[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 109 (Tuesday, June 8, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30557-30558]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-14454]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration
[FRA Emergency Order No. 21, Notice No. 2]


Northwestern Pacific Railroad; Notice of Partial Relief from 
Emergency Order No. 21

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration, Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Notice of Partial Relief.

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SUMMARY: This notice provides partial relief for the Northwestern 
Pacific Railroad from the limitations of Federal Railroad 
Administration Emergency Order No. 21. The relief allows the 
Northwestern Pacific Railroad to re-open to rail traffic approximately 
1.5 miles of its line near Willits, California, including trackage 
between the junction with the California Western Railroad and the 
Willits Depot, as well as Tracks 20, 24, 25, 26, 27, 709, and 711 in 
Willits Yard. The purpose of the partial relief is to allow the 
California Western Railroad to renew its operations over NWP tracks to 
Willits Depot and turn its trains at Willits. The remainder of the NWP 
line, from Arcata, California, to mile post 63.4 between Schellville 
and Napa Junction, California, remains closed pending further relief 
from the emergency order.

Authority

    Authority to enforce Federal railroad safety laws has been 
delegated by the Secretary of Transportation to the Federal Railroad 
Administrator. 49 CFR 1.49. Railroads are subject to FRA's safety 
jurisdiction under the Federal railroad safety laws, 49 U.S.C. 20102, 
20103. FRA is authorized to issue emergency orders where an unsafe 
condition or practice ``causes an emergency situation involving a 
hazard of death or personal injury.'' 49 U.S.C. 20104. These orders may 
impose such ``restrictions and prohibitions . . . that may be necessary 
to abate the situation.'' (Ibid.) Likewise, FRA is authorized to grant 
relief from an emergency order when the agency deems that the unsafe 
condition or practice which gave rise to the emergency order no longer 
exists.

Background

    The NWP operates on a 286-mile line between mile post 295.5 near 
Arcata, California and mile post 63.4 between Schellville, California 
and Napa Junction, California. The North Coast Railroad Authority, a 
California public agency formed pursuant to California Government Code 
Section 93000 et seq., owns and operates that portion of the NWP 
between Healdsburg, mile post 68, and Arcata. Another portion over 
which the NWP operates and for which it is responsible for maintenance, 
Healdsburg to mile post 63.4 near Napa Junction, is owned by the 
Northwestern Pacific Railroad Authority, a joint powers agency 
representing the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation 
District, the County of Marin, and the North Coast Railroad Authority. 
Railways, Inc. is the operating agent for the North Coast Railroad 
Authority, doing business as the NWP.
    The NWP connects to the California Western Railroad, among other 
railroads, which operates both freight and passenger trains, to 
Willits. Prior to the issuance of Emergency Order No. 21, the 
California Western operated over about one mile of NWP trackage in 
order to interchange freight operations with the NWP at Willits and to 
reach its passenger terminal in Willits.
    The NWP is subject to the jurisdiction of FRA. In 1997, FRA, in 
partnership with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), 
reviewed NWP's compliance with Federal safety statutes and regulations. 
The review revealed widespread noncompliance, including hundreds of 
track defects and a general failure to perform periodic tests of 
locomotive air brake equipment. On June 11, 1997, FRA, CPUC, and the 
NWP signed a safety compliance agreement which detailed 11 action items 
for the NWP to perform. On June 28, 1998, upon finding that the NWP had 
failed to comply with most of the agreement, the Federal Railroad 
Administrator issued Compliance Order 98-1 directing NWP to perform the 
corrections listed in the compliance agreement. When FRA later found 
that the NWP failed to comply with the directives in the compliance 
order, and the defects on the rail line posed an imminent and 
unacceptable threat to public safety, the Federal Railroad 
Administrator issued Emergency Order No. 21 on November 25, 1998. The 
emergency order closed all railroad operations except the operation of 
work trains for the specific and sole purpose

[[Page 30558]]

of effecting repairs on the railroad. The closure included the trackage 
near Willits over which the California Western Railroad operated.
    Emergency Order No. 21 detailed requirements the NWP must meet in 
order to gain full relief from the order. The railroad must:
    (1) Properly repair and inspect all grade crossing signals and 
certify to the Federal Railroad Administrator that all necessary 
repairs and inspections have been performed and that all required tests 
are up-to-date.
    (2) Adopt a set of grade crossing signal standards and instructions 
acceptable by FRA.
    (3) Update, correct and/or redraw circuit plans for each grade 
crossing signal system to meet compliance with 49 CFR 234.201 and 
234.203. A list of locations of the updated, corrected or redrawn 
circuit plans should be submitted to FRA.
    (4) Provide proper and adequate test equipment for signal 
maintainers.
    (5) Repair all track not subject to Emergency Order No. 14 to class 
1 track standards as detailed in 49 CFR part 213.

    Note: Emergency Order No. 14 requires the Northwestern Pacific 
Railroad to repair certain segments of track to class 1 track 
standards for the hauling of passengers and all hazardous materials. 
Otherwise, the railroad may designate the track still subject to 
that order as excepted.

    (6) Clear all vegetation from drainage facilities and away from 
signs and signals and track bed so that the track meets the 
requirements of 49 CFR 213.37;
    (7) Furnish FRA with a 12-month track maintenance plan.
    (8) Establish a program of employee training on the Federal Track 
Standards to ensure that employees performing inspection, maintenance, 
and restoration work are qualified in accordance with 49 CFR 213.7.
    (9) Certify in writing that each individual conducting track 
inspections has sufficient knowledge, skills, and ability to 
successfully conduct the types of inspections which will be performed 
by that individual. Records of that certification are to be maintained 
by the railroad.
    (10) Obtain approval from the Federal Railroad Administrator that 
all of the requirements of this Emergency Order have been met and 
properly performed.
    The emergency order also allows for partial relief for designated 
portions of the NWP's line. The NWP is required to first meet all of 
the system-wide requirements, as listed in items 2, 4, 7, 8, and 9. The 
NWP may then obtain partial relief for any portion of its line for 
which all of the requirements of the emergency order are met.
    On May 20, 1999, in accordance with the terms of the emergency 
order, the NWP formally requested that FRA grant it partial relief from 
the emergency order for the 1.5 miles of track in Willits, California, 
over which the California Western Railroad needs to operate to Willits 
Depot and turn its train. At this time, the NWP has been fount to meet 
all of the systemic requirements of Emergency Order No. 21, namely:
     The NWP adopted a set of grade crossing signal standards 
and instructions that is acceptable to FRA;
     The NWP has entered into a contract with MEC Rail Systems, 
a signal maintenance company, for the testing and maintenance of NWP 
signals. In response to the agreement, MEC Rail Systems purchased 
proper and adequate test equipment for signal maintainers for use on 
the NWP;
     The NWP has furnished to FRA a 12-month track maintenance 
plan that includes all of the necessary information required by 
Emergency Order No. 21;
     The NWP has established a program of employee training on 
the Federal Track Safety Standards. Railways, Inc. has adopted for use 
on the NWP the Railway Educational Bureau's Track Foreman's Training 
Program. Individual testing of roadmaster and office engineer 
candidates has begun;
     The NWP has certified that the sole employee responsible 
for track inspections, a chief engineer for Rail-Ways, Inc., has 
sufficient knowledge, skills and ability to successfully conduct track 
inspections. Any employees who become responsible for track inspections 
subsequent to the granting of this partial relief will be certified by 
the NWP as well.
    NWP's compliance at this time with the systemic requirements of the 
emergency order makes the railroad eligible to request partial relief 
for the designated segment of track in Willits. However, FRA will 
monitor the railroad's continuing compliance with these systemic 
requirements.
    On May 25, 1999, FRA inspected the track for which the NWP has 
requested relief from the emergency order. FRA found the track to meet 
Class 1 track standards in accordance with 49 CFR part 213. On May 27, 
1999, FRA inspected the grade crossing signal systems on the track for 
which NWP has requested relief from the emergency order and found that 
all necessary repairs, inspections and tests had been performed.

Relief

    In light of the foregoing, I grant NWP partial relief from 
Emergency Order No. 21. NWP trackage between its junction with the 
California Western Railroad and the Willits Depot, as well as Tracks 
20, 24, 25, 26, 27, 709, and 711 in Willits Yard may open immediately 
to rail traffic. The issuance of this Notice does not preclude 
imposition of another emergency order governing the segment of track 
should conditions of the track or rail operations deteriorate to the 
extent that I believe they pose an imminent and unacceptable threat to 
public safety.

    Issued in Washington on May 28, 1999.
S. Mark Lindsey,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 99-14454 Filed 6-7-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P