[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 194 (Tuesday, October 7, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52370-52371]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-26550]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
Notice of Petitions for Waivers of Compliance and Notice of
Technical Conference
In accordance with Part 211 of Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations
(CFR), notice is hereby given that the Federal Railroad Administration
(FRA) received requests for waivers of compliance with certain
requirements of its safety standards. The individual petitions are
described below, including the parties seeking relief, the regulatory
provisions involved, the nature of the relief being requested, and the
petitioners' arguments in favor of relief.
The American Short Line Railroad Association (Waiver Petition Docket
Number PB-97-12)
The American Short Line Railroad Association (ASLRA) seeks a
permanent waiver of compliance from certain provisions of the Railroad
Power Brake and Drawbars regulations, 49 CFR Section 232.23, concerning
operations requiring the use of two-way EOT devices.
On January 2, 1997, FRA published the Final Rule for Two-Way End-
of-Train Devices with an effective date of July 1, 1997. On March 4,
1997, ASLRA filed a petition for reconsideration seeking a delay until
December 1, 1997, as the date for the rule to become effective on Class
II and Class III railroads, and seeking elimination of the tonnage
limitation contained in the rule's definition of local and work trains.
On May 29, 1997, FRA granted relief on the effective date for railroads
that reported two million or fewer man-hours in 1995, which includes
most, if not all, Class II and Class III railroads. FRA declined to
eliminate the tonnage limitation from the rule's definition of local
and work trains.
ASLRA feels there is still a serious problem in the rulemaking that
is a hardship for small railroads in particular and has no significant
safety value in the context of what two-way EOT's are designed to
accomplish which is improving the safe movement of heavy trains over
heavy grades.
The Final Rule requires that a train be equipped with an operable
two-way EOT if: (1) The train is operating with greater than 4,000
trailing tons over a section of track with an average grade of one
percent or greater over a distance of three continuous miles; or (2)
the train is operating with 4,000 trailing tons or less over a section
of track with an average grade of two percent or greater over a
distance of two continuous miles. The Final Rule defines a train as
``one or more locomotives coupled with one or more railcars, except
during switching operations or where the operation is that of
classifying cars within a railroad yard for the purpose of making or
breaking up trains.'' The literal result of the Final Rule is that a
train consist of a single locomotive hauling as little as one car must
be equipped with an operable two-way EOT, if such train operates over a
two percent grade for two continuous miles.
ASLRA does not believe that FRA intended to impose such
unnecessary, impractical and costly requirements when crafting the
rule, or that
[[Page 52371]]
mandating the use of two-way EOT's in these low tonnage trains is not
supported either by Congressional intent or by meaningful safety data.
ASLRA believes this requirement will significantly burden a number
of small railroads with added expense and requests that FRA issue a
general waiver with the following conditions: (1) The general waiver
would apply to railroads which had two million or fewer man hours in
1995; (2) It would exempt train operations involving not more than 15
loaded cars or not more than 30 empty cars from the two-way EOT
requirement; (3) Advance written notification to FRA by any small
railroad wishing to claim the coverage of this general waiver would be
required.
ASLRA concludes that the 15 loaded/30 empty car general waiver
request will not compromise safety and is within the specific language
of the statute and consistent with the requirements of the Small
Business Regulatory Enforcement Act of 1996.
McCloud Railway Company (Waiver Petition Docket Number PB-97-3)
The McCloud Railway Company seeks a permanent waiver of compliance
from certain provisions of the Railroad Power Brakes and Drawbars
regulations, 49 CFR Part 232, section 23, concerning the requirements
of two-way EOT devices.
Title 49 CFR 232.23(e)(6) states: ``Local trains as defined in
paragraph (a)(3) of this section that do not operate over heavy
grades'' are excepted from the requirements for the use of a two-way
EOT device. The McCloud Railway Company operates short trains that meet
the requirements of a ``local train'' as defined in Section 232(a)(3),
but they operate over ``heavy grades'' as defined in Section
232.23(a)(1). Because they operate over ``heavy grades'', they are
required to equip all of their trains with a two-way EOT device.
Since the McCloud Railway Company operates with short train
lengths, their operating personnel cannot think of any instances where
a two-way EOT device will provide a safer or more effective operation.
Therefore, they seek relief from having to equip their trains with a
two-way EOT device with the following restrictions: (1) Trains would be
limited to 10 loaded cars per locomotive with a maximum of 20 loaded
cars per train; except when trains operate with more than 50 percent of
the cars empty, the train would be limited to 28 cars. (2) All
locomotives must be equipped with properly functioning dynamic braking.
Interested parties are invited to participate in these proceedings
by submitting written views, data, or comments. All communications
concerning these proceedings should identify the appropriate docket
number (e.g., Waiver Petition Docket Number PB-97-3 or PB-97-12) and
must be submitted in triplicate to the Docket Clerk, Office of Chief
Counsel, FRA, Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Mail Stop 10,
Washington, D.C. 20590. Communications received within 30 days of the
date of this notice will be considered by FRA before final action is
taken. Comments received after that date will be considered as far as
practicable. All written communications concerning these proceedings
are available for examination during regular business hours (9:00 a.m.-
5:00 p.m.) at FRA's temporary docket room located at 1120 Vermont
Avenue, N.W., Room 7051, Washington, D.C. 20005.
Technical Conference
In order to further explore the issues attendant to the ASLRA and
McCloud Railroad petitions, FRA will hold a technical conference in
which all interested parties are invited to participate. The technical
conference, which will be an informal meeting in which a free exchange
of ideas will be encouraged, is hearby set for 10:00 a.m. on November
4, 1997, in Room 6200, at the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street,
S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590. An opportunity for the presentation of
oral comments will also be afforded to any interested party at that
time.
Parties desiring to participate in the technical conference or to
provide oral comment on the petitions should notify the Docket Clerk at
the mailing address listed above. The Docket Clerk may also be reached
at 202-632-3198 or by fax at 202-632-3709.
Issued in Washington, D.C. on October 1, 1997.
James T. Schultz,
Associate Administrator for Safety.
[FR Doc. 97-26550 Filed 10-6-97; 8:45 am]
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