[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 128 (Thursday, July 5, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36752-36753]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-13029]


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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 from 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.

Maryland Transit Administration

[Modification to Waiver Petition Docket Number FRA-2000-7054/7286]

    As a modification to the Maryland Transit Administration's (MTA) 
existing Shared Use/Temporal Separation waiver originally granted by 
FRA on January 19, 2001, MTA is requesting that FRA

[[Page 36753]]

modify the original terms and conditions of its permanent waiver of 
compliance from sections of Title 49 of the CFR for operation of its 
Cockeysville Light Rail Line (CLRL) due to changes that have recently 
occurred. (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).)
    In this regard, the Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NS), which 
operates a freight railroad sharing track temporally with the CLRL, is 
ceasing freight service on the CLRL from a point at Chain Marker 122 
continuing northward to the end of the line. The sole exception to this 
is at Chain Marker 122, where NS continues to cross the CLRL via a 
diamond crossover to service the NS Flexi-Flo facility. In regard to 
this, NS has filed a Petition for Exemption for authority to abandon 
the freight service on the CLRL (see Surface Transportation Board (STB) 
Docket No. AB-290, Sub No. 237X, Norfolk Southern Ry. Co.--Abandonment 
Exemption--In Baltimore Co., MD), and is awaiting STB resolution at 
this time.
    Due to the cessation of NS freight service on the CLRL from a point 
at Chain Marker 122 northward, MTA is requesting that FRA determine 
that there is no longer shared use on the CLRL and that waivers are no 
longer necessary because the statutes and regulations covered in the 
Shared Use Policy Statement no longer apply to the CLRL north of that 
point. Also, MTA agrees that the waivers that were approved in the 
January 19, 2001, decision letter that are relevant at the diamond 
crossing will remain in effect, and that Standard Operating Procedure 
LR.07.02.04, which replaces MTA Procedure No. 6.33, provides sufficient 
protection at the interlocked diamond crossover. Lastly, MTA requests 
that, to the extent FRA regulations apply in any manner, FRA waive the 
requirements of 49 CFR Part 219, Control of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, for 
MTA employees who control the operation of the NS trains across the 
diamond because it is adopting the Federal Transit Administration's 
drug and alcohol policy, which provides an equivalent level of 
oversight.
    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-
2000-7054/7286) and must be submitted to the Docket Clerk, DOT Docket 
Management Facility, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building Ground 
Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590.
    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 June 28, 2007.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program 
Development.
[FR Doc. E7-13029 Filed 7-3-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P