[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 65 (Monday, April 5, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Page 17732]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-7543]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration


Notice of Application for Approval of Discontinuance or 
Modification of a Railroad Signal System or Relief from the 
Requirements of Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations Part 236

    Pursuant to title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 235 and 
49 U.S.C. 20502(a), the following railroads have petitioned the Federal 
Railroad Administration (FRA) seeking approval for the discontinuance 
or modification of the signal system or relief from the requirements of 
49 CFR part 236 as detailed below.

Docket Number FRA-2004-17192

    Applicant: Alaska Railroad Corporation, Mr. Russell J. Frazier, 
Director Signal and Telecommunications, P.O. Box 107500, Anchorage, 
Alaska 99501.
    Alaska Railroad Corporation (ARR) seeks relief from the 
requirements of the Rules, Standard and Instructions, 49 CFR 236.110, 
to the extent that each test record, need not be signed by the person 
making the inspection or test, in lieu of implementing an electronic 
system to record and maintain signal inspection records that provide 
inherent security measures that uniquely identify the person as the 
author of the record. Once a record is entered and verified, it cannot 
be modified. In conjunction with this relief, ARR also requests the 
utilization of an electronic system for recording and maintaining 
applicable inspection and test records as defined in 49 CFR part 234, 
subject to approval by the Associate Administrator for Safety, as 
required by Sec.  234.273.
    Applicant's justification for relief: ARR believes that the 
electronic system will serve the best interest of ARR and the Federal 
and State Inspection Authorities that are required to inspect records, 
and anticipate the system will provide many benefits, including:
     Improved availability of test records
     Improved management reporting of compliance
     Improved consistency for filing records
     A reduction in the need for paper documentation
    Any interested party desiring to protest the granting of an 
application shall set forth specifically the grounds upon which the 
protest is made, and contain a concise statement of the interest of the 
Protestant 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 PI-401, Washington, DC 20590-
0001. Communications received within 45 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 DOT 
Central Docket Management Facility, Room PI-401 (Plaza Level), 400 
Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001. 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 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.
    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 March 29, 2004.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Acting Associate Administrator for Safety.
[FR Doc. 04-7543 Filed 4-2-04; 8:45 am]
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