[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 107 (Thursday, June 5, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23988-23989]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-10205]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
[Docket Number FRA-2003-15012]
Notice of Petition for Extension of Waiver of Compliance
AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of
Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This document provides the public notice that Canadian
National Railway Company (CN) petitioned FRA for relief from certain
regulations concerning extraterritorial dispatching.
DATES: FRA must receive comments on the petition by July 7, 2025. FRA
will consider comments received after that date to the extent
practicable.
ADDRESSES:
Comments: Comments related to this docket may be submitted by going
to https://www.regulations.gov and following the online instructions
for submitting comments.
Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and
docket number. All comments received will be posted without change to
https://www.regulations.gov; this includes any personal information.
Please see the Privacy Act heading in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
section of this document for Privacy Act information related to any
submitted comments or materials.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
comments received, go to https://www.regulations.gov and follow the
online instructions for accessing the docket.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Curtis Dolan, Railroad Safety
Specialist, FRA Motive Power & Equipment Division, telephone: 334-274-
6354, email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under part 211 of title 49 Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR), this document provides the public notice that by
letter received March 20, 2025, CN petitioned FRA for an extension of a
waiver of compliance from certain provisions of the Federal railroad
safety regulations contained at 49 CFR part 241 (United States
Locational Requirements for Dispatching of United States Rail
Operations). FRA assigned the petition Docket Number FRA-2003-15012.
CN requests relief from 49 CFR 241.7(c), Fringe border dispatching,
to allow the continuation of Canadian dispatching of two locations in
the U.S.: the portion of the Sprague Subdivision extending
approximately 43.8 miles between Baudette and International Boundary,
Minnesota, and the portion of the Strathroy Subdivision extending
approximately 3.1 miles between Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, through the
Paul M. Tellier Tunnel, to Port Huron, Michigan.\1\ In support of its
request, CN states that, since the initial waiver was granted, ``each
of these fringe border segments ha[ve] been regularly and safely
dispatched from Canada'' and this extension \2\ would allow CN to
``continue what it has been safely doing for decades.''
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\1\ Both of these locations are defined in appendix A to part
241, List of Lines Being Extraterritorially Dispatched in Accordance
with the Regulations Contained in 49 CFR part 241, Revised as of
October 1, 2002.
\2\ With this petition, CN requests a waiver extension for 10
years.
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CN explains that changing dispatching to the U.S. on this section
of the Sprague Subdivision ``would introduce not just one, but two[]
[dispatching] hand-offs, given that the track only briefly enters the
United States before re-entering Canada.'' Additionally, in reference
to the portion of track on the Strathroy Subdivision, CN states that it
would be ``impractical to require a dispatching transfer underwater in
the middle of the single-track tunnel at the precise international
border between Canada and the United States.''
A copy of the petition, as well as any written communications
concerning the petition, is available for review online at
www.regulations.gov.
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 and a public hearing, they
should notify FRA, in writing, before the end of the comment period and
specify the basis for their request.
Communications received by July 7, 2025 will be considered by FRA
before final action is taken. Comments received after that date will be
considered if practicable.
Privacy Act
Anyone can search the electronic form of any written communications
and comments received into any of FRA's 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.).
Under 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT
[[Page 23989]]
solicits comments from the public to 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 https://www.transportation.gov/privacy. See also https://www.regulations.gov/privacy-notice for the privacy notice of regulations.gov.
Issued in Washington, DC.
John Karl Alexy,
Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety, Chief Safety Officer.
[FR Doc. 2025-10205 Filed 6-4-25; 8:45 am]
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