[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 80 (Thursday, April 26, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20914-20915]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-8024]


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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.

Charlotte Area Transit System

[Waiver Petition Docket Number FRA-2006-25837]

    The Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) plans to operate and 
maintain a light rail system known as the South Corridor Light Rail 
Line (CATS System) with revenue service slated to begin in Fall 2007. 
CATS seeks a permanent waiver of compliance from sections of Title 49 
of the CFR for operation of its 10-mile long CATS System that at times 
is adjacent to active Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NS) tracks in a 
shared corridor operation, thus representing a ``limited connection'' 
with the general railroad system. See Statement of Agency Policy 
Concerning Jurisdiction Over the Safety of Railroad Passenger 
Operations and Waivers Related to Shared Use of the Tracks of the 
General Railroad System by Light Rail and Conventional Equipment, 65 FR 
42529 (July 10, 2000). See also Joint Statement of Agency Policy 
Concerning Shared Use of the Tracks of the General Railroad System by 
Conventional Railroads and Light Rail Transit Systems, 65 FR 42626 
(July 10, 2000).
    The CATS System is a new 10-mile long light rail operation that 
will share a corridor with NS freight trains in certain locations. The 
CATS System will run on its own tracks and NS will conduct freight rail 
operations on existing tracks that are located generally at least 40 
feet from the nearest CATS System trackage at certain locations along 
the light rail alignment. The CATS System and NS will not share 
trackage or train control systems and the CATS System trackage and NS 
trackage will not cross at any location. The CATS System will share two 
public highway-rail grade crossings with NS, representing a limited 
connection and, as such, the CATS System is subject to FRA 
jurisdiction. These two shared crossings will be equipped with flashing 
lights and gates on each side of the roadway. The shared crossings will 
have interlocking relays so that both CATS crossing equipment and NS 
crossing equipment activate together in vital design. CATS and NS 
employees will maintain their own equipment on their respective sides 
of the shared crossing. CATS will employ five full-time Signal 
employees and their hours will be staggered to cover all hours when the 
CATS System is in revenue service. It is anticipated that most of the 
CATS System Signal employees will work standard 10-hour shifts, 4 days 
a week.
    CATS is seeking a permanent waiver of compliance from certain 
sections of Title 49 of the CFR and offers that it is similarly 
governed by the System Safety Program Plan as required by the Federal 
Transit Administration. For this limited connection, CATS seeks a 
permanent waiver of compliance from 49 CFR part 228, Hours of Service 
of Railroad Employees. CATS anticipates never having more than 15 
Signal employees and thereby qualifies to petition for a statutory 
exemption from the Hours of Service law (49 U.S.C. Section 21102(b)). 
CATS states it is seeking this waiver because it will give CATS the 
flexibility it needs to manage its small workforce. In order to 
schedule and implement preventive maintenance activities and to cover 
other operational requirements that may arise during scheduled 
activities, CATS says it needs the flexibility to deploy its limited 
workforce efficiently, occasionally having its Signal employees work 
longer shifts or stay on-call during non-revenue hours. CATS will not, 
under any circumstance, require these Signal employees to work more 
than 16 hours in any 24 hour period.
    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, specifying the basis for 
their request.
    All communications concerning these proceedings should identify the 
appropriate docket number (e.g., Waiver Petition Docket Number 2006-
25837)

[[Page 20915]]

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 30 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.
    Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all 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). The Statement 
may also be found at http://dms.dot.gov.

    Issued in Washington, DC on April 20, 2007.
Michael J. Logue,
Deputy Associate of Administrator for Safety Compliance and Program 
Implementation.
 [FR Doc. E7-8024 Filed 4-25-07; 8:45 am]
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