Petition for Waiver of Compliance, 55286-55287 [E9-25815]
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55286
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 206 / Tuesday, October 27, 2009 / Notices
19477) or at https://www.dot.gov/
privacy.html.
Issued in Washington, DC, on October 21,
2009.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety
Standards and Program Development.
[FR Doc. E9–25819 Filed 10–26–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–06–P
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) has
received a request for a waiver of
compliance from 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.
Central California Traction Company &
the United Transportation Union
pwalker on DSK8KYBLC1PROD with NOTICES
[Waiver Petition Docket Number FRA–2009–
0077]
The Central California Traction
Company (CCT) and the United
Transportation Union (UTU) jointly
seek a waiver from compliance of the
provisions of 49 U.S.C. 21103(a)(4),
which provides that a train employee
may not be required or allowed to
remain or go on duty after that
employee has initiated an on-duty
period each day for 6 consecutive days,
unless that employee has had at least 48
hours off duty at the employee’s home
terminal.
The parties state that provisions of
their current collective bargaining
agreements provide for an enhanced
level of rest and safety for employees
working regular or extra board
assignments that is superior to the
conditions imposed by 49 U.S.C.
21103(a)(4). Specifically, the agreements
provide for four regular assignments
working Monday through Friday, with
regular starting times. Extra assignments
are operated on weekends, usually one
on Saturday and one on Sunday.
Employees are called on Friday
afternoon for the weekend assignments
with Extra board employees, who fill
vacancies in regular and extra weekend
assignments, are subject to call during
certain calling windows, and have one
scheduled day off. CCT crews always
complete their assignments and spend
their off-duty periods at their home
VerDate Nov<24>2008
16:45 Oct 26, 2009
Jkt 220001
terminal. These provisions would be
combined with compliance with other
provisions of the hours of service laws,
including a minium of 10 hours of
undisturbed rest between assignments,
and employees not exceeding 276 hours
of service a month. At the time of this
petition, CCT had 16 employees in train
and engine service; 12 on regular
assignments and the remainder on the
extra board. The petition submitted by
CCT and UTU may be viewed at http:
//www.regulations.gov under the docket
number listed above.
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–2009–
0077) and may be submitted by any of
the following methods:
• Web site: https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the online
instructions for submitting comments.
• Fax: 202–493–2251.
• Mail: Docket Operations Facility,
U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200
New Jersey Avenue, SE., W12–140,
Washington, DC 20590.
• Hand Delivery: 1200 New Jersey
Avenue, SE., Room W12–140,
Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m.
and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays.
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 http:
//www.regulations.gov.
Anyone is able to search the
electronic form of any written
communications and comments
received into any of our dockets by the
name of the individual submitting the
document (or signing the document, if
submitted on behalf of an association,
business, labor union, etc.). You may
review DOT’s complete Privacy Act
Statement in the Federal Register
PO 00000
Frm 00106
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR
19477) or at https://www.dot.gov/
privacy.html.
Issued in Washington, DC on October 21,
2009.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety
Standards and Program Development.
[FR Doc. E9–25817 Filed 10–26–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–06–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
Petition for Waiver of Compliance
In accordance with Title 49 Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR) § 211.41,
notice is hereby given that the Federal
Railroad Administration (FRA) has
received a request for a waiver of
compliance with certain requirements of
the Federal railroad 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.
New Jersey Transit Rail Corporation
[Docket Number FRA–2009–0096]
The New Jersey Transit Rail
Corporation (NJTR) seeks a waiver from
the requirements of 49 CFR
240.117(e)(1) through (4), 49 CFR
240.305, and 49 CFR 240.307 in
connection with implementation of a
Close Call Reporting System (C3RS)
Demonstration Pilot Project (Pilot
Project) sponsored by FRA’s Office of
Research and Development. These
sections of the regulation relate to
punitive actions that are required to be
taken against locomotive engineers for
the violation of certain railroad
operating rules. Refer to 49 CFR Part 240
for the specific regulatory requirements.
NJTR and selected employees of
NJTR’s rail system represented by the
American Train Dispatchers Association
(ATDA), the Brotherhood of Locomotive
Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), and
the United Transportation Union (UTU),
desire to participate in the Pilot Project,
which is one of the action items
included in FRA’s Action Plan for
Addressing Critical Railroad Safety
Issues (Action Plan). The Action Plan is
available at https://www.fra.dot.gov. In
addition, 49 U.S.C. 20156, enacted as
part of the Rail Safety Improvement Act
of 2008 (Pub. L. 110–432) authorizes the
conduct of ‘‘pilot programs’’ designed to
evaluate and manage railroad safety
risks. The Pilot Project is one such
program.
E:\FR\FM\27OCN1.SGM
27OCN1
pwalker on DSK8KYBLC1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 206 / Tuesday, October 27, 2009 / Notices
As noted in the Action Plan, in other
industries such as aviation and mining,
as well as in the European railway
industry, implementation of ‘‘close call’’
reporting systems that shield reporting
employees from discipline (and the
employers from punitive sanctions
levied by regulation) have contributed
to major reductions in accidents. In
March of 2005, FRA completed an
overarching memorandum of
understanding with railroad labor
organizations and management to
develop pilot programs to document
close calls, i.e., unsafe events that do not
result in a reportable accident but very
well could have. Participating railroads
are expected to develop corrective
actions to address the problems that
may be revealed. The aggregate data
may prove useful in FRA’s decisionmaking concerning regulatory and other
options to address human factor-caused
accidents.
NJTR, ATDA, BLET, UTU, the Bureau
of Transportation Statistics (BTS) and
FRA have developed and signed an
implementing memorandum of
understanding (IMOU), based on the
FRA’s overarching memorandum of
understanding, as a first step in
commencing the Pilot Project. The Pilot
Project would involve approximately
1,400 yard, road service, yardmaster,
and train dispatcher employees working
within the boundaries of NJTR’s
operating territory (including the
Southern Tier and Pascack Valley Line,
but not Conrail and Amtrak operating
territories). As referenced in the IMOU,
certain ‘‘close calls’’ may be properly
reported by the employee(s) involved
and later discovered by NJTR, for
example, through subsequent
retrospective analysis of locomotive
event recorder data, etc. In order to
encourage employee reporting of close
calls, the IMOU contains provisions to
shield the reporting employee from
NJTR discipline. NJTR, ATDA, BLET,
and UTU also desire to shield the
reporting employee(s) and NJTR from
punitive sanctions that would otherwise
arise as provided in certain sections of
49 CFR Part 240 for properly reported
close call events as defined in the
IMOU. The waiver petition is requested
for the duration of the Pilot Project (5
years from implementation or until the
demonstration project is completed or
parties to the IMOU withdraw as
described in the IMOU, whichever is
first).
Note: Article 7.2 (of the IMOU)
CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH A
REPORTING EMPLOYEE IS NOT
PROTECTED FROM NJTR DISCIPLINE AND/
OR DECERTIFICATION AND OTHER FRA
ENFORCEMENT—NJTR employees included
VerDate Nov<24>2008
16:45 Oct 26, 2009
Jkt 220001
in this C3RS/IMOU receive no protection
from discipline and/or decertification or from
FRA enforcement action when one or more
of the following conditions occur:
1. The employee’s action or lack of
action was intended to damage NJTR or
another entity’s operations or
equipment or to injure other
individuals, or intentionally places
others in danger (e.g., sabotage);
2. The employee’s action or lack of
action involved a criminal offense;
3. The employee’s behavior involved
substance abuse or inappropriate use of
controlled substances;
4. If the report is rejected by BTS or
the Peer Review Team (PRT);
5. The event resulted in any type of
accident and/or has caused or alleged to
have caused any injury, illness, or
medical treatment of any kind to any
person involved in the event;
6. The event resulted in an
identifiable release of a hazardous
material; or
7. The event was observed in realtime by FRA and/or a railroad employee
and reported to NJTR management; or
8. The event was observed in real time
as part of Efficiency Testing.
Similarly, an employee is not exempt
from discipline and/or decertification
for a violation that NJTR or FRA
identifies contemporaneously (e.g., a
block circuit is occupied by a train
without authority, and the train
dispatcher notices it before the train
backs off the circuit) before the
employee files a close call report. In
such situations, NJTR or FRA may use
event recorder information to support
discipline and/or decertification and/or
enforcement. For example, a NJTR
official, who observes a train operate
past a signal that requires a stop, may
use any relevant data recorded by the
locomotive’s event recorder in pursuing
disciplinary action against the train
crew, regardless of whether a member of
the crew timely files a close call report.
In its petition, NJTR indicated that the
parties signatory to the IMOU believe
the data from these properly reported
close call incidents as defined in the
IMOU will be invaluable in analysis and
development of effective corrective
actions. NJTR expressed the view that
without the requested waiver, the
employee(s) involved in incidents such
as those described above will not file
reports of the incidents and that the
incidents will likely go undetected,
resulting in no opportunity for analysis,
data trending or appropriate corrective
actions. Noting the success of close call
reporting systems in other industries
(e.g., aviation and maritime), NJTR
further indicated that all parties
signatory to the IMOU and participating
PO 00000
Frm 00107
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
55287
in the Pilot Project believe that the
Project and requested regulatory relief is
in the public interest and consistent
with railroad safety.
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–2009–
0096) and may be submitted by any of
the following methods:
• Web site: https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the online
instructions for submitting comments.
• Fax: 202–493–2251.
• Mail: Docket Operations Facility,
U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200
New Jersey Avenue, SE., W12–140,
Washington, DC 20590.
• Hand Delivery: 1200 New Jersey
Avenue, SE., Room W12–140,
Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m.
and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except Federal Holidays.
Communications received within 20
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://www.regulations.gov.
Anyone is able to search the
electronic form of any written
communications and 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).
Issued in Washington, DC, on October 21,
2009.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety
Standards and Program Development.
[FR Doc. E9–25815 Filed 10–26–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–06–P
E:\FR\FM\27OCN1.SGM
27OCN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 206 (Tuesday, October 27, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55286-55287]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-25815]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
Petition for Waiver of Compliance
In accordance with Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Sec.
211.41, notice is hereby given that the Federal Railroad Administration
(FRA) has received a request for a waiver of compliance with certain
requirements of the Federal railroad 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.
New Jersey Transit Rail Corporation
[Docket Number FRA-2009-0096]
The New Jersey Transit Rail Corporation (NJTR) seeks a waiver from
the requirements of 49 CFR 240.117(e)(1) through (4), 49 CFR 240.305,
and 49 CFR 240.307 in connection with implementation of a Close Call
Reporting System (C3RS) Demonstration Pilot Project (Pilot Project)
sponsored by FRA's Office of Research and Development. These sections
of the regulation relate to punitive actions that are required to be
taken against locomotive engineers for the violation of certain
railroad operating rules. Refer to 49 CFR Part 240 for the specific
regulatory requirements.
NJTR and selected employees of NJTR's rail system represented by
the American Train Dispatchers Association (ATDA), the Brotherhood of
Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), and the United Transportation
Union (UTU), desire to participate in the Pilot Project, which is one
of the action items included in FRA's Action Plan for Addressing
Critical Railroad Safety Issues (Action Plan). The Action Plan is
available at https://www.fra.dot.gov. In addition, 49 U.S.C. 20156,
enacted as part of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (Pub. L.
110-432) authorizes the conduct of ``pilot programs'' designed to
evaluate and manage railroad safety risks. The Pilot Project is one
such program.
[[Page 55287]]
As noted in the Action Plan, in other industries such as aviation
and mining, as well as in the European railway industry, implementation
of ``close call'' reporting systems that shield reporting employees
from discipline (and the employers from punitive sanctions levied by
regulation) have contributed to major reductions in accidents. In March
of 2005, FRA completed an overarching memorandum of understanding with
railroad labor organizations and management to develop pilot programs
to document close calls, i.e., unsafe events that do not result in a
reportable accident but very well could have. Participating railroads
are expected to develop corrective actions to address the problems that
may be revealed. The aggregate data may prove useful in FRA's decision-
making concerning regulatory and other options to address human factor-
caused accidents.
NJTR, ATDA, BLET, UTU, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics
(BTS) and FRA have developed and signed an implementing memorandum of
understanding (IMOU), based on the FRA's overarching memorandum of
understanding, as a first step in commencing the Pilot Project. The
Pilot Project would involve approximately 1,400 yard, road service,
yardmaster, and train dispatcher employees working within the
boundaries of NJTR's operating territory (including the Southern Tier
and Pascack Valley Line, but not Conrail and Amtrak operating
territories). As referenced in the IMOU, certain ``close calls'' may be
properly reported by the employee(s) involved and later discovered by
NJTR, for example, through subsequent retrospective analysis of
locomotive event recorder data, etc. In order to encourage employee
reporting of close calls, the IMOU contains provisions to shield the
reporting employee from NJTR discipline. NJTR, ATDA, BLET, and UTU also
desire to shield the reporting employee(s) and NJTR from punitive
sanctions that would otherwise arise as provided in certain sections of
49 CFR Part 240 for properly reported close call events as defined in
the IMOU. The waiver petition is requested for the duration of the
Pilot Project (5 years from implementation or until the demonstration
project is completed or parties to the IMOU withdraw as described in
the IMOU, whichever is first).
Note: Article 7.2 (of the IMOU) CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH A
REPORTING EMPLOYEE IS NOT PROTECTED FROM NJTR DISCIPLINE AND/OR
DECERTIFICATION AND OTHER FRA ENFORCEMENT--NJTR employees included
in this C3RS/IMOU receive no protection from discipline and/or
decertification or from FRA enforcement action when one or more of
the following conditions occur:
1. The employee's action or lack of action was intended to damage
NJTR or another entity's operations or equipment or to injure other
individuals, or intentionally places others in danger (e.g., sabotage);
2. The employee's action or lack of action involved a criminal
offense;
3. The employee's behavior involved substance abuse or
inappropriate use of controlled substances;
4. If the report is rejected by BTS or the Peer Review Team (PRT);
5. The event resulted in any type of accident and/or has caused or
alleged to have caused any injury, illness, or medical treatment of any
kind to any person involved in the event;
6. The event resulted in an identifiable release of a hazardous
material; or
7. The event was observed in real-time by FRA and/or a railroad
employee and reported to NJTR management; or
8. The event was observed in real time as part of Efficiency
Testing.
Similarly, an employee is not exempt from discipline and/or
decertification for a violation that NJTR or FRA identifies
contemporaneously (e.g., a block circuit is occupied by a train without
authority, and the train dispatcher notices it before the train backs
off the circuit) before the employee files a close call report. In such
situations, NJTR or FRA may use event recorder information to support
discipline and/or decertification and/or enforcement. For example, a
NJTR official, who observes a train operate past a signal that requires
a stop, may use any relevant data recorded by the locomotive's event
recorder in pursuing disciplinary action against the train crew,
regardless of whether a member of the crew timely files a close call
report.
In its petition, NJTR indicated that the parties signatory to the
IMOU believe the data from these properly reported close call incidents
as defined in the IMOU will be invaluable in analysis and development
of effective corrective actions. NJTR expressed the view that without
the requested waiver, the employee(s) involved in incidents such as
those described above will not file reports of the incidents and that
the incidents will likely go undetected, resulting in no opportunity
for analysis, data trending or appropriate corrective actions. Noting
the success of close call reporting systems in other industries (e.g.,
aviation and maritime), NJTR further indicated that all parties
signatory to the IMOU and participating in the Pilot Project believe
that the Project and requested regulatory relief is in the public
interest and consistent with railroad safety.
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-
2009-0096) and may be submitted by any of the following methods:
Web site: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online
instructions for submitting comments.
Fax: 202-493-2251.
Mail: Docket Operations Facility, U.S. Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., W12-140, Washington, DC
20590.
Hand Delivery: 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Room W12-140,
Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except Federal Holidays.
Communications received within 20 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://www.regulations.gov.
Anyone is able to search the electronic form of any written
communications and 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).
Issued in Washington, DC, on October 21, 2009.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program
Development.
[FR Doc. E9-25815 Filed 10-26-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P
