[Federal Register: September 8, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 173)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 54255]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr08se04-22]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
49 CFR Part 229
[Docket No. FRA-2003-16357, Notice No. 2]
RIN 2130-AB34
Locomotive Event Recorders
AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of
Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of public hearing and extension of
comment period.
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SUMMARY: By notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) published on June 30,
2004 (69 FR 39774), FRA proposed revisions to the regulations governing
locomotive event recorders in order to improve the crashworthiness of
railroad locomotive event recorders and to enhance the quality of
information available for post-accident investigations. In that
document, FRA announced that it expected to be able to resolve this
rulemaking without a public, oral hearing but indicated that if it
received a specific request for a public, oral hearing, one would be
scheduled. In response to that document, several commenters requested
the opportunity for a public, oral hearing, and one commenter sought an
extension in the time for submitting written comments. This document
grants those requests.
DATES: (1) Comments: Comments must be received by October 11, 2004,
unless information received at the public hearing indicates a need to
further extend this time period.
(2) Public Hearing: A public hearing will be held on September 30,
2004, beginning at 10 a.m. at the location listed below to provide
interested parties the opportunity to comment on the proposed revisions
contained in the NPRM.
Any person wishing to participate in the public hearing should
notify FRA's Docket Clerk by mail at the address provided below at
least five working days prior to the date of the hearing and submit
three copies of the oral statement that he or she intends to make at
the hearing. The notification should identify the party the person
represents, and the particular subject(s) the person plans to address.
The notification should also provide the Docket Clerk with the
participant's mailing address. FRA reserves the right to limit
participation in the hearings of persons who fail to provide such
notification.
ADDRESSES: (1) Comments: Comments related to Docket No. FRA-2003-16357
may be submitted by any of the following methods:
Web site: http://dms.dot.gov. Follow the instructions for
submitting comments on the DOT electronic docket site.
Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building, Room PL-401,
Washington, DC 20590-001.
Hand Delivery: Room PL-401 on the plaza level of the
Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC between 9 a.m.
and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, except Federal Holidays.
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting
comments.
Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and
docket number or Regulatory Identification Number (RIN) for this
rulemaking. Note that all comments received will be posted without
change to http://dms.dot.gov including any personal information. FRA
wishes to inform all potential commenters that anyone is able to search
the electronic form of all comments received into any agency docket 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.
(2) Public Hearing: A hearing to provide interested parties the
opportunity to comment on the proposed revisions contained in the NPRM
will be held in Conference Room 1 located on the 7th floor at 1120
Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20005.
(3) FRA Docket Clerk: Written notification of a party's desire to
participate in the public hearing should identify the docket number and
must be submitted to the Docket Clerk, Office of Chief Counsel, Federal
Railroad Administration, RCC-10, Mail Stop 10, 1120 Vermont Avenue,
NW., Washington, DC 20005.
(4) DOT Docket: For access to the docket to read background
documents or comments received, go to http://dms.dot.gov at any time or
to PL-401 on the plaza level of the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh
Street, SW., Washington, DC between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through
Friday, except Federal Holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Edward W. Pritchard, Director, Office
of Safety Assurance and Compliance, RRS-10, Mail Stop 25, Federal
Railroad Administration, Department of Transportation, 1120 Vermont
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20590 (telephone 202-493-6247), or Thomas
J. Herrmann, Trial Attorney, Office of Chief Counsel, Mail Stop 10,
Federal Railroad Administration, 1120 Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington,
DC 20590 (telephone 202-493-6036).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The public hearing will be informal and will
be conducted in accordance with FRA's Rules of Practice (49 CFR 211.25)
by representatives designated by FRA. FRA's representatives will make
opening statements outlining the scope of the hearing, as well as any
additional procedures for the conduct of the hearing. The hearing will
be a non-adversarial proceeding in which all interested parties will be
given the opportunity to express their views regarding this NPRM,
without cross-examination. After all initial statements have been
completed, those persons wishing to make brief rebuttal statements will
be given an opportunity to do so in the same order in which initial
statements were made.
Issued in Washington, DC, on September 2, 2004.
Betty Monro,
Acting Federal Railroad Administrator.
[FR Doc. 04-20416 Filed 9-3-04; 1:49 pm]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P