[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 152 (Tuesday, August 8, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Page 45098]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-12799]


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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) 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.

Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority

 [Docket Number FRA-2006-25040]

    Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority (CMTA), located in 
Austin, TX, seeks a permanent waiver of compliance from Title 49 of the 
CFR for operation of a new planned Commuter Rail Service (CRS), 
partially sharing trackage with the Austin Area Terminal Railroad 
(AUAR), a common carrier freight railroad. The operation will feature 
temporal separation of CRS and AUAR operations. CMTA has selected a 
light rail style, non-FRA compliant Diesel-Multiple Unit (DMU), in 
order to offer a ``one-seat ride'' operation on both the shared and 
light rail-exclusive city street running portions of the system. 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). 
    CMTA is constructing a 32-mile CRS, (27 miles shared, 5 miles light 
rail-exclusive) linking the City of Leander, TX, with downtown Austin, 
TX. CMTA owns the railroad right-of-way, referred to as the Central 
Sub-division of the AUAR, between MP 55.19DT (Austin) and MP 88.0 
(Leander), and will utilize temporal separation of freight and 
passenger operations on this shared trackage. AUAR provides freight 
service to on-line customers, as well as interchanges with Union 
Pacific (UPRR) and BNSF Railway at MP 71.45.
    Based on the foregoing, CMTA is seeking waiver of compliance from 
the provisions of the Federal Railroad Locomotive Safety Standards, 49 
CFR: Part 219 Drug and Alcohol; Part 221 Rear End Marking Devices; Part 
223 Safety Glazing Standards; Part 225 Accident and Incident Reporting; 
Part 229 Railroad Locomotive Safety Standards; Part 231 Railroad Safety 
Appliance Standards; Part 238 Passenger Equipment Safety Standards; 
Part 239 Passenger Train Emergency Preparedness; Part 240 Qualification 
and Certification of Locomotive Engineers.
    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 communication concerning these proceedings should identify the 
appropriate docket number (e.g., Waiver Petition Docket Number FRA-
2006-25040) 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.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on August 1, 2006.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program 
Development.
 [FR Doc. E6-12799 Filed 8-7-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P