33260 SERVICE DATE - FEBRUARY 7, 2003
SEA SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
WASHINGTON, DC 20423
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
STB Docket No. AB-43 (SUB-NO. 173X)
Illinois Central Railroad Company – Abandonment Exemption – in Forrest County, MS
BACKGROUND
In this proceeding, Illinois Central Railroad Company (IC) has filed a petition under 49
U.S.C. 10502 seeking exemption from the requirements of 49 U.S.C. 10903 in connection with
the abandonment of 2.4 miles of rail line in Hattiesburg, Forrest County, Mississippi. The
proposed abandonment extends from milepost MH 0.66 to milepost MH 3.06 and is known as
Central District Trackage. A map depicting the rail line in relationship to the area served is
appended to the report. If the exemption becomes effective, the railroad will be able to salvage
track, ties and other railroad appurtenances, and to dispose of the right-of-way.
DESCRIPTION OF THE LINE
IC states that the line crosses over a relatively flat terrain through residential, industrial
and commercial areas as well as parts of the University of Southern Mississippi campus. The
width of the right-of-way varies between 25 feet to 240 feet, but most of the trackage has a right-of-way width of 50 feet or less. There are two customers on the line and no overhead traffic on
the line.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The railroad has submitted an environmental report that concludes the quality of the
human environment will not be affected significantly as a result of the abandonment or any post-abandonment activities, including salvage and disposition of the right-of-way. The railroad has
served the environmental and historical reports on a number of appropriate Federal, state, and
local agencies as required by the Board's environmental rules at 49 CFR 1105.7(b). We have
investigated and reviewed the record in this proceeding.
IC states that no jobs would be lost or affected by the proposed abandonment. IC further
states that it plans to salvage rail, ties and track material from the line and remove sixteen
highway grade crossings. IC states that the at-grade bridge under which U.S. Highway 49 travels
would remain in place at milepost MH 2.90. The locations of the sixteen at-grade crossings that
would be removed are as follows: Union Street at milepost MH 0.89; Main Street at milepost
MH 0.99; West Street at milepost MH 1.19; North Street at milepost MH 1.52; Rawls Street at
milepost MH 1.97; Oliver Street at milepost MH 2.11; Melba Street at milepost MH 2.33; N. 19th
Street at milepost MH 2.41; 25th Avenue at milepost MH 2.80; Northwood Drive at milepost MH
2.91; and six private crossings at milepost MH 2.28, milepost MH 2.50, milepost MH 2.55,
milepost MH 2.60, milepost MH 2.73, and milepost MH 2.77.
The Mississippi Department of Archives and History has submitted comments stating that
no properties listed in or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places would be
affected by the proposed abandonment.
The Mississippi Natural Heritage Program (MNHP) has submitted comments stating that
a plant species of special concern, the Appendaged Lobelia (Lobelia appendiculata) is located
near the proposed abandonment. MNHP recommends that precautions be taken to prevent
salvage activities from disturbing the species and its environment. We will recommend a
condition based on MNHP’s recommendations.
Traffic
Hercules Corporation and Mississippi Tank are the two customers on the line. According
to IC, Hercules Corporation has two rail leads into its plant, only one of which is connected to
the proposed abandonment. IC states that the lead off of the proposed abandonment has not
carried traffic for many years, and the other lead will remain intact.
Mississippi Tank received 6 inbound and 6 outbound carloads in 2001 and 3 inbound
carloads through November of 2002, according to IC data. Using year 2001 data as the base
year,
12 rail carloads could possibly be converted to truck traffic. Using a conversion factor of 4
trucks per railcar,
SEA calculated that, if all the rail traffic is diverted to truck traffic, 48 loaded
and 48 empty trucks (assuming an empty backhaul) could be added to area roadways per year,
which would be less than two trucks per week.
CONDITIONS
We recommend that the following environmental condition be placed on any decision
granting abandonment authority:
The Illinois Central Railroad Company shall consult with the Mississippi Natural
Heritage Program prior to conducting any salvage activities to determine measures
to identify the species of special concern, the Appendaged Lobelia (Lobelia
appendiculata), and to develop precautions to prevent disturbance to the species and
its environment, if encountered during salvage.
CONCLUSIONS
Based on the information provided from all sources to date, we conclude that, as
currently proposed, and if the recommended condition is imposed, abandonment of the line will
not significantly affect the quality of the human environment. Therefore, the environmental
impact statement process is unnecessary.
Alternatives to the proposed abandonment would include denial (and therefore no change
in operations), discontinuance of service without abandonment, and continued operation by
another operator. In any of these cases, the existing quality of the human environment and
energy consumption should not be affected.
PUBLIC USE
Following abandonment and salvage of the rail line, the right-of-way may be suitable for
other public use. A request containing the requisite four-part showing for imposition of a public
use condition (49 CFR 1152.28) must be filed with the Board and served on the railroad within
the time specified in the Federal Register notice.
TRAILS USE
A request for a notice of interim trail use (NITU) is due to the Board, with a copy to the
railroad, within 10 days of publication of the notice of the petition for exemption in the Federal
Register. Nevertheless, the Board will accept late-filed requests as long as it retains jurisdiction
to do so in a particular case. This request must comply with the Board's rules for use of rights-of-way as trails (49 CFR 1152.29).
PUBLIC ASSISTANCE
The Board's Office of Public Services responds to questions regarding interim trail use,
public use, and other reuse alternatives. You may contact the Office of Public Services directly
at (202) 565-1592, or mail inquiries to Surface Transportation Board, Office of Public Services,
Washington, DC 20423.
COMMENTS
If you wish to file comments regarding this environmental assessment, you should send
an original and two copies to Surface Transportation Board, Case Control Unit, Washington,
DC 20423, to the attention of Rini Ghosh, who prepared this environmental assessment. Please
refer to Docket No. AB-43 (Sub-No. 173X) in all correspondence addressed to the Board. If
you have questions regarding this environmental assessment, you should contact Rini Ghosh, the
environmental contact for this case by phone at (202) 565-1539, fax at (202) 565-9000, or e-mail
at ghoshr@stb.dot.gov.
Date made available to the public: February 7, 2003
Comment due date: March 7, 2003.
By the Board, Victoria Rutson, Chief, Section of Environmental Analysis.
Vernon A. Williams
Secretary
Attachment
Graphic removed for HTML version. Please see WP or PDF version for information.
|