[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 45 (Monday, March 9, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11473-11474]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-5875]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration


Petition for Waiver of Compliance

    In accordance with part 211 of Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations 
(CFR), notice is hereby given that the Federal Railroad Administration 
(FRA) received a request for a waiver of compliance with certain 
requirements of its safety standards. The individual petition is 
described below, including the party seeking relief, the regulatory 
provisions involved, the nature of the relief being requested, and the 
petitioner's arguments in favor of relief.

[[Page 11474]]

Norfolk Southern Corporation (Waiver Petition Docket Number PB-98-
1)

    The Norfolk Southern Corporation (NS) seeks a temporary waiver of 
compliance from certain provisions of the Railroad Power Brake and 
Drawbars regulations, 49 CFR 232.21 (a) and (f), which describes the 
design and performance standards for two-way end-of-train devices.
    Section 232.21(a) requires that ``an emergency brake application 
command from the front unit of the device shall activate the emergency 
air valve at the rear of the train within one second.'' According to 
NS, their front unit sends an emergency brake command in 1.675 seconds 
of which a significant portion of this time is involved in coding the 
unique signal that provides a security barrier against an attempted 
malicious emergency command from an outside source, or an accidental 
transmission from another front unit that may have an erroneous rear 
number inputted. NS's system is designed to code a unique message 
between the individual devices. These messages are separate from the 
rear unit number and are coded and initialized only during a five 
minute window at the initial terminal setup and testing of the system. 
NS believes this function provides a higher level of security than the 
two-way systems currently used by other Class I railroads.
    Section 232.21(f) requires ``the availability of the front-to-rear 
communications link shall be checked automatically at least every 10 
minutes.'' The system used by NS does not have front-to-rear 
communications checked automatically every 10 minutes. NS claims their 
system communications failure warning is linked to the rear-to-front 
portion of the messaging. If five minutes elapse since a good message 
was received by the front unit, a ``STAND BY'' message is displayed on 
the front unit. This message informs the engineer that communication is 
lost.
    Section 232.23(d) permits NS to use these devices because ``each 
two-way end-of-train device purchased by any person prior to 
promulgation of these regulations shall be deemed to meet the design 
and performance requirements contained in Sec. 232.21.''
    In anticipation of NS's acquisition of the Consolidated Rail 
Corporation (CR) and NS's desire to redesign all of their devices to 
comply with Sec. 232.21, NS is designing a dual frequency two-way 
system which will operate in both the NS and CR mode. When these 
devices are operated in the CR mode, they will comply with current 
regulations. However, when they are operated in the NS mode, they will 
be compatible with existing NS devices as described above. NS is 
expecting immediate delivery of 116 new locomotives which will be 
equipped with front units designed to work with the existing NS 
devices. Additionally, NS has approximately 100 existing units which 
need to be replaced due to loss or damage.
    Within three years, NS states they will redesign all of their two-
way devices to comply with the design and performance standards of 
Sec. 232.21 (a) and (f). In order to facilitate a smooth transition 
from the existing NS mode to the mode that is currently being used by 
the rest of the Class I railroads, NS requests a temporary waiver for 
three years of Sec. 232.21 (a) and (f) for the dual mode devices, the 
116 devices being delivered with the new locomotives, and the 100 units 
that will replace existing units.
    Interested parties are invited to participate in these proceedings 
by submitting written views, data, or comments. FRA does not anticipate 
scheduling a public hearing in connection with these proceedings since 
the facts do not appear to warrant a hearing. If any interested party 
desires an opportunity for oral comment, they should notify FRA, in 
writing, before the end of the comment period and specify the basis for 
their request.
    All communications concerning these proceedings should identify the 
appropriate docket number (e.g., Waiver Petition Docket Number PB-98-1) 
and must be submitted in triplicate to the Docket Clerk, Office of 
Chief Counsel, FRA, Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Mail Stop 
10, Washington, DC 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 a.m.--5 
p.m.) at FRA's temporary docket room located at 1120 Vermont Avenue, 
NW., Room 7051, Washington, DC 20005.

    Issued in Washington, DC on March 2, 1998.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program 
Development.
[FR Doc. 98-5875 Filed 3-6-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P