[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 80 (Thursday, April 26, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20913-20914]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-8023]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

Alton and Southern Railway

[Waiver Petition Docket Number FRA-2007-27320]

    The Alton and Southern Railway (ALS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of 
the Union Pacific Railroad (UP), has petitioned FRA for a temporary 
waiver of compliance with certain provisions of FRA safety regulations 
(hours of service of railroad employees). The waiver request seeks 
relief from 49 CFR Section 228.9(a)(1) for the ALS to utilize a 
computerized system of recording train and engine employee hours of 
duty data. The CFR requires that records maintained under Section 
228.9(a)(1) be signed by the employee whose time is being recorded, or 
in the case of train and engine crews, signed by the ranking crew 
member. The ALS seeks to utilize a computerized system of recording 
hours of duty information that is currently being used by the UP. 
Without waiver permission, the record produced by the program would not 
comply with Section 228(a)(1) requirements for a ``signature'' of the 
employee or ranking crew member. The ALS proposes that each employee 
will have his or her own identification number (ID) and personal 
identification number (PIN). The PIN will remain confidential to the 
employee. The employee ID and PIN will be used to restrict access to a 
job

[[Page 20914]]

or train reporting screen to only the employee or ranking crew member 
of that specific job or train. After entering the appropriate data, the 
employee will be asked to ``certify'' his or her entries. When 
certified, the data entered by the employee will be electronically 
stamped by the computer with the entering employee's ID and the date 
and time of certification. The employee's certified record will then be 
available through the FRA inspection screen and will display the 
employee's ID along with the date and time of certification. The ALS 
proposes replacing the current manually signed paper record with a 
printable copy of the employee's entered data showing the date, time 
and ID of entering employee.
    The ALS warrants that the program to be used is a copy of the 
program approved for use by UP under a current waiver of compliance. 
The ALS maintains that the change is in the best interests of all 
parties in that it will reduce unnecessary paperwork and the costs 
associated therewith while providing the railroad, its employees, and 
FRA with a superior level of information on a more timely basis than is 
currently available.
    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-
2007-27320) and must be submitted to the Docket Clerk, DOT Central 
Docket Management Facility, Room PL-401, 400 7th Street, NW., 
Washington, DC 20590-0001. 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://dms.dot.gov.

    Issued in Washington, DC on April 20, 2007.
Michael J. Logue,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Compliance and Program 
Implementation.
[FR Doc. E7-8023 Filed 4-25-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P