70304 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 232 / Friday, December 3, 2004 / Notices 

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. 

National Railroad Passenger 

Corporation 

[Docket Number FRA–2004–19756] 

The National Railroad Passenger 

Corporation (AMTRAK) seeks a waiver 

of compliance from the provisions of the 

Federal Track Safety Standards, 49 CFR 

213.333(l), subpart G, regarding the 

requirement for conducting annual 

instrumented wheel set (IWS) testing. 

The waiver would grant AMTRAK relief 

by extending their deadline for 

conducting the 2004 instrumented 

wheel set (IWS) test on its North East 

Corridor (NEC). This relief provides 

AMTRAK sufficient time to jointly 

resolve technical issues with FRA and 

allows AMTRAK to better manage the 

expense and possible service 

disruptions caused by IWS testing. 

AMTRAK anticipates that these 

technical issues will be resolved with 

FRA in early 2005. It also anticipates 

that further testing with IWS for 9 inch 

cant deficiency operation will need to 

take place once these technical issues 

are resolved. In order to reduce cost, 

and minimize service disruption, 

AMTRAK would like to schedule its 

annual IWS testing concurrent with 9 

inch cant deficiency testing, and is 

requesting this waiver so that all testing 

can benefit from one installation of 

instrumentation for IWS. 

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 communication concerning these 

proceedings should identify the 

appropriate docket number (e.g., Waiver 

Petition Docket Number FRA–2004–

19756) 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 

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

http://dms.dot.gov.

Issued in Washington, DC, on November 

29, 2004. 

Michael J. Logue, 

Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety.

[FR Doc. 04–26631 Filed 12–2–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–06–M

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. NHTSA–2004–18745] 

Receipt of Applications for Temporary 

Exemption From a Federal Motor 

Vehicle Safety Standard; American 

Suzuki Motorcycle Corporation

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration (NHTSA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of receipt of two 

applications for temporary exemptions 

from a Federal motor vehicle safety 

standard; Request for comments. 

SUMMARY: We have received two 

applications from American Suzuki 

Motorcycle Corporation (Suzuki), a 

motorcycle manufacturer, for temporary 

exemptions from a provision in the 

Federal motor vehicle safety standard 

on motorcycle controls and displays 

specifying that a motorcycle rear brake, 

if provided, must be controlled by a 

right foot control. Suzuki asks that we 

permit the left handlebar as an 

alternative location for the rear brake 

control for two of its scooters, the 

Burgman 400 and the Burgman 650. 

Suzuki states its belief that ‘‘compliance 

with the standard would prevent the 

manufacturer from selling a motor 

vehicle with an overall level of safety at 

least equal to the overall safety level of 

nonexempt vehicles.’’

We are publishing this notice of 

receipt of the application in accordance 

with our regulations on the subject, and 

ask for public comment on Suzuki’s 

application. This publication does not 

mean that we have made a judgment yet 

about the merits of the applications.

DATES: You should submit your 

comments early enough to ensure that 

Docket Management receives them not 

later than January 3, 2005.

ADDRESSES: You may submit your 

comments [identified by the DOT DMS 

Docket Number cited in the heading of 

this document] 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. 

You may call the Docket at (202) 366–

9324. You may visit the Docket from 10 

a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

except Federal Holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

non-legal issues, you may call Mr. 

Michael Pyne, Office of Crash 

Avoidance Standards at (202) 366–4171. 

His FAX number is (202) 493–2739. 

For legal issues, you may call Ms. 

Dorothy Nakama, Office of the Chief 

Counsel at (202) 366–2992. Her FAX 

number is (202) 366–3820. 

You may send mail to these officials 

at National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration, 400 Seventh St., SW., 

Washington, DC 20590.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

49 U.S.C. Section 30113(b) provides 

the Secretary of Transportation the 

authority to exempt, on a temporary 

basis, motor vehicles from a motor 

vehicle safety standard under certain 

circumstances. The exemption may be 

renewed, if the vehicle manufacturer 

reapplies. The Secretary has delegated 

the authority for Section 30113(b) to 

NHTSA. 

NHTSA has established regulations at 

49 CFR Part 555, Temporary Exemption 

from Motor Vehicle Safety and Bumper 

Standards. Part 555 provides a means 

by which motor vehicle manufacturers 

may apply for temporary exemptions 

from the Federal motor vehicle safety