35418 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 107 / Friday, June 2, 2000 / Notices

Part 209, Subpart D, implements the

statutory provision by requiring (i) a

railroad employing or formerly

employing a disqualified individual to

disclose the terms and conditions of a

disqualification order to the individual’s

new or prospective employing railroad;

(ii) a railroad considering employing an

individual in a safety-sensitive position

to ask the individual’s previous

employing railroad whether the

individual is currently serving under a

disqualification order; and (iii) a

disqualified individual to inform his

new or prospective employer of the

disqualification order and provide a

copy of the same. Additionally, the

regulations prohibit a railroad from

employing a person serving under a

disqualification order to work in a

safety-sensitive position. This

information serves to inform a railroad

whether an employee or prospective

employee is currently disqualified from

performing safety-sensitive service

based on the issuance of a

disqualification order by FRA.

Furthermore, it prevents an individual

currently serving under a

disqualification order from retaining

and obtaining employment in a safetysensitive position in the rail industry.

Annual Estimated Burden Hours: 5

hours.

Title: Grade Crossing Signal System

Safety Regulations.

OMB Control Number: 2130–0534.

Type of Request: Extension of a

currently approved collection.

Affected Public: Businesses.

Form(s): FRA F 6180.83.

Abstract: FRA believes that highwayrail grade crossing (grade crossing)

accidents resulting from warning system

failures and malfunctions can be

reduced. Motorists lose faith in warning

systems that constantly warn of an

oncoming train when none is present.

Therefore, the fail-safe feature of a

warning loses its effectiveness if the

system is not repaired within a

reasonable period of time. A greater risk

of an accident is present when a

warning system fails to activate as a

train approaches a grade crossing. FRA

regulations require railroads to take

specific responses in the event of an

activation failure. FRA uses the

information to develop better solutions

to the problems of grade crossing device

malfunctions.

With this information, FRA is able to

correlate accident data and equipment

malfunctions with the types of circuits

and age of equipment. FRA can then

identify the causes of grade crossing

system failures and investigate them to

determine whether periodic

maintenance, inspection, and testing

standards are effective. FRA also uses

the information collected to alert

railroad employees and appropriate law

enforcement authorities of warning

system failures and malfunctions so that

they can take the necessary measures to

protect motorists and railroad workers

at the grade crossing until repairs have

been made.

Annual Estimated Burden Hours: 601

hours.

Addressee: Send comments regarding

these information collections to the

Office of Information and Regulatory

Affairs, Office of Management and

Budget, 725 Seventeenth Street, NW,

Washington, DC, 20503; Attention: FRA

Desk Officer.

Comments are invited on the

following: Whether the proposed

collections of information are necessary

for the proper performance of the

functions of FRA, including whether the

information will have practical utility;

the accuracy of FRA’s estimates of the

burden of the proposed information

collections; ways to enhance the quality,

utility, and clarity of the information to

be collected; and ways to minimize the

burden of the collections of information

on respondents, including the use of

automated collection techniques or

other forms of information technology.

A comment to OMB is best assured of

having its full effect if OMB receives it

within 30 days of publication of this

notice in the Federal Register.

Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3501–3520.

Issued in Washington, D.C. on May 26,

2000.

Margaret B. Reid,

Acting Director, Office of Information

Technology and Support Systems, Federal

Railroad Administration.

[FR Doc. 00–13837 Filed 6–1–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–06–U

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

Notice of Safety Advisory 2000–2

AGENCY: Federal Railroad

Administration (FRA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of Safety Advisory 2000–

2.

SUMMARY: The FRA is issuing a safety

advisory addressing recommended

replacement of certain components in

Harmon Industries’ ‘‘Electro Code 4’’

and ‘‘Electro Code 4 Plus’’ intermediate

signal units.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

William Goodman, Signal and Train

Control Division, Office of Safety

Assurance and Compliance, FRA, 1120

Vermont Avenue, NW, Washington, DC

20590 (telephone 202–493–3625) or

Mark Tessler, Office of Chief Counsel,

FRA, 1120 Vermont Avenue, NW,

Washington, DC 20590 (telephone 202–

493–6061), e-mail

‘‘mark.tessler@fra.dot.gov’.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On March 25, 1998, a Norfolk

Southern Corporation (NS) freight train

collided with a Consolidated Rail

Corporation freight train in Butler,

Indiana. The post-accident investigation

of the accident revealed that an

intermediate signal in the vicinity of the

accident would randomly go dark.

While it has been determined that the

signal malfunction did not contribute to

the accident, the malfunction was

further investigated by the FRA, the

National Transportation Safety Board

(NTSB), NS and Harmon Industries

(Harmon), manufacturer of the signal

control equipment.

The investigation revealed that certain

modules in Electro Code 4 and Electro

Code 4 Plus intermediate signal units

can contribute to intermittent dark

signal occurrences.

On May 15, 1998, Harmon, through its

Electro Pneumatic Corporation

subsidiary, issued PIA [Product

Improvement Announcement] 98–101

in which it recommended an upgrade to

the ‘‘211S, 211SRP, and 212A’’ modules

that are used in Electro Code 4 and

Electro Code 4 Plus Intermediate signal

units. Harmon offered to supply

upgrades to the listed modules at no

charge through December 31, 1999.

In its Product Improvement

Announcement, Harmon discussed the

211S, 211SRP and 212A modules:

211S and 211SRP

The 211S and 211SRP modules are DC to

DC converters that are used in Electro Code

4 and Electro Code 4 Plus Intermediate signal

units. These modules provide isolated battery

for signal lighting circuits and are located in

the top of the chassis housing behind the

front panel. A resistor in the module’s mid

stage driver circuit may be subject to

excessive heating due to heavy lamp load

and/or continuous duty cycle of the lamplighting circuits. Eventually this resistor can

fail open. In the event this circumstance

occurs, excessive noise can be passed

through the converters to the balance of the

lamp lighting circuits. Random noise on a

lamp output can be interpreted by the dual

microprocessors as false energy. In response,

the processors will reset, resulting in a dark

signal for a period lasting approximately 40

seconds. Ultimately, the processors will

attempt to reinitialize the converters and

restore the signal lighting. The frequency of

the dark signal occurrence depends on many

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 107 / Friday, June 2, 2000 / Notices 35419

variables and may be recognized many times

during a single day, or sporadically during

the course of one or several months.

212A

The 212A module is also part of the signal

lighting circuits within Electro Code 4 and

Electro Code 4 Plus equipment. AC signals

from the processor modules are combined on

the 212A to provide the excitation voltages

to the 211 converter modules. It has been

recognized that several of the electrolytic

capacitors on the 212A modules have failed,

resulting in symmetry distortion of the AC

signal passed to the 211 modules. This

distortion may exaggerate the noise condition

as described with the 211S and 211SRP

above.

Harmon further stated that ‘‘[on the

211S and 211SRP modules, several

components in addition to the resistor

described above, will be replaced and

added to the base design. This upgrade

offer applies only to 211S and 211SRP

converter modules * * * manufactured

between March 1994 and March 1998

* * * ’’

Recommendation

In recognition of the need to assure

safe reliable railroad signal operations,

FRA strongly recommends that:

1. Each railroad having a signal

system which uses any ‘‘Electro Code 4’’

or ‘‘Electro Code 4 Plus’’ Intermediate

signal unit immediately identify each

211S, 211SRP, and 212A module within

their signal system.

2. Each railroad replace or upgrade

every 211S, 211SRP, or 212A module

within their signal system as soon as

possible.

3. Each railroad having 211S, 211SRP,

or 212A modules contact Harmon

Industries Riverside Operations,

Attention Repair and Return, 7337

Central Avenue, Riverside, California

92504, phone no.: 800–854–4752 for

further information pertaining to

upgrades.

Issued in Washington, DC on May 25,

2000.

George Gavalla,

Associate Administrator for Safety.

[FR Doc. 00–13838 Filed 6–1–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–06–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA–2000–7268]

Denial of Petition for Import Eligibility

Decision

This notice sets forth the reasons for

the denial of a petition submitted to the

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration (NHTSA) under 49

U.S.C. 30141(a)(1)(A). The petition,

which was submitted by Champagne

Imports, Inc. of Lansdale, Pennsylvania

(‘‘Champagne’’), a registered importer of

motor vehicles, requested NHTSA to

decide that 1995–1996 Audi Cabriolet

passenger cars that were not originally

manufactured to comply with all

applicable Federal motor vehicle safety

standards are eligible for importation

into the United States. In the petition,

Champagne contended that these

vehicles are eligible for importation on

the basis that (1) they are substantially

similar to vehicles that were originally

manufactured for importation into and

sale in the United States and that were

certified by their manufacturer as

complying with the safety standards

(the U.S. certified version of the 1995–

1996 Audi Cabriolet), and (2) they are

capable of being readily altered to

conform to the standards.

NHTSA published a notice in the

Federal Register on December 13, 1999

(64 FR 69583) that contained a thorough

description of the petition, and solicited

public comments upon it. One comment

was received in response to the notice,

from Volkswagen of America, Inc.

(‘‘Volkswagen’’), the United States

representative of Audi AG, the vehicle’s

manufacturer. In this comment,

Volkswagen contended that non-U.S.

certified 1995–1996 Audi Cabriolet

passenger cars are ineligible for

importation because they are not

substantially similar to vehicles that

were originally manufactured and

certified for sale in the United States

and are not capable of being readily

altered to conform to the standards.

Specifically, Volkswagen observed that

the non-U.S. certified 1995–1996 Audi

Cabriolet passenger cars that are the

subject of the petition are equipped with

a 2.6 liter V6 engine rated at 150 hp

with front wheel drive and a manual 5-

speed transmission. Volkswagen stated

that the only engine installed on 1995–

1996 Audi Cabriolet passenger cars

certified for the U.S. market was a 2.8

liter V6 rated at 172 hp. As a

consequence, Volkswagen asserted that

the engine components of the non-U.S.

certified 1995–1996 Audi Cabriolet were

not certified to any of the Federal motor

vehicle safety standards containing

requirements that relate to engines.

Volkswagen identified those standards

as including Standard Nos. 103

Windshield Defrosting and Defogging

Systems, 105 Hydraulic Brake Systems,

124 Accelerator Control Systems, and

insofar as they require the dynamic

crash testing of a vehicle, Standard Nos.

208 Occupant Crash Protection, 212

Windshield Mounting, 219 Windshield

Zone Intrusion, and 301 Fuel System

Integrity. Volkswagen additionally

noted that the petitioner erroneously

claimed that non-U.S. certified 1995–

1996 Audi Cabriolet passenger cars

comply with the Bumper Standard

found at 49 CFR Part 581. Volkswagen

observed that the bumper components

on these vehicles differ from those

installed on U.S. certified models.

NHTSA accorded Champagne an

opportunity to respond to Volkswagen’s

comments. In its response, Champagne

did not address any of the issues raised

by Volkswagen, and requested that its

petition be withdrawn. Because it had

already solicited public comments on

the petition, NHTSA could not accede

to this request.

In light of Volkswagen’s comments,

NHTSA has concluded that the petition

does not clearly demonstrate that nonU.S. certified 1995–1996 Audi Cabriolet

passenger cars are eligible for

importation. The petition must therefore

be denied under 49 CFR 593.7(e).

In accordance with 49 U.S.C.

30141(b)(1), NHTSA will not consider a

new import eligibility petition covering

this vehicle until at least three months

from the date of this notice.

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30141(a)(1)(A) and

(b)(1); 49 CFR 593.7; delegations of authority

at 49 CFR 1.50 and 501.8.

Issued on: May 30, 2000.

Marilynne Jacobs,

Director, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance.

[FR Doc. 00–13886 Filed 6–1–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Docket No. AB–33 (Sub–No. 153X)]

Union Pacific Railroad Company—

Abandonment Exemption—in Monroe

County, IA

On May 15, 2000, Union Pacific

Railroad Company (UP), filed with the

Surface Transportation Board (Board) a

petition under 49 U.S.C. 10502 for

exemption from the provisions of 49

U.S.C. 10903–10905 to abandon a line of

railroad known as the Oskaloosa

Subdivision, extending between

milepost 312.1 near Eddyville and

milepost 322.9 near Maxon, a distance

of 10.8 miles in Monroe County, IA. The

line traverses U.S. Postal Service Zip

Codes 52531 and 52553, and includes

the non-agency stations of Bridgeport

(milepost 313) and Maxon (milepost

322.9).