[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 137 (Monday, July 19, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43047-43048]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-16254]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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) 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 requested, and the
petitioner's arguments in favor of relief.
The Canadian Pacific Railway
(Docket Number FRA-2004-17989)
The Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) seeks a waiver of compliance from
certain provisions of the Railroad Operating Practices regulations, 49
CFR part 218, regarding blue signal protection of workers.
Specifically, to permit train and yard crew members, and utility
employees to remove and replace batteries in two-way end-of-train
telemetry devices (EOT), while the EOT is in place on the rear of the
train the individual has been called to operate, without establishing
any blue signal protection.
Section 218.5 defines worker as any railroad employee assigned
to inspect, test, repair, or service railroad rolling equipment or
their components, including brake systems. Members of train and yard
crews are excluded except when assigned such work on railroad
rolling equipment that is not part of the train or yard movement
they have been called to operate (or assigned to as ``utility
employees''). Utility employees assigned to
[[Page 43048]]
and functioning as temporary members of a specific train or yard
crew (subject to the conditions set forth in Sec. 218.22 of this
chapter), are excluded only when so assigned and functioning.
Both Sec. Sec. 218.25 and 218.27, requires blue signal protection
when workers are on, under, or between rolling equipment on main track
or other than main track. Sec. 218.22(b) states in part:
A utility employee may be assigned to serve as a member of a
train or yard crew without the protection otherwise required by
subpart D of part 218 of this chapter only under the following
conditions. (5) The utility employee is performing one or more of
the following functions: Inspect, test, install remove or replace a
rear marking device or end of train device. Under all other
circumstances a utility employee working on, under, or between
railroad rolling equipment must be provided with blue signal
protection in accordance with Sec. Sec. 218.23 through 218.30 of
this part.
The FRA has determined that removing or replacing a battery in an
EOT, while the device is in place on the rear of a train, requires blue
signal protection since this task is a service and repair to the
device. Therefore, the only way a utility employee or a train and yard
crew member can legally remove or replace the EOT battery, without
establishing blue signal protection, is to remove the EOT from the rear
of the train and perform the battery work outside the area normally
protected by the blue signal.
CP contends that safety would be enhanced if the individual was
allowed to perform the battery work without removing the device from
the rear of the train. Exposure to injury is greatly reduced because
the individual is handling a small NiCad battery, as opposed to lifting
the EOT device that weighs 32-34 pounds. It is CP's position, supported
by the BNSF waiver docket 10660, that changing EOT batteries
in situ requires less time, places the employee in less immediate
danger, and creates less physical strain than removing and replacing
the entire EOT.
CP wants to make it clear that this waiver request is intended to
cover only train and yard employees working on their own assigned
equipment and properly assigned transportation utility employees. It is
not intended to cover mechanical or other employees who clearly require
blue flag protection to work in or under equipment.
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, 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 FRA-
2004-17989) and must be submitted to the Docket Clerk, DOT Docket
Management Facility, Room PL-401 (Plaza Level), 400 7th Street, S.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20590. 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 July 7, 2004.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Acting Associate Administrator for Safety.
[FR Doc. 04-16254 Filed 7-16-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P