[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 13 (Tuesday, January 21, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3457-3458]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-00957]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Docket No. FRA-2014-0001]


Establishment of an Emergency Relief Docket for Calendar Year 
2014

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of establishment of public docket.

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SUMMARY: This Notice announces the establishment of FRA's emergency 
relief docket (ERD) for calendar year 2014. The designated ERD for 
calendar year 2014 is Docket Number FRA-2014-0001.

ADDRESSES: See Supplementary Information for further information 
regarding submitting petitions or comments to Docket Number FRA-2014-
0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 19, 2009, FRA published a direct 
final rule addressing the establishment of ERDs and the procedures for 
handling petitions for emergency waivers of safety rules, regulations, 
or standards during an emergency situation or event. 74 FR 23329. That 
direct final rule became effective on July 20, 2009, and made minor 
modifications to Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 211.45 in 
FRA's Rules of Practice published at 49 CFR part 211. Paragraph (b) of 
Section 211.45 provides that each calendar year, FRA will establish an 
ERD in the publicly accessible DOT docket system (available at http://www.regulations.gov). Paragraph (b) of Section 211.45 further provides 
that FRA will publish a notice in the Federal Register identifying by 
docket number the ERD for that year. As noted in the rule, FRA's 
purpose for establishing the ERD and emergency waiver procedures is to 
provide an expedited process for FRA to address the needs of the public 
and the railroad industry during emergency situations or events. This 
Notice announces that the designated ERD for calendar year 2014 is 
Docket Number FRA-2014-0001.
    As detailed in Section 211.45, if the FRA Administrator determines 
that an emergency event as defined in 49 CFR 211.45(a) has occurred, or 
that an imminent threat of such an emergency occurring exists, and 
public safety would benefit from providing the railroad industry with 
operational relief, the emergency waiver procedures of 49 CFR 211.45 
will go into effect. In such an event, the FRA Administrator will issue 
a statement in the ERD indicating

[[Page 3458]]

that the emergency waiver procedures are in effect and FRA will make 
every effort to post the statement on its Web site at http://www.fra.dot.gov. Any party desiring relief from FRA's regulatory 
requirements as a result of the emergency situation should submit a 
petition for emergency waiver in accordance with 49 CFR 211.45(e) and 
(f). Specific instructions for filing petitions for emergency waivers 
in accordance with 49 CFR 211.45 are found at 49 CFR 211.45(f). 
Specific instructions for filing comments in response to petitions for 
emergency waivers are found at 49 CFR 211.45(h).
    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 document, 
if submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.). 
See http://www.regulations.gov/#!privacyNotice for the privacy notice 
of regulations.gov or interested parties may review DOT's complete 
Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on April 11, 
2000 (65 FR 19477).

Robert C. Lauby,
Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety, Chief Safety Officer.
[FR Doc. 2014-00957 Filed 1-17-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P