[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 149 (Friday, August 3, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43320-43321]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-15140]


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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]

    This Notice supersedes the Federal Register Notice published July 
5, 2007, (Volume 72, Number 128; Pages 36752-53) concerning the above 
Docket Number, which included an erroneous statement.
    As a modification to Maryland Transit Administration's (MTA) 
existing Shared Use/Temporal Separation waiver originally granted by 
FRA on January 19, 2001, MTA requests that FRA modify the original 
terms and conditions of its permanent waiver of compliance from certain 
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), the 
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. With regard to this, NS 
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). Because of procedural questions raised during 
the proceeding, the STB denied the Petition for Exemption. MTA has 
commenced a proceeding with the STB to address and clarify those 
questions. Upon receipt of that clarification, NS will resubmit its 
Petition for Exemption with respect to the abandonment. In the interim, 
no freight service is operating on the line.
    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 Chain Marker 122, due to the 
cessation of NS freight service on the CLRL from that point. Also, MTA 
agrees that the waivers that were approved in the January 19, 2001, 
Decision Letter are relevant at the diamond crossing, and that they 
should remain in effect. In addition, Standard Operating Procedure 
LR.07.02.04 that replaced 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 NS trains across the diamond 
because it is adopting the FTA'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

[[Page 43321]]

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 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 July 30, 2007.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program 
Development.
 [FR Doc. E7-15140 Filed 8-2-07; 8:45 am]
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