[Federal Register: August 14, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 156)]
[Notices]
[Page 45487-45488]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14au07-105]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
Petition for Waiver of Compliance
In accordance with Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
sections 211.9 and 211.41, 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.
Union Pacific Railroad Company
[Docket Number FRA-2006-25862]
Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP) seeks amendment of a waiver for
relief of sanctions from certain sections of 49 CFR Part 240. On
October 17, 2006, FRA's Safety Board granted relief of sanctions from
49 CFR Sections 240.117(e)(1) through (4), 49 CFR sections
240.305(a)(1) through (4) and (6) (excluding supervisors as indicated),
and 49 CFR section 240.307. See Docket FRA-2006-25862. These sections
of the regulation relate to punitive actions that are required to be
taken against locomotive engineers for the violation of certain
railroad operating rules. Refer to 49 CFR Part 240 for a detailed
listing of these sections.
UP and the employees of UP's North Platte Service Unit, represented
by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the
United Transportation Union (UTU), requested the waiver to facilitate
participation in a Close Call Reporting System (C3RS) demonstration
pilot project sponsored by FRA's Office of Research and Development.
The C3RS Demonstration Pilot Project was one of the action items
included in FRA's Rail Safety Action Plan announced on January 25,
2006.
UP, BLET, and UTU developed and signed an implementing memorandum
of understanding (IMOU) for the C3RS project, based on FRA's March
2005, overarching memorandum of understanding with railroad labor
organizations, as a first step in commencing the demonstration pilot
project. The project involves approximately 1,200 yard and road service
employees headquartered in North Platte, NE. The IMOU was sent to FRA
for consideration and acceptance on August 28, 2006, and was
incorporated by reference in the FRA Safety Board's October 17, 2006
decision letter on this waiver.
As referenced in the IMOU, certain close calls may be properly
reported by the employee(s) involved and later discovered by UP, for
example, through subsequent retrospective analysis of locomotive event
recorder data, etc. In order to encourage employee reporting of close
calls, the IMOU contains provisions to shield the reporting employee
from UP discipline.
UP, BLET, and UTU also wanted to shield the reporting employee(s)
and UP from punitive sanctions that would otherwise arise as provided
in selected sections of 49 CFR Part 240 for properly reported close-
call events as defined in the C3RS IMOU. The waiver petition was
requested for the duration of the C3RS demonstration project (5 years
from implementation or until the demonstration project is completed or
parties to the IMOU withdraw as described in the IMOU, whichever occurs
first).
In a letter dated July 5, 2007, UP petitioned for a modification of
the waiver in the form of an amendment to the IMOU. In accordance with
the Board's October 17, 2006 decision letter, any material
modifications to the IMOU must be approved by the FRA Safety Board. UP,
BLET, and UTU now request amendment of the initial IMOU by adding the
following:
Amendment No. 1 to the Confidential Close Call Reporting System
Implementing Memorandum of Understanding (C3RS/IMOU) dated August 17,
2006
Pursuant to the provision of Article 13 of the C3RS/IMOU dated
August 17, 2006, the Parties to the IMOU have approved the following
modifications:
In Article 1C. Add yardmasters to the list of UTU crafts;
In Article 2. Modify Milepost (MP) locations and add additional
trackage to reflect the actual boundaries of the North Platte
Service Unit. The Parties to the Agreement have indicated their
approval of these modifications by signing this document. Due to
oversight in securing signatures on the original C3RS/IMOU, there
are three additional signatories to this Amendment.
Parties also recognize that the FRA must review and take
appropriate action on a separate request to modify the waiver issued
in support of this IMOU.
Article 1. Parties to C3RS/IMOU (Parties)
A. Union Pacific Railroad Company (UPRR, a common carrier
railroad)
B. Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET): the
duly recognized collective bargaining representative of the craft of
UPRR locomotive engineers working within the boundaries of the North
Platte Service Unit of the UPRR (North Platte Service Unit).
C. United Transportation Union (UTU): the duly recognized
collective bargaining representative of the crafts of UPRR
conductors, trainmen, switchmen, yardmasters, and hostlers working
within the boundaries of the North Platte Service Unit.
D. Federal Railroad Administration (FRA): an administration in
the Department of Transportation charged with carrying out all
railroad safety laws of the United States per 49 U.S.C. Section 103
and 49 CFR I.49.
E. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS): the Federal Agency
responsible for maintaining the security of the confidential
database and all materials reviewed by the Peer Review Teams.
Article 2. PURPOSE
The parties are voluntarily entering into this C3RS/IMOU and
implementing this C3RS Demonstration project for the North Platte
Service Unit with the intent to improve the safety of railroad
operations on the North Platte Service Unit. The boundaries of the
North Platte Service Unit are defined as Milepost (MP) 506.35 Sidney
Subdivision, MP 150 Kearney Subdivision, MP 156.9 on the South
Morrill Subdivision to MP 271.4 on the Powder River Subdivision and
MP 521.1 to MP 528.1 on the Casper Industrial Lead on the Powder
River Subdivision, Yoder Subdivision, MP 146 Marysville Subdivision,
and MP 81.1 Julesburg Subdivision. This pilot program is effective
only in the boundaries as specified above and does not include any
area outside these boundaries.
The parties have determined that based on over 20 years
experience of airlines' and foreign railroads' close call reporting
systems, safety may be improved by implementing a system of
voluntary, confidential, discipline-free reporting of close call
events.
The purposes of this reporting are the accumulation of data on
currently unreported or underreported unsafe events, analysis of
reported data by peer review teams, identification of corrective
actions by the Parties to remedy identified safety hazards,
provision of assistance by FRA in its safety oversight role, and
publication of general trends and statistics by government agencies.
Interested parties are invited to participate in these proceedings
by submitting written views, data, or
[[Page 45488]]
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 this waiver petition should identify
the appropriate docket number (e.g. Waiver Petition Docket Number FRA-
2006-24646) and may be submitted by one of the following methods:
Web site: http://dms.dot.gov. Follow the instructions for
submitting comments on the DOT electronic site;
Fax: 202-493-2251;
Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., West Building Ground
Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590; or;
Hand Delivery: 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., West Building Ground
Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
All written communications concerning these proceedings are
available for examination during regular business hours (9 a.m.-5 p.m.)
at the above facility. Documents in the public docket are also
available for review and copying on the Internet at the docket facility
Web site at http://dms.dot.gov.
Communications received within 30 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://dms.dot.gov.
Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all comments
received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, 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 (Volume 65, Number 70; Pages 19477-78). The Statement
may also be found at http://dms.dot.gov.
Issued in Washington, DC on August 8, 2007.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program
Development.
[FR Doc. E7-15945 Filed 8-13-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P