[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 172 (Tuesday, September 7, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Page 54177]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-20251]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Waiver Petition Docket Number FRA-2004-18746]


Union Pacific Railroad Company; Notice of Public Hearing and 
Extension of Comment Period

    On August 10, 2004, FRA published a notice in the Federal Register 
announcing the Union Pacific Railroad Company's (UP) request to be 
granted a waiver of compliance from certain provisions of the Brake 
System Safety Standards for Freight and Other Non-passenger Trains and 
Equipment; End of Train Devices, 49 CFR Part 232, Freight Car Safety 
Standards, 49 Part 215, and Locomotive Safety Standards, 49 Part 299. 
See 69 FR 48558. Specifically, UP requests relief from the requirements 
of Sec.  232.205 Class I Brake Test-Initial Terminal Inspection, Sec.  
232.409 Inspection and Testing of End-of-Train, Sec.  215.13 Pre-
departure Inspection, Sec.  229.21 Daily Inspection.
    UP requests that the above provisions of the Federal regulations be 
waived to permit run-through trains that originate in Mexico and are 
interchanged with the UP at the Laredo, Texas Gateway, to operate into 
the interior of the United States without having to perform inspections 
at the U.S./Mexican border, provided that the trains receive proper 
inspections in Mexico by Transportacion Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM), 
according to the standards prescribed in CFR Parts 232, 215, and 229. 
The Texas Mexican Railway (TexMex) would maintain all records required 
by applicable regulations for ready access on the U.S. side of the 
border for FRA inspections. In addition, TFM has provided written 
consent for FRA to conduct inspections of their facilities and 
inspection practices.
    FRA has received comments from both the Brotherhood of Locomotive 
Engineers (BLE) and the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen (BRC) requesting 
a 90-day extension of the comment period. In addition, BLE has 
requested an oral public hearing. This notice grants both of these 
requests. However, FRA does not believe it is necessary to extend the 
comment period for the full 90 days, as requested. At this time, FRA is 
extending the comment period to one week beyond the date of the public 
hearing. If information received at the public hearing warrants the 
need to extend the comment period further, a separate notice will be 
published indicating such extension.
    Accordingly, a public hearing is hearby set to begin at 9 a.m. on 
October 1, 2004 at the Federal Railroad Administration, 1120 Vermont 
Avenue NW., Washington, D.C. 20005, in the 7th floor conference room. 
Interested parties are invited to present oral statements at this 
hearing. The hearing will be informal and will be conducted in 
accordance with FRA's Rules of Practice (49 CFR Part 211.25) by a 
representative designated by FRA. FRA's representative will make an 
opening statement outlining the scope of the hearing, as well as any 
additional procedures for the conduct of the hearing. The hearing will 
be a non-adversarial proceeding in which all interested parties will be 
given the opportunity to express their views regarding this waiver 
petition without cross-examination. After all initial statements have 
been completed, those persons wishing to make a brief rebuttal 
statements will be given an opportunity to do so in the same order in 
which initial statements were made.
    In addition, FRA is extending the comment period to October 8, 
2004. All communications concerning these proceedings should identify 
the appropriate docket number (e.g., Waiver Petition Docket Number FRA-
2004-18746) and must be submitted to the Docket Clerk, DOT Docket 
Management Facility, Room PL-401 (Plaza Level), 400 7th Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20590. 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 August 31, 2004.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Acting Associate Administrator for Safety.
[FR Doc. 04-20251 Filed 9-1-04; 2:46 pm]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P