§748 Abandonments

Summary

The Corporation may ask the Commission for permission to stop using and give up any rail line it owns. If the Corporation files for abandonment before December 1, 1981, the Commission must approve it within 90 days unless someone makes an offer of financial help under the rules in section 10904 of title 49. The Corporation may also file a notice that a line does not bring in enough money before November 1, 1985. After waiting 90 days from that notice, the Corporation can apply to abandon the line, and the Commission must grant it within 90 days unless a financial-assistance offer is made under section 10904. The Corporation must give any potential buyer the information the Commission asks for. When an abandonment is approved under the earlier deadline, the Commission will quickly appraise the line’s net liquidation value and publish that appraisal. The appraisal cannot be appealed. If, within 120 days after the appraisal is published, the Corporation gets a real offer to buy the line for 75 percent of that appraised value, the Corporation must sell, and the Commission will set fair shared rates if needed. If no such offer appears in 120 days, the Corporation can abandon or dispose of the line but may not remove bridges or similar structures (not including rails, signals, and other rail facilities) for 120 days; the Secretary can extend that hold for another 8 months if he takes on related liability. If a buyer abandons the line within five years, money from selling the track must go to the U.S. Treasury general fund. The special employee rules in section 10903(b)(3) do not apply here. Employees who were protected under subchapter V before August 13, 1981 and who lose jobs because of an abandonment are eligible for protection under section 797 of this title.