[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 70 (Tuesday, April 11, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19427-19428]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-8857]


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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.

Union Pacific Railroad Company

(Docket Number FRA-1999-5755)

    Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP) seeks a permanent waiver of 
compliance from certain provisions of the Power Brakes and Drawbars 
regulations, 49 CFR part 232, at Proviso Yard in Chicago, Illinois. 
Specifically, UP requests relief from the requirements of 49 CFR 
232.12(i)(1), which requires that when a train airbrake system is 
tested from a yard test plant, the air source must be connected to the 
end of the train which will be nearest to the hauling road locomotive.
    UP provides the following information to justify this request. At 
Proviso Yard, trains are regularly made up and depart from Yard Four. 
The tracks in Yard Four hold approximately 60 cars. Most trains consist 
of one hundred or more cars, which requires a double or triple over be 
made to make up an outbound train. The standard procedure is to fill 
one or more tracks with the head end portion and set the rear end 
portion as a rear end fill in an adjacent track. When this rear end 
fill is short (thirty cars or less), it presents an operational and 
safety problem. Yard air is at the extreme ends of Yard Four. If the 
rear fill is set at the end of the yard where hauling locomotives are 
attached,

[[Page 19428]]

it requires the carman to either walk thirty car lengths or more to 
apply the end-of-train device (EOT) or cross several tracks with the 
EOT in order to install the device to the rear of the train. Either 
alternative presents both a safety factor for the carman and a time 
factor for completing the air test, since there are no access roads for 
the carmen to use.
    Based on the above, UP believes that a permanent waiver permitting 
the yard air source to be applied to the rear end fill at Proviso's 
Yard Four would improve the safety and efficiency of operations without 
any adverse effect on safety.
    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 1999-
5755) and must be submitted to the Docket Clerk, DOT Docket Management 
Facility, Room PL-401 (Plaza Level), 400 7th Street, S.W., Washington, 
D.C. 20590. 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.-5 p.m.) at the above 
facility. 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 April 4, 2000.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program 
Development.
[FR Doc. 00-8857 Filed 4-10-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P