20060522Decision memo.pdf

DECISION MEMORANDUM
TO:COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER
COMMISSIONER SMITH
COMMISSIONER HANSEN
COMMISSION SECRETARY
COMMISSION STAFF
FROM:DON HOWELL
DATE:MAY 11 , 2006
SUBJECT:BNSF RAILWAY'S ABANDONMENT IN COEUR D' ALENE,
CASE NO. BNR-06-
On April 13 , 2006, the Commission issued a Notice that BNSF Railway Company
intended to abandon 2.12 miles of railroad right-of-way in Coeur d' Alene, Idaho. The Notice
also established a deadline for intervention. Parties desiring to intervene were directed to do so
no later than April 26, 2006. Although the Commission received two written comments, there
were no petitions for intervention.
THE ABANDONMENT
The rail line and right-of-way in question runs between Milepost (MP) 12.33 and MP
14.45 within the city limits of Coeur d' Alene. The section of right-of-way being proposed for
abandonment generally runs from the Coeur d' Alene City Park adjacent to Northwest Boulevard
across the front of the Coeur d' Alene Resort, down East Front Avenue over to East Mullan
Avenue and terminates at the Coeur d'Alene Golf Resort. The Notice observed that the majority
of track from the affected right-of-way was removed in the 1980s. Notice at 1. Consequently,
there were no reported shippers on the line. Id.
BNSF's outside counsel indicates that the Railroad will utilize the "exemption
abandonment proceeding with the Surface Transportation Board (STB). To be eligible to file a
Notice for Exemption, the Railroad must usually certify that no rail traffic has moved on the line
for the past two years and there are no outstanding complaints about the lack of rail service.
least 20 days prior to the filing of a Notice of Exemption, the Railroad must serve its
Environmental Report on the PUC, the City ofCoeur d'Alene and Kootenai County. 49 C.R. ~
1105.7(b). As of the date this memorandum was prepared, the BNSF has not filed its
DECISION MEMORANDUM
Environmental Report. Once the Notice of Exemption is filed, the STB will publish a notice in
the Federal Register within 20 days. Thirty (30) days after the notice is published in the Federal
Register, the Railroad is permitted to abandon the rail line unless the STB stays the
abandonment.
STATE LAW
Although the authority to grant or deny an abandonment rests with the STB, the
Commission does have a state abandonment proceeding. Idaho Code ~ 62-424 provides that the
Commission shall schedule a public hearing on the proposed abandonment." The purpose of
the hearing is for the Commission to determine whether the abandonment would: (1) adversely
affect the area being served; (2) impair the access of Idaho shippers to vital goods and markets;
and (3) whether the rail line has the potential for profitability. If the Commission finds that the
abandonment would be adverse to the public interest, then it may represent the state in the STB
abandonment proceeding. Idaho Code ~ 62-424(2).
As previously mentioned, no person petitioned to intervene in this matter. The
Commission Staff has examined the right-of-way and is prepared to offer testimony at a
Commission hearing.
COMMISSION DECISION
Does the Commission desire to schedule a public hearing? If so, where and when?
Does the Commission desire to schedule the public hearing after it receives the Railroad'
Environmental Report?
Don Howell
blsM:BNR-O6-01 dh
DECISION MEMORANDUM