[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 193 (Thursday, October 5, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Page 58906]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-16471]


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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.

The Messena Terminal Railroad Company (Docket Number FRA-2000-7949)

    The Messena Terminal Railroad Company (MSTR), a home shop fleet of 
71 AOCX aluminum covered hopper cars, has petitioned FRA for an 
extension of and modification to, the waiver granted on October 17, 
2001 in FRA Docket No. 2000-7949. Specifically, MSTR has requested that 
the existing waiver be modified as follows:
    1. Eliminate the requirement in condition no. 6 to lower the 
handbrake assembly and comply with 49 CFR 231.27(i)(iii) since Sec.  
231.27(i)(iii) only applies to cars that were built or placed into 
service after October 1, 1966, and that do not have roof hatches.
    2. Remove condition no. 7 requiring MSTR to report immediately to 
FRA's Office of Safety any injury involving glazing that results from 
the use of the locomotive subject to this waiver since all locomotives 
comply with 49 CFR 223 Safety Glazing Standards.
    3. Reword condition no. 4 to allow running boards to be relocated 
to the outboard area, provided the welding of attachment points is 
performed by an industry recognized, certified welder; where a sampling 
of welds are tested per industry standards, and the welds comply 100% 
with those standards. In support of this request, MSTR notes that upon 
completion of these modifications/repairs, the AOCX cars are expected 
to be in full compliance with 49 CFR 231.1(c) (Running boards).
    4. Eliminate condition no. 5 which requires that each car in the 
pool be stencilled with the words ``Keep Off Roof-No Running Board'' as 
outlined in 49 CFR 231.27(i)(iii) since each railcar roof is currently 
equipped with a running board.
    5. MSTR requests that FRA extend the waiver granted on October 17, 
2001, for a minimum of one additional year in order to complete the 
modifications/repairs needed for running boards to be relocated to the 
outer area.
    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-
2000-7949) 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 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 DOT Central 
Docket Management Facility, Room Pl-401 (Plaza Level), 400 Seventh 
Street SW., Washington, DC. 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 October 2, 2006.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program 
Development.
 [FR Doc. E6-16471 Filed 10-4-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P