[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 157 (Tuesday, August 16, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48231-48232]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-16282]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Waiver Petition Docket Number FRA-2002-11809]


North County Transit District; Supplementary Notice of Waiver 
Request; Notice of Public Hearing; and Extension of Comment Period

    As a supplement to North County Transit District's (NCTD) Petition 
for Approval of Shared Use and Waiver of Certain Federal Railroad 
Administration Regulations (the waiver was granted by the FRA on June 
24, 2003), NCTD seeks a permanent waiver of compliance from additional 
sections of Title 49 of the CFR for operation of its SPRINTER rail line 
between Oceanside, CA and Escondido, CA. See Statement of Agency Policy 
Concerning Jurisdiction Over the Safety of Railroad Passenger 
Operations and Waivers Related to Shared Use of the Tracks of the 
General Railroad System by Light Rail and

[[Page 48232]]

Conventional Equipment, 65 FR 42529 (July 10, 2000). See also Joint 
Statement of Agency Policy Concerning Shared Use of the Tracks of the 
General Railroad System by Conventional Railroads and Light Rail 
Transit Systems, 65 FR 42626 (July 10, 2000).
    In this regard, NCTD has advanced the design and construction of 
the SPRINTER rail line towards implementation and in the process, has 
identified the following additional regulations from which it hereby 
seeks waivers: 49 CFR part 223 Safety Glazing Standards--Locomotives, 
Passenger Cars and Cabooses, Section 223.9(c), and part 229 Railroad 
Locomotive Safety Standards, Section 229.125(a).
    As a result of the comments received by FRA concerning this waiver 
petition, FRA has determined that a public hearing is necessary before 
a final decision is made on this petition. A public hearing was 
originally scheduled for July 27, 2005. However, due to the 
unavailability of some of the interested parties, FRA opened the public 
hearing and announced that a second public hearing would be scheduled 
in this matter. Accordingly, a public hearing is set to begin at 9:30 
a.m. on September 14, 2005, in Rooms 4438 and 4440 at the Department of 
Transportation Headquarters Nassif Building, 400 7th Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20590. Interested parties are invited to present oral 
statements at this hearing.
    The hearing will be informal and 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 will be given 
an opportunity to do so in the same order in which initial statements 
were made. Additional procedures, if necessary for the conduct of the 
hearing, will be announced at the hearing.
    In addition, FRA is extending the comment period in this proceeding 
until September 23, 2005. FRA reserves the right to announce a further 
extension of the comment period for the purpose of receiving post-
hearing submissions should that appear appropriate in the judgment of 
the Board based on testimony received at the public hearing.
    All communications concerning these proceedings should identify the 
appropriate docket number (Waiver Petition Docket Number FRA-2002-
11809) 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 11, 2005.
Michael Logue,
Deputy Associate Administrator.
[FR Doc. 05-16282 Filed 8-15-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P