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[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 12 (Thursday, January 18, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4891-4892]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-1557]

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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) 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.

Massena Terminal Railroad Company

[Docket Number FRA-2000-7949]

    Massena Terminal Railroad Company (MSTR) seeks a permanent waiver 
of compliance with the Railroad Safety Appliance Standards, 49 CFR part 
231.28(a) Running Boards, which references 231.1(c) Running Boards: (1) 
Number--One longitudinal running board; (2) Dimensions--Longitudinal 
running board shall be not less than 18 and preferably 20 inches in 
width; and (3) Location--Full length of car, center of roof.
    MSTR is seeking relief for 75 Aluminum Covered Hopper Cars that 
were originally designed with 10 hatch covers, five down each side, and 
a running board positioned down the center of the car. Due to financial 
considerations MSTR has recently contracted with a facility, for the 
loading and unloading of these cars, that cannot accommodate this 
design. To facilitate the loading process MSTR has

[[Page 4892]]

removed the running boards and positioned six (6) hatches down the 
center of the car. MSTR states that the loading facility employees 
access the roof via a permanent platform built to the same height as 
the car roof. They further claim that the cars are repaired at a site 
with a similar platform and to their knowledge no one else mounts the 
top of the car, therefore the running boards are unnecessary. They 
contend that the running boards would create a tripping hazard if 
applied down each side of the car roof as is currently the case with 
other covered hoppers with center mounted hatches. MSTR also sites cost 
and time constraints in relocating the running board as this would 
require removing two more hatch covers, welding aluminum plates over 
the hatches and remounting the running boards on the outside of the 
cars.
    All communications concerning these proceedings should identify the 
appropriate docket number (e.g., Waiver Petition Docket Number FRA-
2000-7949) and must be submitted to the Docket Clerk, DOT Central 
Docket Management Facility, Room Pl-401 (Plaza Level), 400 Seventh 
Street, SW., 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 January 10, 2001.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program 
Development.
[FR Doc. 01-1557 Filed 1-17-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P
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