 2010, SBF filed a request for an extension of the NITU negotiating period until December 26, 2010.  SBF states that it has received a Letter of Intent from MCR and has commenced preliminary engineering and environmental studies, a title search, and other related information, including receipt of grant funds to cover costs of conducting due diligence work.  SBF further states that it has made progress but needs additional time to complete negotiations with MCR.

 

            By letter filed July 6, 2010, MCR notified the Board that it is not agreeable to the requested extension.  MCR states that the extension is neither necessary nor appropriate because a trail use agreement between it and SBF was reached during the initial trail use negotiating period.  Because trail use is voluntary with the carrier, and MCR has advised that it is not agreeable to an extension, an extension of the negotiating period cannot be granted.  Accordingly, SBF’s extension request will be denied.

 

This decision will not significantly affect either the quality of the human environment or the conservation of energy resources. 

 

            It is ordered:

 

            1.  SBF’s request to extend the NITU negotiating period is denied.

 

            2.  This decision is effective on its service date.

 

            By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of Proceedings.