Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 181 / Monday, September 21, 2009 / Notices 48121 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

Fifteenth Meeting: RTCA Special 

Committee 203/Unmanned Aircraft 

Systems 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of RTCA Special 

Committee 203, Unmanned Aircraft 

Systems. 

SUMMARY: The FAA is issuing this notice 

to advise the public of a meeting of 

RTCA Special Committee 203, 

Unmanned Aircraft Systems. 

DATES: The meeting will be held 

October 13–15, 2009 from 9 a.m.–5 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at 

RTCA, Inc., 1828 L Street, NW., Suite 

805, Washington, DC 20036. Point of 

Contact: RTCA Secretariat, POC: Rudy 

Ruana, Telephone: 202–833–9339, Email: rruana@rtca.org. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: (1) 

RTCA Secretariat, 1828 L Street, NW., 

Suite 805, Washington, DC 20036; 

telephone (202) 833–9339; fax (202) 

833–9434; Web site http://www.rtca.org. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant 

to section 10(a)(2) of the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92– 

463, 5 U.S.C., Appendix 2), notice is 

hereby given for a Special Committee 

203/Unmanned Aircraft Systems 

meeting. The agenda will include: 

October 13: 

• Opening Plenary Session. 

• Introductory Remarks and 

Introductions. 

• Approval of Fourteenth Plenary 

Summary. 

• Plenary Presentations: 

• Leadership Updates. 

• Chairperson Update. 

• Designated Federal Official (DFO) 

Update. 

• Overview of SC–203 Terms of 

Reference (TOR’s). 

• Work Plan Status. 

• Work Group Update. 

• Work Product(s) flow into MASPS 

Overview. 

• Plenary consideration of 

Operational Services and 

Environmental Definition (OSED) 

Product for Final Review and 

Comment (FRAC). 

• Overview of Product Team 

Breakout Sessions. 

• Closing Plenary Session. 

• Date, Place, and Time for Plenary 

16. 

• Plenary Adjourns. 

• Product Team Breakout Sessions. 

• Requirements/Architecture Product 

Team. 

• Operational Services and 

Environmental Definition (OSED) 

Product Team. 

• Control & Communications (C&C) 

Product Team. 

• Sense & Avoid (S&A) Product 

Team. 

October 14: 

• Product Team Breakout Sessions. 

• Requirements/Architecture Product 

Team. 

• Operational Services and 

Environmental Definition (OSED) 

Product Team. 

• Control & Communications (C&C) 

Product Team. 

• Sense & Avoid (S&A) Product 

Team. 

October 15: 

• Product Team Breakout Sessions. 

• Requirements/Architecture Product 

Team. 

• OSED Product Team. 

• C&C Product Team. 

• S&A Product Team. 

• Product Team Back Briefs. 

• Closing Plenary Session (Other 

Business, Date, Place, and Time for 

Plenary, Adjourns). 

Note: Dress Business Casual. 

Attendance is open to the interested public 

but limited to space availability. With the 

approval of the chairmen, members of the 

public may present oral statements at the 

meeting. Persons wishing to present 

statements or obtain information should 

contact the person listed in the ‘‘FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT’’ section. Members of 

the public may present a written statement to 

the committee at any time. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on September 

14, 2009. 

Francisco Estrada C., 

RTCA Advisory Committee. 

[FR Doc. E9–22636 Filed 9–18–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–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. 

Ballard Terminal Railroad Company, 

LLC (Waiver Petition Docket Number 

FRA–2009–0029) 

The Ballard Terminal Railroad 

Company, LLC (BTRC) of Seattle, WA, 

has petitioned for a permanent waiver of 

compliance for one locomotive (BDTL 

98) and one caboose (MSN 10056) from 

the requirements of the Railroad Safety 

Glazing Standards, Title 49 CFR part 

223, which require certified glazing in 

all windows. BTRC operates two small 

freight railroads, namely 3-mile long 

Ballard Terminal Railroad (BDTL) since 

1998, and 5-mile long Meeker Southern 

Railroad (MSN) since 2000, in western 

Washington state. BTRC states that they 

have been completely accident and 

incident free. 

The subject locomotive BDTL 98 on 

the BDTL line is a 1940 EMC SW–1 600 

hp switching locomotive whose side 

windows conform to Title 49 CFR 

223.11 glazing requirements; however, 

the front and rear windows do not. The 

front and rear windows are glazed with 

1⁄4 inch laminated safety glass that is in 

good condition with no discoloration. 

BTRC states that this very early EMC 

locomotive has different window 

geometry from the ‘‘post war’’ 

locomotives of the same series. As such, 

the cost of a set of custom windows 

meeting FRA requirements is basically 

prohibitive for their small company. 

The subject caboose MSN 10056 on 

the MSN line is an ex-BNSF all steel 

caboose with cupola that is used 

primarily as a ‘‘shoving platform.’’ 

BTRC states that when they acquired the 

caboose, all of the windows were 

covered up with sheet metal. Upon 

removal of the sheet steel, it was 

discovered that all of the windows were 

old and damaged such that they were 

nearly opaque. Due to uncertainty of 

spare parts and cost considerations, 

BTRC replaced all of them with 1⁄4 inch 

laminated safety glass which does not 

comply with Title 49 CFR 223.13 

glazing requirements. However, the 

installed glass remains in good 

condition with no discoloration. 

BTRC states that they operate in a 

primarily agricultural area, which is a 

very benign environment. In 8 years, 

they have not experienced any rock 

throwing or shooting damage to the 

equipment. BTRC’s maximum operating 

speed is 10 mph, and their trains 

average five cars in length. BTRC further 

states that the expense of retrofitting the 

subject locomotive and caboose to 

comply with FRA Safety Glazing 

Standards would impose an undue 

financial burden on their small 

company to protect against situations 

they do not encounter. 

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48122 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 181 / Monday, September 21, 2009 / Notices 

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– 

0029) and may be submitted by any of 

the following methods: 

• Web site: http:// 

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 

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 September 

14, 2009. 

Grady C. Cothen, Jr., 

Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety 

Standards and Program Development. 

[FR Doc. E9–22578 Filed 9–18–09; 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) 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. 

Tri-County Metropolitan 

Transportation District of Oregon 

(Waiver Petition Docket Number FRA– 

2009–0072) 

The Tri-County Metropolitan 

Transportation District of Oregon 

(TriMet) seeks two waivers of 

compliance from certain provisions of 

the Railroad Locomotive Safety 

Standards, 49 CFR part 229, and the Use 

of Locomotive Horns at Public HighwayRail Grade Crossings, 49 CFR part 222. 

TriMet is seeking waivers to allow the 

volume of locomotive horns to be lower 

than the minimum requirement of 96 

dB(A) and to not be required to 

routinely sound locomotive horns when 

approaching public highway-rail grade 

crossings on a specific line segment. 

Specifically, TriMet is seeking: (1) A 5- 

year waiver from the provisions of 49 

CFR 229.129(a), which require the lead 

locomotive to be equipped with a 

locomotive horn that produces a 

minimum sound level of 96 dB(A) and 

a maximum sound level of 110 dB(A) at 

100 feet forward of the locomotive in its 

direction of travel; and (2) a permanent 

waiver from the provisions of 49 CFR 

222.21(a) and 222.21(b)(2), which 

require locomotive horns to be sounded 

when approaching public highway-rail 

grade crossings, using the ‘‘long-longshort-long’’ pattern that begins 15 to 20 

seconds before the locomotive reaches 

the crossing, but no further than 1⁄4 mile 

from the crossing. 

TriMet is a municipal corporation that 

was created in 1969 for the purpose of 

taking over the local bus systems and 

providing regional transit in the 

Portland, OR, metropolitan area. Its 

district is composed of the Greater 

Portland area, including Multnomah, 

Clackamas and Washington counties. 

TriMet’s systems include buses, light 

rail, and beginning in 2009, commuter 

rail. On February 2, 2009, TriMet began 

Westside Express Service (WES) 

operations over a 14.7-mile rail line 

between Wilsonville and Beaverton. 

WES service uses self-propelled diesel 

multiple-unit rail cars. WES currently 

runs 32 trains per weekday. The 

Portland & Western Railroad (P&W) also 

operates four to five freight trains per 

day over the line. P&W operates WES 

trains and also dispatches the trains for 

both railroads. The waiver petition 

applies only to WES trains. 

Since commencement of WES 

revenue service, TriMet has received 

numerous complaints from citizens 

regarding locomotive horn noise at 

crossings. There are 34 public highwayrail grade crossings on the rail line. 

Newspaper articles and 

correspondences from State legislators 

have expressed complaints and urged 

that TriMet take action to quiet the 

horns. TriMet continues to work with 

the local cities to find ways to lessen the 

impact of locomotive horns. This 

includes investigating and 

demonstrating the use of wayside horns 

and planning for the creation of quiet 

zones. The purpose of the waiver is to 

seek temporary relief while these 

remedies are put in place. 

Title 49 CFR 229.129(a) reads as 

follows: ‘‘Each lead locomotive shall be 

equipped with a locomotive horn that 

produces a minimum sound level of 96 

dB(A) and a maximum sound level of 

110 dB(A) at 100 feet forward of the 

locomotive in its direction of travel. The 

locomotive horn shall be arranged so 

that it can be conveniently operated 

from the engineer’s usual position 

during operation of the locomotive.’’ 

TriMet is requesting a 5-year waiver of 

the decibel requirements. It proposes to 

equip WES trains with an electronic 

warning device that generates both a 

horn and bell sound that can be 

sounded continuously; the horn will 

sound at 80 dB(A) at a distance of 100 

feet. The trains are also equipped with 

a 96 dB(A) horn that the operator will 

have discretion to sound in cases of 

emergencies or other situations. The bell 

will ring at a minimum of 60 dB(A) at 

a distance of 100 feet. When the 

locomotive on a WES train approaches 

a public highway-rail grade crossing, the 

horn on the lead locomotive will begin 

to sound at 80 dB(A) in the required 

long-long-short-long blast pattern at 

least 15 seconds (but no more than 20 

seconds) before the locomotive enters 

the crossing. 

TriMet asserts that this will not 

compromise safety because an 

alternative procedure for equivalent 

safety will be in place. WES trains will 

sound an 80 dB(A) horn and follow the 

sounding procedures as provided in 49 

CFR 222.21, except in the Lombard 

segment (see the second part of the 

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