[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 95 (Friday, May 16, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28592-28593]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-11348]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Docket Number FRA-2014-0043]


Petition for Waiver of Compliance

    In accordance with part 211 of Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations 
(CFR), this document provides the public notice that by a document 
dated April 22, 2014, the National Passenger Railroad Corporation 
(Amtrak) is requesting a waiver from the requirements of 49 CFR 
214.336, On-track safety procedures for certain roadway work groups and 
adjacent tracks. FRA assigned the petition Docket Number FRA-2014-0043.
    In its petition, Amtrak requests relief from the portion of 49 CFR 
part 214 where roadway workers (herein referred to as ``workers'') are 
able to occupy and satisfy the requirements of a predetermined place of 
safety (PPOS). The waiver is sought for the express purpose of 
providing workers with a safe means of traversing to a PPOS when 
working alongside Amtrak's production equipment, which does not allow 
access between the rails of the occupied track, and where an adjacent 
controlled track is present on the same side as the worker. When it is 
safe to do so, the Roadway Worker-In-Charge (RWIC) will identify the 
PPOS to be within the vertical planes projected by the occupied track's 
running rails within working limits, or clear of all tracks, per 49 CFR 
214.336(b). When such a place is not accessible or will require the 
worker to directly expose themselves to movement on one or more tracks 
while traversing to occupy their PPOS, the RWIC will identify the PPOS 
to be within the perimeter of the equipment so that no part of their 
person will break the plane of the equipment's perimeter. The equipment 
will effectively protect the worker from fouling the adjacent 
controlled track.
    Title 49 CFR 214.336(a)(1) defines the procedure for on-track 
safety that is required for each adjacent controlled track when a 
roadway work group with at least one of the roadway workers on the 
ground is engaged in a common task with on-track, self-propelled 
equipment, or coupled equipment on an occupied track. Title 49 CFR 
214.336(b)(1) provides the requirements for affected workers to cease 
all on-ground work and equipment movement being performed, and occupy a 
PPOS upon receiving either a warning or notification of equipment 
movement on the adjacent controlled track. The average track center 
spacing on the Northeast Corridor (NEC) is less than 19 feet, and is 
therefore regulated under the requirements of 49 CFR 214.336. Amtrak's 
production equipment units are typically work trains that consist of 
many on-track, self-propelled, coupled pieces of equipment, and the 
materials required for continuous action track renewal (rail, ballast, 
and/or tie replacement), removal of track, and/or track laying. The 
current practice for workers engaged in a common task with on-track, 
self-propelled equipment prevents worker access to a PPOS between the 
running rails of the occupied track, and when the workers must cross 
the tracks for which movement is authorized. The safest PPOS is 
identified within the perimeter of the immobile production equipment on 
the occupied track but not between the running rails.
    Title 49 CFR 214.336(e)(2) provides exceptions for workers 
performing maintenance or repairs either alongside or within the 
perimeter of a roadway maintenance machine, or coupled equipment on the 
occupied track. The exception to the requirement to cease work does not 
apply to workers on the ground engaged in a common task with such 
equipment when a warning is provided for movement on the adjacent 
controlled track, when the equipment prevents access between the rails 
of the occupied track, when the only alternate PPOS requires workers to 
cross tracks for which movement is authorized at maximum authorized 
speeds (the highest authorized speed on the NEC is 150 mph, 220 feet 
per second).
    An unfortunate consequence of the procedures for adjacent 
controlled track is that workers are frequently required to engage in a 
common task alongside Amtrak's production equipment to cross a 
convergent path with the projected path of the movement for which a 
warning was just received. A worker's exposure to the risk associated 
with an adjacent controlled track is maximized at that moment as a 
result of the regulation designed to minimize this particular risk. The 
normal frequency of passing trains on the NEC can be as high as 30 
trains per hour, which includes instances of multiple trains authorized 
to pass the work group simultaneously. In the scenario of multiple 
authorized movements, a worker's view of adjacent track movements could 
be obstructed by an approaching movement requiring them to blindly 
cross an unprotected track.
    Amtrak seeks regulatory relief so that the RWIC may identify a PPOS 
in an area of the stationary equipment, which minimizes risk for the 
worker traversing to occupy the identified PPOS, provided that such 
PPOS is within the widest perimeter dimension of the equipment and no 
part of the worker's person may break the plane projected by the 
equipment's widest perimeter dimension. The equipment would effectively 
shelter the worker in a place of safety. Equipment authorized to 
operate on the NEC must meet the dimensional specification, ``Clearance 
Limitations of Roadway Equipment; Plate C'', which is defined 
specifically for the safe passage of multiple adjacent movements at the 
most restrictive spacing of track center locations (Figure 1). It is 
this specification that ensures the worker a PPOS protected from 
authorized movements.
    Amtrak states in its petition that it is dedicated to ensuring the 
safety of its employees, and emphasizes that Amtrak does not wish to 
seek a waiver from the procedures for adjacent controlled track 
movements when the RWIC feels it safe for the workers to cross and 
occupy a PPOS in accordance with the regulation. The method of 
identifying a PPOS within the widest perimeter dimension of stationary 
equipment on an occupied track is a common practice that has been 
employed since Amtrak's inception without any records of serious injury 
or fatality. In contrast, the procedure provided in the regulation 
(crossing live tracks to reach the PPOS) has resulted in fatalities. 
The Fatality Analysis of Maintenance-of-way Employees and Signalmen 
committee's most recent publication on ``Fatalities on Adjacent 
Tracks'' shows that 91 percent of the Roadway Worker Protection 
fatalities that are classified as adjacent track fatalities occurred on 
adjacent tracks with less than 19-foot spacing, where roadway 
maintenance machines were present and in use on the track where work 
was being performed.
    Amtrak believes that the waiver requested will provide a level of 
safety for workers engaged in a common task with on-track, self-
propelled equipment, or coupled equipment on an occupied track that 
exceeds the regulation's requirements. Therefore, Amtrak believes that 
relief from the PPOS

[[Page 28593]]

requirements for production track-laying machines, as defined in the 
regulation, is in the best interest of its roadway workers and 
consistent with railroad safety objectives.
    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 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 by June 16, 2014 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 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 the U.S. Department 
of Transportation'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. 2014-11348 Filed 5-15-14; 8:45 am]
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