[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 136 (Tuesday, July 17, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39130-39131]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-13741]


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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.

Union Pacific Railroad Company

[Waiver Petition Docket Number FRA-2007-28454]

    The Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP) seeks a waiver of 
compliance from certain provisions of 49 CFR Part 232, Brake System 
Safety Standards for Freight and Other Non-Passenger Trains and 
Equipment. Specifically, UP is seeking relief from the requirements for 
performing the single car air brake test as prescribed in Sec.  
232.305(b)(2), which states in part: ``A car is on a shop or repair 
track, as defined in Sec.  232.303(a), for any reason and has not 
received a single car air brake test within the previous 12-month 
period.''
    UP states that they are performing repairs and wheel change-outs to 
cars in-train on selected trains in their yards across their system, in 
order to reduce the number of impact wheels and satisfy the demands of 
their customers to move commodities. UP claims that the in-train 
repairs also greatly reduce the number of switching events that would 
otherwise be required to effect the repairs, further reducing the risk 
of injury and derailment. UP believes that reducing the number of 
impact wheels has helped reduce the number of derailments due to broken 
rails, joint bars, wheels and bearings. The majority of these trains 
are in coal service and the cars are privately owned. UP contends that 
these cars receive regular periodic maintenance, so they seldom 
approach the 5-year limit in which a single car air brake test would 
normally be required. In addition, UP states that their system 
automatically flags cars in the yard when they are listed on the 
Association of American Railroad's MA-63, which is a list that 
identifies cars within 90 days of the 5-year limit. UP states that they 
will continue to perform a single car air brake test in compliance with 
Sec.  232.305 (b)(4-5), (c), (d), and (e). UP believes that this 
request will not have an adverse effect on safety.
    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 39131]]

Petition Docket Number FRA-2007-28454) 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), or you may visit 
http://dms.dot.gov.

    Issued in Washington, DC on July 11, 2007.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program 
Development.
 [FR Doc. E7-13741 Filed 7-16-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P