Notice2024-13866
Petition for Waiver of Compliance
Primary source
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Published
June 25, 2024
Issuing agencies
Transportation DepartmentFederal Railroad Administration
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 122 (Tuesday, June 25, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 122 (Tuesday, June 25, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53174-53175]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-13866]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
[Docket Number FRA-2022-0067]
Petition for Waiver of Compliance
Under part 211 of title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), this
document provides the public notice that by letters received January
12, 2024, and May 22, 2024, Illinois Central Railroad Company, a
subsidiary of Canadian National Railway Company (CN), 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 232 (Brake System Safety Standards for Freight and Other
Non-Passenger Trains and Equipment; End-of-Train Devices). The relevant
Docket Number is FRA-2022-0067.
Specifically, CN seeks relief from the requirements of 49 CFR
232.305(b)(2), Single car air brake tests, to ``permit the replacement
of non-FRA condemnable wheelsets on rail cars as part of an in-train
wheelset replacement program without the need to also perform the
[single car air brake test (SCABT)]'' as required. The existing
wheelset replacement program which ``identifies and replaces wheel-sets
with minor defects, which are condemnable under [Association of
American Railroads] standards,'' operates under a waiver in Docket
Number FRA-2019-0003 for a facility in Fulton, Kentucky. CN states that
the program has been ``a resounding success.'' CN seeks to add a new
location, Memphis, Tennessee, to its wheelset replacement program. The
Memphis location would be ``an alternative location to perform repairs
and wheel-set replacements under an SCABT waiver[,] so as to avoid
trains queuing at Fulton for work pursuant to'' the waiver in Docket
Number FRA-2019-0003 granted for the Fulton location.
In support of its request, CN states that ``the repairs conducted
and wheels changed out under the SCABT waiver have made a huge
contribution to preventing and reducing the number of wheel, bearing,
impact, and broken rail-caused derailments, as well as associated
injuries.'' CN adds that the program ``will improve safety by
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significantly reducing the number of switching events required to
replace wheel-sets as CN will no longer have to remove cars from trains
at this location and place them in specialized repair tracks to replace
the wheel-set.''
A copy of the petition, as well as any written communications
concerning the petition, is 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 parties
desire 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">www.regulations.gov</a>.
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
Communications received by August 26, 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 the Department of Transportation's
(DOT) 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. 2024-13866 Filed 6-24-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on June 25, 2024.
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