[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 130 (Friday, July 7, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38686-38687]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-10646]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration


Petition for Waiver of Compliance

    In accordance with part 211 of Title 49 of the 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 favor of relief.

North County Transit District (Supplement to Waiver Petition Docket 
Number FRA-2002-11809)

    As a supplement to the North County Transit District (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

[[Page 38687]]

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 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).
    On February 3, 2005, NCTD submitted an additional request for 
relief from the following elements of Part 223 (Safety Glazing 
Standards--Locomotive, Passenger Cars and Cabooses) and Part 229 
(Railroad Locomotive Safety Standards). On April 18, 2006, FRA gave 
conditional relief concerning Part 233 but denied NCTD's request under 
part 229 concerning headlight intensity.
    The NCTD has further advanced the design of the SPRINTER cars and 
is requesting relief for regulations from which it hereby seeks 
waivers: 49 CFR Part 229 Railroad Locomotive Safety Standards, Sec.  
229.125(a) [headlights] and Sec.  229.125(d)(2) [auxiliary lights]. 
Since FRA has not yet completed its investigation of NCTD's petition, 
the agency takes no position at this time on the merits of NCTD's 
stated justifications.
    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 
because two public hearings concerning NCTD's waiver requests have been 
held to date. If any interested party desires an opportunity for oral 
comment, they should notify FRA in writing within 15 days of the date 
of this notice, and must specify the basis for their request.
    All communications concerning these proceedings should identify the 
appropriate docket number (e.g., Waiver Petition Docket Number 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. 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 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 June 30, 2006.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program 
Development.
 [FR Doc. E6-10646 Filed 7-6-06; 8:45 am]
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