[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 117 (Wednesday, June 18, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36625-36626]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-15395]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
Petitions for Waivers of Compliance
In accordance with title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
section 211.41 and 49 U.S.C. 20103, this 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
regulations. The individual petition is described below, including the
party seeking relief, the regulatory provisions involved, the nature of
the relief being
[[Page 36626]]
sought, and the petitioner's argument in favor of relief.
Eastern Maine Railway; FRA Waiver Petition No. FRA-2003-15011
Eastern Maine Railway (EMRY), located in St. John, New Brunswick,
Canada, seeks a permanent waiver of compliance from 49 CFR 241.7(c),
United States Locational Requirements for Dispatching of United States
Rail Operations, to allow the continuation of Canadian dispatching of
that part of Mattawamkeag Subdivision located in the United States
extending between Vanceboro, Maine, and Brownville Junction, Maine,
approximately 99 miles, as defined in Appendix A to Part 241. This
request was submitted in accordance with Sec. 241.7(c)(3), which
permits waiver of the requirements found in Part 241 that all
dispatching of U.S. rail operations be conducted in the U.S. This
territory was previously grandfathered in the exceptions to
extraterritorial dispatching contained in FRA's Interim Final Rule (see
66 FR 63942, December 11, 2001).
In this regard, the track segment identified in the Interim Final
Rule remains the same as identified above. This segment consists of a
single main track dispatched from a single desk at the EMRY's Rail
Traffic Control office in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada, under
Canadian Rail Operating Rules (CROR), and the EMRY's Timetable and
Special Instructions. The trackage is non-signaled and operated under
Occupancy Control System rules. All dispatching is conducted in
English. All units of measure are the same as those used in the U.S.
EMRY operates approximately 2 trains a day over this segment. The train
dispatchers who perform the dispatching function for the EMRY are
employed by the New Brunswick Southern Railway (NBSR) and are therefore
covered under the NBSR's company drug and alcohol policies and their
dispatching office is under 24-hour security. The Department of
Transportation of the Province of New Brunswick, Canada, is the
regulatory authority which exercises safety jurisdiction over the New
Brunswick Southern Railway, which provides dispatching services for the
EMRY.
Based on the foregoing, EMRY seeks a permanent waiver of compliance
from 49 CFR 241.7(c), United States Locational Requirements for
Dispatching of United States Rail Operations, to allow the continuation
of Canadian dispatching on that part of the Mattawamkeag Subdivision
located in the United States, as described above.
Interested parties are invited to participate in this proceeding by
submitting written views, data, or comments. FRA does not anticipate
scheduling a public hearing in connection with the request for a waiver
of certain regulatory provisions. If any interested party desires an
opportunity for oral comment, he or she should notify FRA, in writing,
before the end of the comment period and specify the basis for his or
her request. All communications concerning these proceedings should
identify the appropriate docket number (Docket Number FRA 2003-15011)
and must be submitted to the DOT Docket Management Facility, Room PL-
401 (Plaza level) 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. All
documents in the public docket, including EMRY's detailed waiver
request, are also available for inspection and copying on the Internet
at the docket facility's 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 this proceeding are available for examination during regular
business hours (9 a.m.-5 p.m.) at the above facility.
FRA wishes to inform all potential commenters that 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) or you may visit http://dms.dot.gov.
Issued in Washington, DC on June 11, 2003.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program
Development.
[FR Doc. 03-15395 Filed 6-17-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P