[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 199 (Friday, October 15, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63535-63536]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-26012]


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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.

Utah Transit Authority

[Supplement to Waiver Docket Number FRA-1999-6253]

    As a supplement to the Utah Transit Authority's (UTA) petition for 
approval of shared use and waiver of certain FRA regulations (the 
original shared use waiver was granted by the FRA Railroad Safety Board 
on August 19, 1999, for the Sandy/Salt Lake TRAX Light Rail Transit 
line), UTA is amending the terms and conditions of the original waiver 
by constructing the Mid-Jordan LRT line extension of the current Sandy/
Salt Lake TRAX LRT line. This extension will be urban rapid transit 
light rail, featuring some temporally separated shared trackage 
operation with the Bingham Branch of the General Railroad System.
    The Bingham Branch has two short line freight railroads; the Savage 
Bingham & Garfield Railroad Company and the Utah Railway Company. UTA 
respectfully requests an additional 5-year extension of the current 
waiver, and a modification of the current waiver to include the Mid-
Jordan extension and its new fleet of Siemens S70 TRAX vehicles. UTA 
submits that the extension and modifications of the waiver sought 
herein are in the public interest and consistent with railroad safety 
because UTA will adopt specific policies and procedures that will 
provide a level of safety equivalent to that provided by full 
compliance with FRA regulations. UTA submits that this request is 
consistent with the waiver process for shared use. 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).
    On August 19, 1999, UTA filed a petition for approval of shared use 
and waiver of certain FRA regulations pursuant to 49 CFR 211.7 for the 
Sandy/Salt Lake TRAX Light Rail Transit line. FRA granted the waiver 
for a period of 5 years until December 13, 2004. On August 12, 2004, 
UTA filed a petition requesting a 10-year extension of the waiver, and 
to additionally cover twenty-nine vehicles purchased from the Santa 
Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). On December 20, 2004, FRA 
granted an extension of the waiver, including the VTA vehicles, for a 
period of 1 year, effective through December 13, 2005. On June 3, 2005, 
UTA filed a petition requesting a 5-year extension of the waiver. On 
December 15, 2005, FRA granted an extension of the waiver for a period 
of 5 years, effective through December 15, 2010.
    UTA is expanding its original Sandy/Salt Lake TRAX LRT line by 
building the 10.6-mile Mid-Jordan LRT line extension, with temporally 
separated light rail and freight operations sharing track on the 
Bingham Branch. As part of this Mid-Jordan extension, UTA will 
reconstruct this existing Bingham Branch Track and add a new parallel 
track. This construction will allow that portion of the Mid-Jordan LRT 
line that runs on the Bingham Branch to utilize two tracks for light 
rail operations during the temporally separated passenger period from 
5am-midnight daily, and all day Saturday and Sunday, with maximum 
authorized speed of 65 mph. Lastly, UTA will buy a new fleet of Siemens 
S70 TRAX vehicles that will operate throughout the entire light rail 
system. In addition to the TRAX vehicles for which UTA has already 
received a waiver of certain FRA regulations (existing TRAX vehicles), 
UTA intends to add seventy-seven Siemens S70 light-rail vehicles to its 
fleet. The S70 vehicles are very similar in nature to the existing TRAX 
vehicles, with minor differences.

[[Page 63536]]

    UTA operates light rail vehicles that meet the equipment standards 
of the California Public Utilities Commission, General Order 143-B. The 
risk of collision between TRAX light rail vehicles will be minimized 
because movement of TRAX vehicles currently is controlled by UTA 
controllers in accordance with established operating rules. For this 
new extension, the same procedures will be in place. Specifically, UTA 
seeks a waiver from certain portions of 49 CFR, particularly Sec. Sec.  
219 Control of Alcohol and Drug Use; 221 Rear End Marking Devices; 222 
Use of Locomotive Horns at Public Highway-Rail Grade crossings; 223 
Safety Glazing Standards; 225 Railroad Accidents/Incidents; 228 Hours 
of Service of Railroad Employees; 229 Locomotive Safety Standards; 231 
Railroad Safety Appliance Standards; 234 Grade Crossing Signal Systems 
Safety; 238 Passenger Equipment Safety Standards; 239 Passenger Rail 
Emergency Preparedness; and 240 Qualification and Certification of 
Locomotive Engineers.
    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-
1999-6253) 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 document (or signing the 
document, 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 (65 FR 19477) or at 
http://www.dot.gov/privacy.html.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on October 8, 2010.
Robert C. Lauby,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Regulatory and Legislative 
Operations.
[FR Doc. 2010-26012 Filed 10-14-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P