[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]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P