[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 238 (Tuesday, December 12, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74577-74578]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-21012]


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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.

Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority

[Docket Number FRA-1999-6254]

    As a second supplement to Santa Clara Valley Transportation 
Authority's (VTA) existing Shared Use/Temporal Separation waiver for 
its Tasman West Line originally granted by the FRA on July 7, 2000 (a 
5-year extension was granted on September 26 , 2005), VTA requests that 
the FRA consider reclassifying the 1.6-mile shared segment (called the 
Moffett Drill Track) as a ``Plant Railroad'' not part of the General 
Railroad System. VTA is also requesting a waiver from the FRA 
Locomotive Horn Rule, 49 CFR parts 222 and 229, at all highway grade 
crossings along the 1.6-mile Moffett Drill Track as long as this track 
is considered part of the General Railroad System. VTA seeks a 
permanent waiver of compliance from all sections of Title 49 of the CFR 
if the FRA agrees that the Moffett Drill Track should not be classified 
as part of the General Railroad 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. See also Joint Statement of Agency Policy Concerning Shared Use 
of the Tracks of the General

[[Page 74578]]

Railroad System by Conventional Railroads and Light Rail Transit 
Systems, 65 FR 42526.)
    VTA Tasman West LRT Line is a two-track, 7.6-mile urban rapid 
transit light rail line owned and operated by VTA within the City of 
Mountain View, City of Sunnyvale, and County of Santa Clara, 
California. A 1.6-mile segment of this LRT Line, called the Moffett 
Drill Track, features 2 tracks and 11 grade crossings and is shared 
with freight service of the Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP). This 
Moffett Drill Track segment is nominally connected to the General 
Railroad System (connection exists at the westward terminus of the 
Tasman West LRT Line at the Downtown Mountain View Station with 
mainline tracks used by UPRR and Caltrain) by virtue of a contractual 
right of a single shipper for freight service to the NASA-Ames Research 
Center, a right that has not been exercised in the last 12 years.
    VTA states that considering the total absence of freight service on 
this segment for the last 12 years, and the heavy restrictions which 
would be placed on any such movement, that the term ``shared'' is 
technical in name only and well below the level of activity which would 
justify application of FRA regulations to a light rail operation. 
Further, the character of the freight operation across the Moffett 
Drill Track is equivalent to providing service to a shipper facility 
that is not considered to be part of the General Railroad System, 
except when a UP freight train operating in interstate commerce 
actually enters the facility. In this case, unless and until the NASA-
Ames Research Center actually requests and schedules the UP to enter 
its facility, then the FRA should waive jurisdiction over light rail 
operations on this 1.6-mile shared track segment. VTA states that it 
has received numerous noise complaints because its light rail vehicles 
(LRV) must blow their horns in the manner prescribed in the Locomotive 
Horn Rule as per 49 CFR parts 222 and 229. Its LRVs cross the 11 
highway grade crossings 114 times per day from 0400 a.m. until 0100 
a.m. daily, and utilize a horn with a decibel range from 85dB to 97dB. 
Given the history of nonexistent freight operations on this 1.6-mile 
segment, VTA contends a waiver of the Horn Rule requirements is more 
suitable and practical than establishing a quiet zone. In the event 
NASA-Ames Research Center does request freight service, UP remains 
subject to FRA regulations, and VTA will adhere to the terms and 
conditions of the current Shared Use Waiver with movement on the 
Moffett Drill Track heavily restricted, including full temporal 
separation.
    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 (FRA-1999-6254) and may be submitted by one 
of the following methods:
     Web site: http://dms.dot.gov. Follow the instructions for 
submitting comments on the DOT electronic site;
     Fax: 202-493-2251;
     Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building, Room PL-401, 
Washington, DC 20590-0001; or
     Hand Delivery: Room PL-401 on the plaza level of the 
Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC, between 9 
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    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.
    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 December 6, 2006.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program 
Development.
[FR Doc. E6-21012 Filed 12-11-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P