[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 85 (Friday, May 2, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Page 23520]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-10833]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration


Petition for Modification of a Waiver of Compliance

    In accordance with 49 CFR 211.9 and 211.41 notice is hereby given 
that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has received a request 
for a modification to a waiver of compliance from certain requirements 
of Federal railroad safety regulations. 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.

CSX Transportation (Waiver Petition Docket Number FRA-2002-12507)

    In 1998, CSX Transportation (CSXT) initiated a pilot program to 
develop, implement, and test technology designed to meet the RSAC 
Positive Train Control core objectives to prevent train collisions, 
overspeed derailments, and to further protect on-track workers. The 
system is referred to as Communications Based Train Management (CBTM). 
CSXT was granted a waiver for testing on the pilot territory between 
Spartanburg, South Carolina, and Augusta, Georgia. That waiver was 
granted as H-98-6, and has since been redocketed as FRA-2002-12507.
    After successful completion of all lab and field qualification 
tests in 2000, crews began using the system when they operate an 
equipped locomotive over the pilot territory. Data is currently being 
gathered on CBTM's performance and crew acceptance in order to 
determine the requirements for a production system.
    CSXT has requested to modify the existing waiver by extending the 
CBTM pilot territory to include the Blue Ridge subdivision, between 
Erwin, Tennessee, (milepost Z 138.0) and Spartanburg, South Carolina, 
(milepost MP Z 276.6) for the duration of the waiver, which has been 
granted through the conclusion of the test program. This expansion 
would allow CSXT to complete the software development necessary to 
adapt CBTM's basic principles to the signaled territory.
    Any interested party desiring to protest the granting of an 
application shall set forth specifically the grounds upon which the 
protest is made, and include a concise statement of the interest of the 
party in the proceeding. Additionally, one copy of the protest shall be 
furnished to the applicant at the address listed above.
    All communications concerning this proceeding should be identified 
by the docket number and must be submitted to the Docket Clerk, DOT 
Central Docket Management Facility, Room PL-401 (Plaza Level), 400 7th 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001. Communications received within 
30 days of the date of this notice will be considered by the 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.
    FRA expects to be able to determine these matters without an oral 
hearing. However, if a specific request for an oral hearing is 
accompanied by a showing that the party is unable to adequately present 
his or her position by written statements, an application may be set 
for public hearing.

    Issued in Washington, DC on April 25, 2003.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program 
Development.
[FR Doc. 03-10833 Filed 5-1-03; 8:45 am]
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