4568 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 20 / Thursday, January 30, 1997 / Notices

accidents and the resulting lessons

learned? What methods have proven

successful? What methods have failed?

Why? How is this information

disseminated either aboard ship or

throughout the company? How have the

issues of liability and fear of retribution

been addressed?

2. Partnerships. Please share company

experiences with intra-industry, interindustry, and industry/government

partnerships. What has been your

company’s experience working with a

shared VTS system and/or a port safety

committee?

3. Management. Recognizing that the

International Safety Management Code

is voluntary for the domestic fleet, are

you aware of any specific managementdriven initiatives designed to foster

focus on human element issues? What

have been the results of these

initiatives?

4. Cost of Safety. How is safety costeffective in your company? What is the

value of safety? What factors were used

to measure the value of safety? How do

these costs compare with the benefits

you are realizing?

5. Fatigue. Please share company

experience with fatigue. What

countermeasures have proven

successful against fatigue?

6. Information sharing. How is

information shared between industries

(i.e. between tankers and cargo ships)?

How is it shared between companies

within an industry?

7. Waterway Management. Please

identify low cost/no cost safety

solutions that can be applied to increase

overall confidence in America’s ports

and waterways.

Public Meeting

Attendance is open to the public.

With advance notice, and as time

permits, members of the public may

make oral presentations during the

meetings. Persons wishing to make oral

presentations should notify the person

listed above under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT no later than the

day before the meetings. Written

material may be submitted prior to,

during, or after the meetings. The Coast

Guard is not required to address the

comments at the public meetings.

The meetings will be held:

1. New Orleans—February 25, 1997,

3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., at the Hyatt

Regency Hotel, Loyola Ave. & Poydras

Plaza, New Orleans, LA 70140–1012.

2. Oakland—February 28, 1997, 9:00

a.m. to 1:00 p.m., at the Oakland Federal

Building, Third Floor Conference

Center, 1301 Clay Street, Oakland, CA

94612.

3. St. Louis—March 26, 1997, 1:00

p.m. to 5:00 p.m., at the Robert A.

Young Federal Building, Second Floor

Auditorium, 1222 Spruce St., St. Louis,

MO 63103.

4. Providence, RI—April 18, 1997,

12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Because the

meeting site is not yet determined,

persons wishing to attend this meeting

should contact the person listed above

under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT for information about the

meeting location.

Information on Services for the

Handicapped

Contact CDR VanHaverbeke for

information on facilities or services for

the handicapped or to request special

assistance at the meetings as soon as

possible.

Dated: January 24, 1997.

J.C. Card,

Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Assistant

Commandant for Marine Safety and

Environmental Protection.

[FR Doc. 97–2342 Filed 1–29–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–14–M

Federal Railroad Administration

[FRA Emergency Order No. 14, Notice No.

4]

Eureka Southern Railroad Company

(a.k.a. Northwestern Pacific Railroad);

Notice of Limited Relief From

Emergency Order No. 14

AGENCY: Federal Railroad

Administration, Department of

Transportation.

ACTION: Notice of partial relief.

SUMMARY: This notice provides partial

relief for the Northwestern Pacific

Railroad (formerly the Eureka Southern

Railroad) from the limitations of Federal

Railroad Administration Emergency

Order No. 14. The relief allows the

railroad, using specified procedures, to

transport hazardous materials when the

transportation is necessary for the

railroad to effect repairs on the railroad.

Transportation of hazardous materials

for other purposes, as well as passenger

transportation, remain prohibited.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

James T. Schultz, Regional

Administrator, Region 7, Federal

Railroad Administration, 801 I Street,

Suite 466, Sacramento, California

95814, (916) 498–6540; or Nancy

Lummen Lewis, Trial Attorney, Office

of Chief Counsel, Federal Railroad

Administration, 400 Seventh Street,

S.W., Washington, D.C., (202) 632–3162.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)

gives notice of limited relief granted to

the Eureka Southern Railroad Company,

now known as the Northwestern Pacific

Railroad (NWP), from certain conditions

of this emergency order. This relief will

permit the NWP to transport hazardous

materials, under circumstances

specified in this notice, over its line of

track between Willits and Fort Seward,

California (milepost 145.5 to milepost

216.6).

Background

As issued June 7, 1990, this

emergency order prohibited Eureka

Southern Railroad Company from

operating passenger service and from

transporting hazardous materials on its

line between Willits and Eureka,

California (milepost 142.5 to milepost

284.1). On October 1, 1990, FRA

published notice that the emergency

conditions no longer existed between

mileposts 142.5 and 145.5, and between

mileposts 216.6 and 284.1. The

restrictions of the emergency order were

lifted on those areas of track. In a third

notice, published November 27, 1992,

FRA stated that the prohibitions of the

emergency order for the remaining track

continued in effect for the new owner of

the Eureka Southern Railroad, the North

Coast Railroad Authority. The North

Coast Railroad Authority operates the

NWP.

In July, 1996, the NWP requested that

FRA allow the railroad to transport fuel

oil to contractors performing work on

the NWP right-of-way within the

restricted area. The fuel oil is needed for

railroad internal use to service heavy

earth moving equipment. There exists

no other means of access to these work

areas.

Following investigations conducted

by FRA, I conclude that the relief

requested by NWP is necessary to

facilitate the railroad’s efforts to

maintain and improve its trackage. The

relief requested is in the interest of

railroad safety.

Relief

NWP may transport over its rail line

between Willits and Fort Seward,

California materials required by 49 CFR

parts 171–179 to be placarded as

hazardous under the following terms

and conditions:

(1) The material(s) must be for the

internal use only by NWP for

construction, maintenance and

operation of the railroad.

(2) Any movement of the material(s)

shall be transported by special train,

operated solely for that purpose.

(3) Maximum speed of train

movements of the material(s) shall be 10
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 20 / Thursday, January 30, 1997 / Notices 4569

miles per hour, regardless of any higher

track speed specified by the railroad.

(4) NWP shall provide written notice

of intended movements of the

material(s) to the county or counties in

which the movements shall take place,

as well as to the California Public

Utilities Commission and to FRA’s

Regional Office in Sacramento,

California. Each notice shall state the

material(s) to be moved and the point of

origination and point of destination.

The notice shall be provided no less

than five days prior to the movement.

(5) Prior to any movement, the NWP

chief mechanical officer shall inspect

and certify in writing that any car

carrying the material(s) is safe and in

compliance with applicable Federal

regulations. An inspection and

certification will not be necessary for

any movement for the purposes of

repositioning the car for loading or

unloading when such a movement starts

and ends on the same track and that

track is other than main track.

(6) Any car carrying the material(s)

shall be placed so that inadvertent

movement, inclement weather, or other

occurrence will not cause the car or its

contents to fall in any river, stream or

other body of water.

This limited lifting of Emergency

Order No. 14 is contingent upon NWP’s

compliance with the terms of the relief.

The issuance of this Notice does not

preclude imposition of another

emergency order should NWP violate

those terms.

The restrictions set forth in

Emergency Order No. 14 continue to

apply to all rail transportation of

passengers and of hazardous materials

not for internal use by NWP on that

portion of track between Willits and

Fort Seward, California. Although

Eureka Southern was named as the

respondent in the Order, its terms and

conditions were intended to apply to

any successors. Therefore, the terms and

conditions apply to Northwestern

Pacific Railroad, as the railroad is now

known.

This Order remains in effect on this

track until the NWP, or any successor

thereto, makes sufficient repairs to

receive relief under the provisions of the

Order. Each train movement in violation

of this Order shall subject NWP or any

subsequent owner or operator

committing the violation to a civil

penalty of up to $20,000. 49 U.S.C.

20104, 20111.

Issued in Washington, D.C. on January 23,

1997.

Jolene M. Molitoris,

Administrator.

[FR Doc. 97–2298 Filed 1–29–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–06–P

Notice of Safety Bulletin

AGENCY: Federal Railroad

Administration (FRA), Department of

Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of Safety Bulletin.

SUMMARY: The FRA is issuing Safety

Bulletin 97–1 addressing recommended

safety practices for certain locomotives

equipped with emergency MU fuel line

cut-off devices located inside the

locomotive control compartment at a

location which enables the cut-off

device to be activated unintentionally.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Doug Taylor, Staff Director, Operating

Practices Division, Office of Safety

Assurance and Compliance, FRA, 400

Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, D.C.

20590 (telephone 202–632–3346).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Preliminary investigatory findings

following the derailment of a run-away

Union Pacific Railroad (UP) freight train

on January 12, 1997, at Hayden,

California, indicate that the emergency

multiple-unit (MU) fuel line cut-off

device (cut-off device) located inside the

locomotive control compartment was

unintentionally activated by the

locomotive engineer. The engineer was

apparently unaware of the activation.

Activation of the cut-off device shuts

down all MU’ed locomotives within a

number of seconds. In this case, all

three locomotives in the train were shut

down. As a result, the engineer lost all

of the dynamic brake retarding effect

being used to control the speed of the

train down a 2.2 percent grade. The

engineer initiated an emergency

application of the train’s air brakes, but

the train continued out of control and

derailed at a siding turnout.

The cut-off device on this locomotive

is located below waist level on the face

of the control stand superstructure on

the engineer’s left side. Although the

plastic guard surrounding the cut-off

device was found broken, a test

conducted on a similar locomotive

indicated that even with the guard in

place it was possible to operate the cutoff device simply by brushing it with a

person’s knee. The locomotive’s

manufacturer, General Motor’s

Corporation, Electro-Motive Division,

(EMD), indicates that at least 365 SD–

60M series locomotives manufactured

for UP are equipped with cut-off devices

similarly located. Information available

to FRA indicates that these locomotives

are identified as UP6000 thru UP6365.

There may be other locomotives with

similar designs on other railroads.

Recommendation

In light of the potential dangers

involved in loss of dynamic braking due

to inadvertent activation of the

emergency MU fuel-line cut-off device

on some locomotives, FRA strongly

recommends that the following safety

precautions be taken:

1. All railroads must inspect all

locomotives to determine if the

emergency MU fuel line cut-off device

is located in such a position in the

locomotive cab that it can be

inadvertently activated by the engineer.

If the device is located in such a

position, the corrective action in

accordance with paragraphs 2 and 3

must be initiated.

2. Relocate the cut-off device to a

location where the device can not be

unintentionally activated, or

Protect the cut-off device in a housing

that prevents unintentional activation.

3. Until the improvements listed

above are made, these locomotives must

not be operated in the controlling or

lead position.

FRA recognizes that there may be

operational conditions under which

these locomotives, while in the trailing

position, must be occupied by

employees. Under these circumstances,

the engineer’s seat must remain

unoccupied to the greatest extent

possible. If such trailing locomotive is to

be occupied, the conductor must brief

all occupants as to the location of the

cut-off device and the need to avoid all

contact with it.

Issued in Washington, D.C. on January 17,

1997.

Bruce Fine,

Associate Administrator for Safety.

[FR Doc. 97–2300 Filed 1–29–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–06–P

Saint Lawrence Seaway Development

Corporation Advisory Board; Notice of

Meeting

Pursuant to Section 10(a)(2) of the

Federal Advisory Committee Act (Public

Law 92–463; 5 U.S.C. App. I) notice is

hereby given of a meeting of the

Advisory Board of the Saint Lawrence

Seaway Development Corporation, to be

held at 2:00 p.m., February 19, 1997, at

The Breakers Restaurant, 1 South

County Road, Palm Beach, Florida

33480. The agenda for this meeting will