[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 214 (Friday, November 5, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64625-64626]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-24769]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration


Petition for Waiver of Compliance

    In accordance with title 49 CFR 211.9 and 211.41, notice is hereby 
given that the Florida East Coast Railway, L.L.C. (FEC) has petitioned 
the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) for renewal of its existing 
exemption for a waiver of compliance with a requirement of its safety 
standards. The FEC petition is described below, including the 
regulatory provisions involved, and the nature of the relief being 
requested.

Florida East Coast Railway, L.L.C. (FEC)

[Docket Number FRA-2004-19391]

    FEC requests a renewal of its existing waiver (FRA Docket Number 
HS-98-02) to continue the use of their ``Paperless Time Ticket 
Program'' to produce an electronic record of train and engine employee 
hours of duty in lieu of manually signed paper records.
    The existing FEC waiver, which expires in February 4, 2005, grants 
relief from Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 228.9(a)(1) 
for the railroad to utilize its computerized system of recording hours 
of duty data. Part 228.9(a)(1) requires that records maintained under 
Part 228 be signed by the employee whose time is being recorded, or in 
the case of train and engine crews, signed by the ranking crew member. 
The FEC seeks to utilize its secure computerized program of recording 
hours of duty information which would not comply with the above 
requirements for a ``signature'' of the employee or ranking crew member 
without renewed waiver authority. In the current FEC waiver approved 
program, each of the railroad's train and engine employees has his or 
her own unique identification number and personal identification number 
(PIN). The PIN will remain confidential to the employee. When accessing 
the computer for input of the hours of duty record, required by Sec.  
228.11, the (PIN) does not appear on the computer screen when the 
employee enters his or her number. All data entered under access gained 
through use of the confidential PIN will be electronically stamped with 
the entering employee's name along with the date and time of entry. The 
program will display the entering employee's electronic signature, date 
and time of entry on the employee's hours of duty record. The FEC 
requests that the existing waiver authority be continued to use the 
electronic stamp to

[[Page 64626]]

satisfy the signature requirements of the ``Hours of Service of 
Railroad Employees.'' The railroad maintains that the renewal is in the 
best interests of all parties, in that, it will continue to reduce 
unnecessary paperwork and the costs associated therewith while 
providing the railroads, its employees and the FRA with a superior 
level of information on a more timely than signed paper records.
    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 of 
their request.
    All communications concerning these proceedings should identify the 
appropriate docket number (FRA-2004-19391) 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 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 1, 2004.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Acting Associate Administrator for Safety.
[FR Doc. 04-24769 Filed 11-4-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P