[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 232 (Wednesday, December 3, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67735-67736]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-30100]


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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.

American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association

[Waiver Petition Docket Number FRA-2003-16271]

    American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA), on 
behalf of their membership, seeks a waiver of compliance from the 
requirements of the Locomotive Safety Standards, 49 CFR part 229.23, 
which requires periodic inspection of all locomotives at intervals not 
to exceed ninety-two (92) days, and from the requirements 49 CFR 
229.25, which identify items to be inspected during a periodic 
inspection. ALSRRA believes that the short line and regional railroads 
that it represents do not operate their locomotive in the same 
environment as the larger Class I railroads. They feel that Class I 
railroads operate twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, with 
longer and heavier trains, over greater distances then short line and 
regional railroads. ALSRRA feels that the Locomotive Safety Standards 
periodic inspection and testing requirements should recognize this. If 
granted, the ALSRRA feels that its members should be allowed to perform 
the periodic, during required, annual inspections 49CFR 229.27.
    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 (FRA-2003-16271) and must be submitted to the 
Docket Clerk, DOT Docket Management Facility, Room PL-401 (Plaza 
Level), 400 7th Street, SW., Washington, DC 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.
    Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all comments 
received into any of our dockets by the

[[Page 67736]]

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). The Statement may also be found at http://dms.dot.gov.

    Issued in Washington, DC on November 26, 2003.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program 
Development.
[FR Doc. 03-30100 Filed 12-2-03; 8:45 am]
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