[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 147 (Monday, August 3, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Page 38480]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-18443]


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

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.

Canadian National Railway Company

(Waiver Petition Docket Number FRA-2009-0075)

    The Canadian National Railway Company (CN), the United 
Transportation Union (UTU), and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers 
and Trainmen (BLET) jointly petitioned to establish a pilot project 
under 49 U.S.C. 21108 providing for an alternative means of measuring 
the monthly cycle under which employees' on-duty hours are capped at 
276 hours per month. The pilot project would be made possible by a 
partial waiver of 49 U.S.C. 21103(a)(1), permitting the cap on total 
service for certain train employees to be computed on other than a 
calendar month basis. The parties propose to divide the affected 
employees into two groups, one of which would measure their on-duty 
time from the first day of each month to the last day of the same 
month. For the other group, the measurement would be made from the 
fifteenth (15th) day of the month until the fourteenth (14th) day of 
the following month. The parties aver that this approach will be as 
effective as the statutory pattern in preventing fatigue while ensuring 
that rested employees will be available throughout each calendar month. 
The entire joint CN, UTU and BLE petition may be viewed at http://www.regulations.gov under the docket number listed above.
    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 (Docket Number FRA-2009-0075) 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 20 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 July 28, 2009.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program 
Development.
[FR Doc. E9-18443 Filed 7-31-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P