[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 231 (Monday, December 2, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71612-71613]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-30439]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration


Petitions for Waivers 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.

Norfolk Southern Corporation

(Docket Number FRA-2002-13096)

    The Norfolk Southern Corporation (NS), on behalf of itself and its 
subsidiaries and affiliates, seeks a permanent waiver of compliance 
from the requirements of Railroad Workplace Safety Standards, 49 CFR 
part 214. The NS intends this waiver to cover all ``railroad bridge 
workers'' or ``bridge workers'' (as those terms are defined by 49 CFR 
214.7) employed by NS or its contractors, including track inspectors 
and signal maintainers who perform their duties on bridges. The waiver 
would apply to all installations and locations, and related equipment 
where the NS is responsible for the construction, inspection, testing, 
or maintenance of a bridge.
    Bridge workers employed by or contracting with the NS are required 
by Sec.  214.107 to wear life vests or buoyant work vests and to have 
available ring buoys and lifesaving skiffs when working ``over or 
adjacent to water with a depth of four feet or more, or where the 
danger of drowning exists.'' These requirements apply even where bridge 
workers are otherwise exempt from wearing fall protection, such as 
where satisfactory walkways and railings (Sec.  214.103(c)(1)) exist on 
the bridge, where workers remain at least six feet from the edge of a 
roadway deck or any opening (Sec.  214.103(c)(2)), or where workers 
perform a repair or inspection of a minor nature that is completed by 
working exclusively within the gauge of the rail (Sec.  214.103(d)). 
There appear to be no exceptions to the requirements for ring buoys and 
lifesaving skiffs where a bridge worker is working alone on or near a 
bridge. Accordingly, the NS requests a waiver of Sec.  214.107 in those 
situations where (1) bridge workers are not at risk of falling from a 
bridge, or (2) the risk of falling is so minimal that fall protection 
is not required. Specifically, the NS requests a waiver of drowning 
protection requirements under the same conditions where the exceptions 
to the fall protection requirements set forth in Sec. Sec.  214.103(c) 
and (d) apply.
    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 FRA-
2002-13096) and must be submitted to the Docket Clerk, DOT Central 
Docket Management Facility, Room PL-401, 400-7th Street, SW., 
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

[[Page 71613]]

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 November 25, 2002.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program 
Development.
[FR Doc. 02-30439 Filed 11-29-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P