[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 8 (Friday, January 11, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2076-2077]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-308]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration


Petition for Waiver of Compliance

    In accordance with Part 229 of Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations 
(CFR), notice is hereby given that the Federal Railroad Administration 
(FRA) received a request for a waiver of compliance with certain 
requirements of its Railroad Locomotive 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.

(WATCO Companies, Inc.)

[Docket Number FRA-2007-27969]

    The WATCO Companies, Inc. (WATCO) seeks a waiver to comply with the 
requirements in 49 CFR 229.137(b)(iv), which would allow the toilets to 
be removed from those newly acquired locomotives, which came equipped 
with sanitation compartments. The total number of these newly acquired 
locomotives is 53, which were purchased from the after market and only 
a portion of these locomotives contained sanitation compartments. These 
locomotives have now been disbursed around the WATCO railroads mixed in 
with the existing locomotives that are not equipped with sanitation 
compartments.
    WATCO is comprised of the following railroads: Alabama Southern 
Railroad, Arkansas Southern Railroad, Eastern Idaho Railroad, Great 
Northern Railroad,

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Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad, Louisiana Southern Railroad, Mission 
Mountain Railroad, Mississippi Southern Railroad, Palouse River and 
Coulee City Railroad, Southern Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad, Stillwater 
Central Railroad, Timber Rock Railroad, and Yellowstone Valley 
Railroad. WATCO claims that all these component railroads have active 
and accessible outside-of-the-locomotive sanitation plans in place for 
the employees per Sec.  229.137(b)(iv). WATCO further claims that this 
would bring uniformity to operations as well as reduce their exposure 
to the added cost and local environmental compliance for supporting the 
servicing of the locomotives equipped with toilets.
    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-
2007-27969) and may be submitted by any of the following methods:
     Web site: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 
instructions for submitting comments.
     Fax: 202-493-2251.
     Mail: Docket Operations Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., W12-140, Washington, DC 
20590.
     Hand Delivery: 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Room W12-140, 
Washington, DC 20590, 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://www.regulations.gov.
    Anyone is able to search the electronic form of any written 
communications and 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).

    Issued in Washington, DC on January 4, 2008.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program 
Development.
 [FR Doc. E8-308 Filed 1-10-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P