Petition for Waiver of Compliance, 56217 [E6-15752]

Agencies

• Federal Railroad Administration
• DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 186 (Tuesday, September 26, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Page 56217]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-15752]


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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 with certain 
requirements of its safety standards. 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.

Union Pacific Railroad Company

[Waiver Petition Docket Number FRA-2006-25764]

    Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP) seeks a waiver of compliance 
with certain requirements of 49 CFR, 232.205, Class I Brake Test-
Initial Terminal inspection, published January 17, 2001, and 49 CFR 
215--Railroad Freight Car Safety Standards, published April 21, 1980, 
for freight cars received in interchange from the Ferrocarriles 
Nacionales de Mexico Railroad (FXE), at Calexico, California. 
Specifically, UP seeks approval to move the equipment from the 
interchange point, at MP 708.5 on the Calexico Subdivision, to the UP 
rail yard in El Centro, California (a distance of 10.1 miles), without 
performing the inspections and tests specified.
    According to UP, a Class III brake test-trainline continuity 
inspection would be performed per the requirements of 49 CFR 232.211, 
prior to departing Calexico, and the equipment would be inspected to 
ensure safe movement to El Centro at a train speed not to exceed 20 
mph. Equipment found unsafe for movement to El Centro for repairs would 
be set out of the train at Calexico. The train would be equipped with a 
compliant end-of-train device per 49 CFR 232, Subpart E.
    UP currently receives approximately 50 freight cars per day from 
FXE at the interchange point in Calexico. The volume has grown steadily 
in recent years and stands to grow even more as the effects of both the 
NAFTA and GATT trade agreements. United States Customs conduct 
inspections of the equipment at Heber, which usually takes more than an 
hour. If the equipment is ``off air'' for more than 4 hours at Heber, a 
``transfer train brake test'' per the requirements of 49 CFR 232.215, 
would be performed prior to departure. From Heber, the train would move 
to El Centro (a distance of 4.6 miles), where a Class I brake test-
initial terminal inspection would be performed per the requirements of 
49 CFR 232.205.
    UP states that the capacity of the existing railroad facility in 
Calexico is inadequate to handle current volume and the waiver is 
necessary to facilitate movement and to avoid restricting the volume of 
rail cars handled through this gateway. UP asserts that Calexico is a 
``bottleneck'' that causes delays to international commerce on both 
sides of the border, and granting the requested waiver, will have no 
adverse effect on safety. UP also references current railroad 
operations at border crossings in Brownsville and Laredo, Texas, where 
trains move several miles from the border without performing a Class I 
air test.
    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 (FRA-2006-25764) and must be submitted to the 
Docket Clerk, DOT Docket Management Facility, Room PL-401 (Plaza 
Level), 400 7th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. Communications 
received within 45 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 https://
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 https://dms.dot.gov.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on September 20, 2006.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program 
Development.
 [FR Doc. E6-15752 Filed 9-25-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P