[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 153 (Tuesday, August 10, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Page 48558]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-18197]


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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 favour of relief.

Union Pacific Railroad

[Docket Number FRA-2004-18746]

    The Union Pacific Railroad seeks a waiver of compliance from the 
requirements of Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Sec.  
232.205 Class I Brake Test--Initial terminal inspection, 232.409--
Inspection and testing of end-of-train devices, 215.13 Pre-departure 
Inspection, and 229.21 Locomotive daily inspection. This waiver is 
necessary to allow tests and inspections conducted in Mexico by the 
Transportacion Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM) to be considered valid for 
run-through trains interchanged with the Union Pacific at the Laredo, 
Texas Gateway. These trains are assembled in Mexico and receive a Class 
I airbrake and pre-departure inspections in Mexico at the TFM yard at 
Nuevo Laredo. Under current conditions, these trains operate only a few 
miles before receiving another Class I Brake Test and mechanical 
inspection in the United States. By granting this wavier, approximately 
five hours would be saved per run-through train and would greatly 
reduce congestion at the Laredo Gateway.
    The parties to this waiver request are the Union Pacific Railroad, 
Transportacion Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM) and the Texas Mexican Railway 
(Tex Mex). TFM would perform the Initial Terminal Tests and Inspections 
to the standards prescribed by Title 49 CFR Parts 215, 232, and 229. 
The Union Pacific would then operate the trains into the interior of 
the United States. Tex Mex would maintain all records required by 
applicable regulations for ready access on the U.S. side of the border. 
In addition, TFM has provided written consent to inspection of their 
facilities and to their personnel involved with performing the tests 
and inspections.
    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-
2004-18746) and must be submitted in triplicate to the Docket Clerk, 
DOT Central Docket Management Facility, Room Pl-401, Washington, DC. 
20590-0001. 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 DOT 
Central Docket Management Facility, Room Pl-401 (Plaza Level), 400 
Seventh Street SW., Washington. 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 19377-78). The statement 
may also be found at http://dms.dot.gov.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on August 2, 2004.
Michael Logue,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Compliance and Program 
Implementation.
[FR Doc. 04-18197 Filed 8-9-04; 8:45 am]
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