Petition for Waiver of Compliance, 17669 [2021-06949]

Agencies

• Federal Railroad Administration
• DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 63 (Monday, April 5, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Page 17669]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-06949]



[[Page 17669]]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Docket Number FRA-2018-0049]


Petition for Waiver of Compliance

    Under part 211 of title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), this 
document provides the public notice that on March 18, 2021, BNSF 
Railway Company (BNSF) petitioned the Federal Railroad Administration 
(FRA) for an expansion of a current waiver of compliance from certain 
provisions of the Federal railroad safety regulations contained at 49 
CFR part 232, Brake System Safety Standards for Freight and Other Non-
Passenger Trains and Equipment; End-Of-Train Devices. FRA assigned the 
petition Docket Number FRA-2018-0049.
    The existing waiver provides BNSF certain relief from 49 CFR 
232.15, Movement of defective equipment; 49 CFR 232.103(f), General 
requirements for all train brake systems; and 49 CFR 232.213, Extended 
haul trains; and a statutory exemption from the requirements of title 
49, United States Code section 20303. BNSF seeks to expand the scope of 
the waiver to include coal trains operating over the Pikes Peak 
Subdivision in Colorado and across the Sand Hills Subdivision in 
Nebraska.
    On April 12, 2019, FRA granted BNSF a test waiver to conduct a 
pilot program on a segment of its system to ``demonstrate that the use 
of wheel temperature detectors to prove brake health effectiveness 
(BHE) will improve safety, reduce risks to employees, and provide cost 
savings to the industry.''
    In its current petition, BNSF states the test waiver committee for 
BHE has been actively reviewing the data generated since August 2018, 
and during that time, BNSF has tested more than 5,500 trains. In 
building on the test waiver success of the Southern Transcon intermodal 
trains and the Northern Transcon grain trains, BNSF requests to expand 
its BHE initiative on BNSF's coal network in a two-phrase program: (1) 
The addition of the Pike's Peak route with detectors at Monument and 
Castle Rock, and (2) the addition of the Sand Hills route with 
detectors at testing sites.
    BNSF states that coal trains in this program would be subject to 
the same requirements for training completion of all related work 
groups, and the detectors would not be activated until training records 
are provided to the test waiver committee. BNSF is prepared to begin 
training on BHE processes in Denver, Colorado; Alliance, Nebraska; 
Temple, Texas; and Amarillo, Texas, in March and May 2021.
    BNSF asserts the expansion would increase the braking improvements 
on the equipment, increase the number of waiver trains, and enable more 
locations to complete the automatic single car tests. BNSF explains it 
has installed, tested, and validated the required detectors at the 
Pike's Peak site. These detectors were installed to continue the BHE 
testing in a cold weather climate and location that allows for the 
testing of southbound loaded coal trains. BNSF proposes that the 
processes and parameters would follow all conditions of the Southern 
Transcon intermodal BHE Program, but differ in that the trains 
``cycle'' and stay intact in unit train operations, similar to the 
Northern Transcon grain trains.
    A copy of the petition, as well as any written communications 
concerning the petition, is available for review online at 
www.regulations.gov.
    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 parties 
desire an opportunity for oral comment and a public hearing, 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 and may be submitted by any of the following 
methods:
     Website: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 
instructions for submitting comments.
     Fax: 202-493-2251.
     Mail: Docket Operations Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation (DOT), 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, W12-140, Washington, DC 
20590.
     Hand Delivery: 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, Room W12-140, 
Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
except Federal Holidays.
    Communications received by May 20, 2021 will be considered by FRA 
before final action is taken. Comments received after that date will be 
considered if practicable.
    Anyone can 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 document, if 
submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.). 
Under 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits comments from the public to better 
inform its processes. DOT posts these comments, without edit, including 
any personal information the commenter provides, to 
www.regulations.gov, as described in the system of records notice (DOT/
ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at https://www.transportation.gov/privacy. See also https://www.regulations.gov/privacyNotice for the 
privacy notice of regulations.gov.

    Issued in Washington, DC.
John Karl Alexy,
Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety, Chief Safety Officer.
[FR Doc. 2021-06949 Filed 4-2-21; 8:45 am]
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