[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 137 (Monday, July 19, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43047-43048]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-16254]


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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 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 requested, and the 
petitioner's arguments in favor of relief.

The Canadian Pacific Railway

(Docket Number FRA-2004-17989)

    The Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) seeks a waiver of compliance from 
certain provisions of the Railroad Operating Practices regulations, 49 
CFR part 218, regarding blue signal protection of workers. 
Specifically, to permit train and yard crew members, and utility 
employees to remove and replace batteries in two-way end-of-train 
telemetry devices (EOT), while the EOT is in place on the rear of the 
train the individual has been called to operate, without establishing 
any blue signal protection.

    Section 218.5 defines worker as any railroad employee assigned 
to inspect, test, repair, or service railroad rolling equipment or 
their components, including brake systems. Members of train and yard 
crews are excluded except when assigned such work on railroad 
rolling equipment that is not part of the train or yard movement 
they have been called to operate (or assigned to as ``utility 
employees''). Utility employees assigned to

[[Page 43048]]

and functioning as temporary members of a specific train or yard 
crew (subject to the conditions set forth in Sec.  218.22 of this 
chapter), are excluded only when so assigned and functioning.

    Both Sec. Sec.  218.25 and 218.27, requires blue signal protection 
when workers are on, under, or between rolling equipment on main track 
or other than main track. Sec.  218.22(b) states in part:

    A utility employee may be assigned to serve as a member of a 
train or yard crew without the protection otherwise required by 
subpart D of part 218 of this chapter only under the following 
conditions. (5) The utility employee is performing one or more of 
the following functions: Inspect, test, install remove or replace a 
rear marking device or end of train device. Under all other 
circumstances a utility employee working on, under, or between 
railroad rolling equipment must be provided with blue signal 
protection in accordance with Sec. Sec.  218.23 through 218.30 of 
this part.

    The FRA has determined that removing or replacing a battery in an 
EOT, while the device is in place on the rear of a train, requires blue 
signal protection since this task is a service and repair to the 
device. Therefore, the only way a utility employee or a train and yard 
crew member can legally remove or replace the EOT battery, without 
establishing blue signal protection, is to remove the EOT from the rear 
of the train and perform the battery work outside the area normally 
protected by the blue signal.
    CP contends that safety would be enhanced if the individual was 
allowed to perform the battery work without removing the device from 
the rear of the train. Exposure to injury is greatly reduced because 
the individual is handling a small NiCad battery, as opposed to lifting 
the EOT device that weighs 32-34 pounds. It is CP's position, supported 
by the BNSF waiver docket 10660, that changing EOT batteries 
in situ requires less time, places the employee in less immediate 
danger, and creates less physical strain than removing and replacing 
the entire EOT.
    CP wants to make it clear that this waiver request is intended to 
cover only train and yard employees working on their own assigned 
equipment and properly assigned transportation utility employees. It is 
not intended to cover mechanical or other employees who clearly require 
blue flag protection to work in or under equipment.
    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-
2004-17989) and must be submitted to the Docket Clerk, DOT Docket 
Management Facility, Room PL-401 (Plaza Level), 400 7th Street, S.W., 
Washington, D.C. 20590. 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 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 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 July 7, 2004.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Acting Associate Administrator for Safety.
[FR Doc. 04-16254 Filed 7-16-04; 8:45 am]
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