[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 9 (Friday, January 13, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4454-4455]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-00693]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Docket Number FRA-2016-0121]


Petition for Waiver of Compliance

    In accordance with part 211 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (CFR), this provides the public notice that by a document 
dated December 6, 2016, the Long Island Railroad Company (LIRR) has 
petitioned the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) for a waiver of 
compliance from certain provisions of the Federal railroad safety 
regulations contained at 49 CFR part 214.353(a). FRA assigned the 
petition Docket Number FRA-2016-0121. LIRR submitted this petition for 
a partial waiver of a new regulation, which will be set forth in 49 CFR 
214.353(a) and will go into effect on April 1, 2017, requiring that 
conductors who act as roadway workers in charge (RWICs) receive annual 
training as set forth in that section. See 81 FR 37840.
    LIRR is not requesting a waiver from the portion of the new rule 
requiring that it provide conductors who act as RWICs the specified 
training set forth in the rule. LIRR already includes all of those 
items in its training of assistant conductors prior to their promotion 
to conductors. In fact, the level of Qualifications/Certifications for 
LIRR assistant conductors and conductors far exceeds the RWIC 
requirements, and LIRR conductors are fully qualified on all operating 
rules and physical characteristics for LIRR's entire system. LIRR also 
is revising its syllabus to make sure that, as of April 1, 2017, the 
refresher training given to conductors includes all of the specified 
topics, as well as any additional topics recommended in FRA Safety 
Advisory 2016-02 (See 81 FR 85676). Nor is it requesting a waiver from 
the portion of the new rule requiring that these individuals be 
qualified every 3 years and, in fact, will require that they be 
qualified every 2 years. Finally, LIRR is not requesting that the 
annual training requirement be waived for LIRR's roadway workers or any 
employees (such as non-roadway worker Engineering Department employees) 
other than conductors who act as RWICs. It is simply requesting that 
LIRR be permitted to provide the specified training to its conductors 
who act as RWICs every 2 years.
    LIRR is making this request because of the difficulty of training 
all of its 1,200 conductors each year. LIRR currently conducts bi-
annual block training, with half of its conductors (600 out of 1,200) 
trained in 1 year and the other half trained the following year. LIRR 
also notes that it provides all of them each spring with a ``Roadway 
Worker Refresher Guide'' that includes specific RWIC responsibilities. 
In running its program in this manner, LIRR is able to maintain its 24 
hour a day/7 day a week operation of the largest commuter railroad in 
the United States and carry over 87 million passengers per year. 
Requiring that all 1,200 conductors receive training each year would 
force LIRR to hire additional conductors (an expensive and lengthy 
process) and/or increase overtime (also expensive) to cover the 
assignments that conductors cannot cover due to the increased training. 
LIRR also may need to hire additional training personnel and/or limit 
the amount of time such training personnel can devote to teaching LIRR 
employees other non-mandated but useful subjects. As a public benefit 
corporation that receives much of its funding from tax revenues, these 
added personnel and training costs then would be passed on to the 
public.
    LIRR has spoken with officials from The International Association 
of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART) Division, 
the union representing LIRR's conductors. SMART provided a letter in 
support, and it is available for review in the public docket for this 
waiver petition.
    Permitting LIRR to instruct and qualify its conductors who act as 
RWICs on the items set forth in 49 CFR 214.353, Training and 
qualification of roadway workers who provide on-track safety for 
roadway work groups, every 2 years, rather than instruct them every 
year and qualify them every 3 years, would allow LIRR to maintain the 
safety of its passengers and employees and also allow it to maintain 
its operations without the need to: (i) Hire additional conductors and/
or training personnel, (ii) increase overtime, or (iii) reduce training 
in non-mandated areas. As the waiver would be in the public interest 
and consistent with public safety, LIRR requests that it be granted.
    A copy of the petition, as well as any written communications 
concerning the petition, is available for review online at 
www.regulations.gov and in person at the U.S. Department of 
Transportation's (DOT) Docket Operations Facility, 1200 New Jersey 
Avenue SE., W12-140, Washington, DC 20590. The Docket Operations 
Facility is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except 
Federal Holidays.
    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

[[Page 4455]]

connection with these proceedings since the facts do not appear to 
warrant a hearing. If any interested party desires an opportunity for 
oral comment and a public hearing, 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 February 27, 2017 will be considered by 
FRA before final action is taken. Comments received after that date 
will be considered as far as practicable.
    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.). 
In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits comments from the 
public to better inform its processes. DOT posts these comments, 
without edit, including any personal information the commenter 
provides, to www.regulations.gov, as described in the system of records 
notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at 
www.transportation.gov/privacy. See also https://www.regulations.gov/privacyNotice for the privacy notice of regulations.gov.

Robert C. Lauby,
Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety, Chief Safety Officer.
[FR Doc. 2017-00693 Filed 1-12-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-06-P