[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 117 (Wednesday, June 18, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36625-36626]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-15395]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration


Petitions for Waivers of Compliance

    In accordance with title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 
section 211.41 and 49 U.S.C. 20103, this notice is hereby given that 
the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has received a request for a 
waiver of compliance from certain requirements of its safety 
regulations. The individual petition is described below, including the 
party seeking relief, the regulatory provisions involved, the nature of 
the relief being

[[Page 36626]]

sought, and the petitioner's argument in favor of relief.

Eastern Maine Railway; FRA Waiver Petition No. FRA-2003-15011

    Eastern Maine Railway (EMRY), located in St. John, New Brunswick, 
Canada, seeks a permanent waiver of compliance from 49 CFR 241.7(c), 
United States Locational Requirements for Dispatching of United States 
Rail Operations, to allow the continuation of Canadian dispatching of 
that part of Mattawamkeag Subdivision located in the United States 
extending between Vanceboro, Maine, and Brownville Junction, Maine, 
approximately 99 miles, as defined in Appendix A to Part 241. This 
request was submitted in accordance with Sec.  241.7(c)(3), which 
permits waiver of the requirements found in Part 241 that all 
dispatching of U.S. rail operations be conducted in the U.S. This 
territory was previously grandfathered in the exceptions to 
extraterritorial dispatching contained in FRA's Interim Final Rule (see 
66 FR 63942, December 11, 2001).
    In this regard, the track segment identified in the Interim Final 
Rule remains the same as identified above. This segment consists of a 
single main track dispatched from a single desk at the EMRY's Rail 
Traffic Control office in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada, under 
Canadian Rail Operating Rules (CROR), and the EMRY's Timetable and 
Special Instructions. The trackage is non-signaled and operated under 
Occupancy Control System rules. All dispatching is conducted in 
English. All units of measure are the same as those used in the U.S. 
EMRY operates approximately 2 trains a day over this segment. The train 
dispatchers who perform the dispatching function for the EMRY are 
employed by the New Brunswick Southern Railway (NBSR) and are therefore 
covered under the NBSR's company drug and alcohol policies and their 
dispatching office is under 24-hour security. The Department of 
Transportation of the Province of New Brunswick, Canada, is the 
regulatory authority which exercises safety jurisdiction over the New 
Brunswick Southern Railway, which provides dispatching services for the 
EMRY.
    Based on the foregoing, EMRY seeks a permanent waiver of compliance 
from 49 CFR 241.7(c), United States Locational Requirements for 
Dispatching of United States Rail Operations, to allow the continuation 
of Canadian dispatching on that part of the Mattawamkeag Subdivision 
located in the United States, as described above.
    Interested parties are invited to participate in this proceeding by 
submitting written views, data, or comments. FRA does not anticipate 
scheduling a public hearing in connection with the request for a waiver 
of certain regulatory provisions. If any interested party desires an 
opportunity for oral comment, he or she should notify FRA, in writing, 
before the end of the comment period and specify the basis for his or 
her request. All communications concerning these proceedings should 
identify the appropriate docket number (Docket Number FRA 2003-15011) 
and must be submitted to the DOT Docket Management Facility, Room PL-
401 (Plaza level) 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. All 
documents in the public docket, including EMRY's detailed waiver 
request, are also available for inspection and copying on the Internet 
at the docket facility's Web site at http://dms.dot.gov. Communications 
received within 30 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 this proceeding are available for examination during regular 
business hours (9 a.m.-5 p.m.) at the above facility.
    FRA wishes to inform all potential commenters that anyone is able 
to search the electronic form of all comments received into any of our 
dockets by the name of the individual submitting the comment (or 
signing the comment, if submitted on behalf of an association, 
business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's complete Privacy Act 
Statement in the Federal Register published on April 11, 2000 (Volume 
65, Number 70; Pages 19477-78) or you may visit http://dms.dot.gov.


    Issued in Washington, DC on June 11, 2003.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program 
Development.
[FR Doc. 03-15395 Filed 6-17-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P