Notice2023-28110
Petition for Waiver of Compliance
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
December 21, 2023
Issuing agencies
Transportation DepartmentFederal Railroad Administration
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 244 (Thursday, December 21, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 244 (Thursday, December 21, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 88488-88489]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-28110]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
[Docket Number FRA-2016-0086]
Petition for Waiver of Compliance
Under part 211 of title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), this
document provides the public notice that by letter dated December 13,
2022, Union Pacific Railroad Company (UPRR) and Canadian National
Railway Co. (CN) petitioned the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)
to join an existing waiver of compliance in Docket Number FRA-2016-
0086.\1\ The existing relief in this docket provides CSX Transportation
(CSX), BNSF Railway (BNSF), and Kansas City Southern Railway (now known
as CPKC) conditional relief from certain provisions of the Federal
railroad safety regulations contained at 49 CFR parts 232 (Brake System
Safety Standards for Freight and Other Non-Passenger Trains and
Equipment; End-Of-Train Devices), and 229 (Railroad Locomotive Safety
Standards). Specifically, the existing relief allows the railroads to
test extending the air flow method (AFM) test intervals from 92 days to
184 days on locomotives equipped with the New York Air Brake (NYAB)
CCB-II and Fastbrake air brake systems.
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\1\ UPRR's petition is available at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/document/FRA-2016-0086-0024">https://www.regulations.gov/document/FRA-2016-0086-0024</a>, and CN's petition is available at
<a href="https://www.regulations.gov/document/FRA-2016-0086-0022">https://www.regulations.gov/document/FRA-2016-0086-0022</a>. Notice of
CN's petition was previously published on November 16, 2022. See
<a href="https://www.regulations.gov/document/FRA-2016-0086-0021">https://www.regulations.gov/document/FRA-2016-0086-0021</a>.
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UPRR and CN seek to form test waiver teams operating under the
current test committee overseeing the relief in this docket to test
UPRR's 2,113 NYAB CCBII-equipped and 660 Fastbrake-equipped locomotives
and CN's 772 NYAB CCB-2 equipped locomotives.
This document also provides the public notice that BNSF, who is
already a party to the relief in this docket, petitioned FRA to extend
the existing relief and make the relief permanent.\2\ Subsequently,
however, BNSF recognized existing implementation issues that could
impact the validity of data being gathered under the terms of the
existing relief in this docket and
[[Page 88489]]
asked FRA to suspend its field investigation of BNSF's extension
request until the railroad reviewed and addressed the issues through
the Test Committee established per the terms of the existing relief in
this docket.\3\ Given BNSF's request, on October 6, 2022, FRA dismissed
BNSF's petition to allow the railroad time to correct the identified
issues.\4\ In a letter dated June 14, 2023, BNSF notified FRA that it
had addressed the issues identified and BNSF reiterated its requests to
extend and make permanent the existing relief in this docket.\5\
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\2\ <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/document/FRA-2016-0086-0016">https://www.regulations.gov/document/FRA-2016-0086-0016</a>.
\3\ <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/document/FRA-2016-0086-0019">https://www.regulations.gov/document/FRA-2016-0086-0019</a>.
\4\ <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/document/FRA-2016-0086-0020">https://www.regulations.gov/document/FRA-2016-0086-0020</a>.
\5\ <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/document/FRA-2016-0086-0025">https://www.regulations.gov/document/FRA-2016-0086-0025</a>.
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A copy of the petitions from UPRR, CN, and BNSF, as well as any
written communications concerning the petitions, are available for
review online at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>.
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.
All communications concerning these proceedings should identify the
appropriate docket number and may be submitted at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>. Follow the online instructions for submitting
comments.
Communications received by February 20, 2024 will be considered by
FRA before final action is taken. Comments received after that date
will be considered if practicable. Anyone can 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.). Under 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 <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>, as described in the system
of records notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at <a href="https://www.transportation.gov/privacy">https://www.transportation.gov/privacy</a>. See also <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/privacy-notice">https://www.regulations.gov/privacy-notice</a> for the privacy notice of <a href="http://regulations.gov">regulations.gov</a>.
Issued in Washington, DC.
John Karl Alexy,
Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety, Chief Safety Officer.
[FR Doc. 2023-28110 Filed 12-20-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P
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