[Federal Register: August 3, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 149)]
[Notices]
[Page 43320-43321]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr03au07-121]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
Petition for Waiver of Compliance.
In accordance with Part 211 of Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations
(CFR), 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.
Maryland Transit Administration
[Modification to Waiver Petition Docket Number FRA-2000-7054/7286]
This Notice supersedes the Federal Register Notice published July
5, 2007, (Volume 72, Number 128; Pages 36752-53) concerning the above
Docket Number, which included an erroneous statement.
As a modification to Maryland Transit Administration's (MTA)
existing Shared Use/Temporal Separation waiver originally granted by
FRA on January 19, 2001, MTA requests that FRA modify the original
terms and conditions of its permanent waiver of compliance from certain
sections of Title 49 of the CFR for operation of its Cockeysville Light
Rail Line (CLRL) due to changes that have recently occurred. (See
Statement of Agency Policy Concerning Jurisdiction Over the Safety of
Railroad Passenger Operations and Waivers Related to Shared Use of the
Tracks of the General Railroad System by Light Rail and Conventional
Equipment, 65 FR 42529 (July 10, 2000). See also Joint Statement of
Agency Policy Concerning Shared Use of the Tracks of the General
Railroad System by Conventional Railroads and Light Rail Transit
Systems, 65 FR 42626 (July 10, 2000).)
In this regard, the Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NS), the
freight railroad sharing track temporally with the CLRL, is ceasing
freight service on the CLRL from a point at Chain Marker 122 continuing
northward to the end of the line. The sole exception to this is at
Chain Marker 122, where NS continues to cross the CLRL via a diamond
crossover to service the NS Flexi-Flo facility. With regard to this, NS
filed a Petition for Exemption for authority to abandon the freight
service on the CLRL (See Surface Transportation Board (STB) Docket No.
AB-290, Sub No. 237X, Norfolk Southern Ry. Co.--Abandonment Exemption--
In Baltimore Co., MD). Because of procedural questions raised during
the proceeding, the STB denied the Petition for Exemption. MTA has
commenced a proceeding with the STB to address and clarify those
questions. Upon receipt of that clarification, NS will resubmit its
Petition for Exemption with respect to the abandonment. In the interim,
no freight service is operating on the line.
MTA is requesting that FRA determine that there is no longer shared
use on the CLRL and that waivers are no longer necessary because the
statutes and regulations covered in the Shared Use Policy Statement no
longer apply to the CLRL north of Chain Marker 122, due to the
cessation of NS freight service on the CLRL from that point. Also, MTA
agrees that the waivers that were approved in the January 19, 2001,
Decision Letter are relevant at the diamond crossing, and that they
should remain in effect. In addition, Standard Operating Procedure
LR.07.02.04 that replaced MTA Procedure No. 6.33, provides sufficient
protection at the interlocked diamond crossover. Lastly, MTA requests
that, to the extent FRA regulations apply in any manner, FRA waive the
requirements of 49 CFR Part 219, Control of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, for
MTA employees who control the operation of NS trains across the diamond
because it is adopting the FTA's Drug and Alcohol Policy, which
provides an equivalent level of oversight.
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
[[Page 43321]]
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 (e.g., Waiver Petition Docket Number 2000-
7054/7286) and must be submitted to the Docket Clerk, DOT Docket
Management Facility, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., West Building Ground
Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590.
Communications received within 45 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 July 30, 2007.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program
Development.
[FR Doc. E7-15140 Filed 8-2-07; 8:45 am]
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