[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 186 (Tuesday, September 26, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56216-56217]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-15753]


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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 favor of relief.

The South Carolina Railroad Museum, Inc.

[Docket Number FRA-2006-25452]

    The South Carolina Railroad Museum, Inc. (SCMZ) seeks a permanent 
waiver of compliance from Control of Alcohol and Drug Use, 49 CFR Part 
219 Subparts D through J, which require a railroad to conduct 
reasonable suspicion alcohol and/or drug testing, pre-employment drug 
testing, random alcohol and drug testing, and to have voluntary 
referral and co-worker report policies, and which also specify drug and 
alcohol testing procedures and recordkeeping requirements. The railroad 
is a nonprofit railroad museum located near Winnsboro, South Carolina. 
As part of its museum activity, it operates excursion passenger trains, 
primarily on certain weekends and on special charters.
    The museum only runs scheduled excursion trains on 15 days in the 
calendar year. On those days, it runs four trains over the 10.2-mile 
round trip. In addition to the regularly scheduled operating days, it 
runs excursion trains on a charter basis. In 2005, SCMZ operated 
charters on 26 days. In each case, only one train was operated on the 
respective charter.
    A portion (4,650 feet) of the museums's track is subject to a 
recent Lead Track Agreement between the museum and Norfolk Southern 
Corporation (NS), whereby NS will provide limited rail service to a 
commercial facility located along the museum's track. This service will 
not involve SCMZ volunteers but will be conducted entirely by NS 
employees.
    The waiver would cover the museum's operation of excursion trains 
on the museum's trackage between Rockton, South Carolina, and Rion, 
South Carolina (approximately 5.1 miles). SCMZ has hours of service 
volunteers only.
    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

[[Page 56217]]

Petition Docket Number FRA-2006-25452) and must be submitted to the 
Docket Clerk, DOT Central Docket Management Facility, Room PL-401, 400 
7th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001. 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.
    FRA wishes to inform all potential commenters that 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), or you may visit http://dms.dot.gov.

    Issued in Washington, DC on September 20, 2006.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program 
Development.
[FR Doc. E6-15753 Filed 9-25-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P