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).

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 ( print page 14176) government on behalf of such user) regarding cessation of service over the Line is pending with either the Surface Transportation Board (Board) or any U.S. District Court or has been decided in favor of a complainant within the past two years; and (4) the requirements at 49 CFR 1105.7(b) and 1105.8(c) (notice of environmental and historic reports), 49 CFR 1105.12 (newspaper publication), and 49 CFR 1152.50(d)(1) (notice to government agencies) have been met.

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.

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.