[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 103 (Tuesday, May 31, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31002-31003]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-10696]


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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) has 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.

[[Page 31003]]

Association of American Railroads

[Docket Number FRA-2004-19402]

    On behalf of the members of both companies, the Association of 
American Railroads (AAR) and the Railway Supply Institute (RSI), 
hereafter referred to as petitioners, seek to amend the original waiver 
that was granted by the FRA regarding minimum piston travel as 
prescribed by 49 CFR 232.205(b)(5) Class I Brake Test--Initial Terminal 
Inspection.
    On October 4, 2004, a waiver petition was submitted for the piston 
travel requirements contained in Sec.  232.205(b)(5), to reduce the 
minimum length of piston travel for cars equipped with 8\1/2\-inch or 
10-inch diameter brake cylinders from seven inches to six inches. See 
69 FR 64625. On February 23, 2005, FRA granted conditional approval of 
this request with respect to light-weight cars with empty/load valves 
rated below 50 percent. FRA granted this limited approval because the 
data and analysis submitted addressed only the cars for which the 
relief was granted. The petitioner contends that FRA's decision to 
limit the waiver to only light-weight cars with empty/load valves rated 
at below 50 percent will adversely affect safety because braking 
performance will be impaired. Therefore, the petitioner is submitting 
this request to modify the original waiver to include the entire fleet 
of cars equipped with 8\1/2\-inch or 10-inch diameter brake cylinders 
that are subject to the minimum piston travel requirements contained in 
Sec.  232.205(b)(5).
    The current minimum piston travel requirement of seven-inches dates 
from a time when automatic slack adjusters and empty/load devices were 
not widely used. Advances in empty/load valve technology have enabled 
AAR to upgrade its original brake ratio specifications for new cars. 
Effective January 1, 2004, AAR's minimum loaded brake ratio was 
increased and the maximum empty brake ratio decreased. This results in 
higher minimum braking forces for loaded cars and lower maximum braking 
forces for empty cars, which results in a reduction in adverse effects 
from excessive brake forces being applied to wheels on empty cars. 
However, these improvements result in less than a nominal seven-inches 
of piston travel on many empty cars. The problem is not limited to cars 
of a particular type, such as light-weight cars or cars with empty/load 
valves rated at less than 50 percent. Some cars of concern include, but 
are not limited to: 89' flat cars weighing 82,000 pounds (lbs) equipped 
with 60 percent empty/load valves, covered hopper cars (including 
grain, cement, pressure differential, and pellet cars), mill gondolas 
weighing 48,000 lbs with 50 percent empty/load valves, and cars that 
have empty/load valves rated below the original waiver's threshold of 
50 percent but weigh more than the 45,000 lbs, such as rapid discharge-
type coal hoppers weighing 48,500 lbs and small-cube covered hoppers 
weighing 53,000 lbs.
    The petitioner contends that even if the seven-inch minimum piston 
travel provision could be complied with, it would be counterproductive 
because a seven-inch piston travel minimum forces car builders to set 
loaded piston travel as close as possible to the maximum piston travel 
allowed under AAR rules (7\3/4\ inches) in an attempt to meet the 
seven-inch minimum piston travel for empty cars. This results in 
reduced braking forces because of the larger brake-cylinder volume and 
correspondingly lower brake-cylinder pressure. Stopping distance is 
thereby increased. Concomitantly, if empty cars are found with piston 
travel of less than seven-inches and are adjusted to 7\1/2\ inches 
while still empty, their piston travel could exceed the maximum nine-
inch piston travel requirement when loaded. This might not be 
discovered until the next required testing. Moreover, the petitioner 
contends that Transport Canada has long permitted a minimum piston 
travel of six-inches for cars equipped with 8\1/2\-inch or 10-inch 
diameter brake cylinders. The petitioner states that the six-inch 
minimum piston travel requirement has been in effect in Canada since 
1986, and there have been no adverse consequences from permitting 
piston travel under seven-inches.
    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-
2004-19402) 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 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 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 May 20, 2005.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program 
Development.
[FR Doc. 05-10696 Filed 5-27-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P