[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 156 (Tuesday, August 14, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45487-45488]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-15945]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration


Petition for Waiver of Compliance

    In accordance with Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 
sections 211.9 and 211.41, 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

[Docket Number FRA-2006-25862]

    Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP) seeks amendment of a waiver for 
relief of sanctions from certain sections of 49 CFR Part 240. On 
October 17, 2006, FRA's Safety Board granted relief of sanctions from 
49 CFR Sections 240.117(e)(1) through (4), 49 CFR sections 
240.305(a)(1) through (4) and (6) (excluding supervisors as indicated), 
and 49 CFR section 240.307. See Docket FRA-2006-25862. These sections 
of the regulation relate to punitive actions that are required to be 
taken against locomotive engineers for the violation of certain 
railroad operating rules. Refer to 49 CFR Part 240 for a detailed 
listing of these sections.
    UP and the employees of UP's North Platte Service Unit, represented 
by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the 
United Transportation Union (UTU), requested the waiver to facilitate 
participation in a Close Call Reporting System (C3RS) demonstration 
pilot project sponsored by FRA's Office of Research and Development. 
The C3RS Demonstration Pilot Project was one of the action items 
included in FRA's Rail Safety Action Plan announced on January 25, 
2006.
    UP, BLET, and UTU developed and signed an implementing memorandum 
of understanding (IMOU) for the C3RS project, based on FRA's March 
2005, overarching memorandum of understanding with railroad labor 
organizations, as a first step in commencing the demonstration pilot 
project. The project involves approximately 1,200 yard and road service 
employees headquartered in North Platte, NE. The IMOU was sent to FRA 
for consideration and acceptance on August 28, 2006, and was 
incorporated by reference in the FRA Safety Board's October 17, 2006 
decision letter on this waiver.
    As referenced in the IMOU, certain close calls may be properly 
reported by the employee(s) involved and later discovered by UP, for 
example, through subsequent retrospective analysis of locomotive event 
recorder data, etc. In order to encourage employee reporting of close 
calls, the IMOU contains provisions to shield the reporting employee 
from UP discipline.
    UP, BLET, and UTU also wanted to shield the reporting employee(s) 
and UP from punitive sanctions that would otherwise arise as provided 
in selected sections of 49 CFR Part 240 for properly reported close-
call events as defined in the C3RS IMOU. The waiver petition was 
requested for the duration of the C3RS demonstration project (5 years 
from implementation or until the demonstration project is completed or 
parties to the IMOU withdraw as described in the IMOU, whichever occurs 
first).
    In a letter dated July 5, 2007, UP petitioned for a modification of 
the waiver in the form of an amendment to the IMOU. In accordance with 
the Board's October 17, 2006 decision letter, any material 
modifications to the IMOU must be approved by the FRA Safety Board. UP, 
BLET, and UTU now request amendment of the initial IMOU by adding the 
following:

Amendment No. 1 to the Confidential Close Call Reporting System 
Implementing Memorandum of Understanding (C3RS/IMOU) dated August 17, 
2006

    Pursuant to the provision of Article 13 of the C3RS/IMOU dated 
August 17, 2006, the Parties to the IMOU have approved the following 
modifications:
    In Article 1C. Add yardmasters to the list of UTU crafts;
    In Article 2. Modify Milepost (MP) locations and add additional 
trackage to reflect the actual boundaries of the North Platte 
Service Unit. The Parties to the Agreement have indicated their 
approval of these modifications by signing this document. Due to 
oversight in securing signatures on the original C3RS/IMOU, there 
are three additional signatories to this Amendment.
    Parties also recognize that the FRA must review and take 
appropriate action on a separate request to modify the waiver issued 
in support of this IMOU.

Article 1. Parties to C3RS/IMOU (Parties)

    A. Union Pacific Railroad Company (UPRR, a common carrier 
railroad)
    B. Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET): the 
duly recognized collective bargaining representative of the craft of 
UPRR locomotive engineers working within the boundaries of the North 
Platte Service Unit of the UPRR (North Platte Service Unit).
    C. United Transportation Union (UTU): the duly recognized 
collective bargaining representative of the crafts of UPRR 
conductors, trainmen, switchmen, yardmasters, and hostlers working 
within the boundaries of the North Platte Service Unit.
    D. Federal Railroad Administration (FRA): an administration in 
the Department of Transportation charged with carrying out all 
railroad safety laws of the United States per 49 U.S.C. Section 103 
and 49 CFR I.49.
    E. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS): the Federal Agency 
responsible for maintaining the security of the confidential 
database and all materials reviewed by the Peer Review Teams.

Article 2. PURPOSE

    The parties are voluntarily entering into this C3RS/IMOU and 
implementing this C3RS Demonstration project for the North Platte 
Service Unit with the intent to improve the safety of railroad 
operations on the North Platte Service Unit. The boundaries of the 
North Platte Service Unit are defined as Milepost (MP) 506.35 Sidney 
Subdivision, MP 150 Kearney Subdivision, MP 156.9 on the South 
Morrill Subdivision to MP 271.4 on the Powder River Subdivision and 
MP 521.1 to MP 528.1 on the Casper Industrial Lead on the Powder 
River Subdivision, Yoder Subdivision, MP 146 Marysville Subdivision, 
and MP 81.1 Julesburg Subdivision. This pilot program is effective 
only in the boundaries as specified above and does not include any 
area outside these boundaries.
    The parties have determined that based on over 20 years 
experience of airlines' and foreign railroads' close call reporting 
systems, safety may be improved by implementing a system of 
voluntary, confidential, discipline-free reporting of close call 
events.
    The purposes of this reporting are the accumulation of data on 
currently unreported or underreported unsafe events, analysis of 
reported data by peer review teams, identification of corrective 
actions by the Parties to remedy identified safety hazards, 
provision of assistance by FRA in its safety oversight role, and 
publication of general trends and statistics by government agencies.

    Interested parties are invited to participate in these proceedings 
by submitting written views, data, or

[[Page 45488]]

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 this waiver petition should identify 
the appropriate docket number (e.g. Waiver Petition Docket Number FRA-
2006-24646) 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, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., West Building Ground 
Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590; or;
    Hand Delivery: 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., West Building Ground 
Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    All written communications concerning these proceedings are 
available for examination during regular business hours (9 a.m.-5 p.m.) 
at the above facility. Documents in the public docket are also 
available for review and copying on the Internet at the docket facility 
Web site at http://dms.dot.gov.
    Communications received within 30 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 August 8, 2007.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program 
Development.
[FR Doc. E7-15945 Filed 8-13-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P