[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 213 (Thursday, November 4, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60260-60261]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-28838]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration


Petition for Waiver of Compliance

    In accordance with 49 CFR 211.41, notice is hereby given that the 
Metro-North Commuter Railroad (Metro-North) and the Connecticut 
Department of Transportation (CONNDOT) have submitted a petition, dated 
June 1, 1999, seeking a waiver of compliance from certain requirements 
of Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 220: Railroad 
Communications. The individual petition is 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.

Metro-North Commuter Railroad and Connecticut Department of 
Transportation [Docket No. FRA-1999-5876]

    The petition requests that the Federal Railroad Administration 
(FRA) grant Metro-North and CONNDOT a three-year extension of time past 
the mandatory compliance date of July 1, 1999, to comply with 
provisions of 49 CFR 220.9 and 220.11 of the Railroad Communication 
Standards. Metro-North provides commuter rail service on four lines 
operating on rights of way owned by CONNDOT. Petitioners have asked to 
be granted until July 1, 2002 to install working radios on locomotives 
operating on these territories:
    (1) The New Haven Line between Mile Post (MP) 26.1 (the State Line 
between New York and Connecticut) and MP 72.9;

[[Page 60261]]

    (2) The New Canaan Branch between MP 0.0 (Stamford, Connecticut) 
and MP 7.9;
    (3) The Danbury Branch between MP 0.0 (South Norwalk, Connecticut) 
and MP 24.2; and
    (4) The Waterbury Branch between MP 0.0 (Devon, Connecticut) and MP 
27.1.
    Petitioners assert that they need the additional three years to 
conduct a radio propagation study that will result in a location plan 
for wayside radio base stations and repeaters.
    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 (in this case, FRA-1999-5876) and must be 
submitted in triplicate to the Docket Clerk, DOT Central Docket 
Management Facility, Room PL-401, Washington, DC 20590-0001. 
Communications received within 45 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. to 5 p.m.) at DOT 
Central Docket Management Facility, Room PL-401 (Plaza Level), 400 
Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20005. All documents in the public 
docket are also available for inspection and copying on the Internet at 
the docket facility's Web site at http://dms.dot.gov.

    Issued in Washington, DC on October 25, 1999.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program 
Development.
[FR Doc. 99-28838 Filed 11-3-99; 8:45 am]
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