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THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
___________________________
Public Utilities Commission
No. 99-794
APPEAL OF CONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION
(New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission)
October 12, 2001
Thomas F. Irwin, of Concord, on the brief and orally, for the petitioner.
Thomas I. Arnold, III, deputy city solicitor, of Manchester, by brief and orally, for the respondent.
Nadeau, J. The petitioner, Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), appeals the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission’s (PUC) dismissal of its petition to preserve a portion of railroad line in Manchester. We affirm.
The following facts are supported by the record. In 1998, the respondent, City of Manchester (city), purchased a portion of the railroad line between Manchester and Lawrence, Massachusetts, in order to extend a runway at the Manchester Airport. As part of the runway expansion project, the railroad tracks were removed and portions of the right of way paved over. On May 20, 1999, CLF filed a petition requesting the PUC to: (1) conduct a public hearing, pursuant to RSA 365:24-a (1995), to determine whether removal of the tracks at the Manchester Airport was consistent with the public good; (2) find, following the public hearing, that removal of the tracks was not consistent with the public good; (3) prohibit further removal of the tracks and related equipment; and (4) order the city to restore and preserve the tracks for future railroad use.
While CLF’s petition was pending, the federal surface transportation board (STB) granted the rail carrier, Boston and Maine Corporation (B&M), an exemption to abandon the portion of railroad line at issue. See 49 C.F.R.