Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 58 / Monday, March 27, 1995 / Notices 15813

furnish a copy of the procedures to FRA

by sending it to the FRA Office of Safety

Enforcement, Hazardous Materials

Division, 400 Seventh Street, S.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20590;

3. That each owner of stub sill tank

cars is responsible for distribution of the

procedures to the parties performing the

inspections and ensuring that the

inspecting parties understand and

follow the written procedures; and

4. That, effective August 10, 1995, no

person may inspect a tank car pursuant

to this Emergency Order unless the

owner has supplied the inspection point

with an inspection procedure applicable

to that specific design type.

Relief

Tank car owners may obtain relief

from this Emergency Order by

inspecting the affected cars as required

and repairing them as necessary.

Penalties

Any violation of this order shall

subject the person committing the

violations to a civil penalty of up to

$20,000. 49 U.S.C. 21301. FRA may,

through the Attorney General, also seek

injunctive relief to enforce this order. 49

U.S.C. 20112.

Notice to Affected Persons

This Notice No. 3 will be published

in the Federal Register and will be sent

by mail or facsimile to the Association

of American Railroads, The American

Short Line Railroad Association, the

Regional Railroads of America, the

Railway Progress Institute, all members

of the AAR Tank Car Committee, the

Chemical Manufacturers Association,

and the American Petroleum Institute.

These organizations are encouraged to

make wide distribution of this

modification of Emergency Order No. 17

within their membership and to other

known interested parties.

Issued in Washington, D.C. on March 20,

1995.

Donald M. Itzkoff,

Deputy Administrator.

Appendix A—Association of American

Railroads’ O&M Circular No. 1,

Supplement No. 2

The text of the Association of

American Railroads’ O&M Circular No.

1, Supplement No. 2 (CPC–1030), as

issued on August 10, 1994, over the

signature of Mr. J.J. Robinson, Senior

Assistant Vice President, Operations

and Maintenance Department, Casualty

Prevention Division is as follows:

AAR O&M Circular No. 1; Supplement

No. 2 Tank Car Stub Sill Inspection

Program

1. Audits of the inspections being

performed at several tank car facilities

have revealed the need for each tank car

owner to develop written inspection

procedures for each unique stub sill

design represented in his or her fleet, to

distribute the procedures to the parties

performing the inspections, and to

ensure that the inspecting parties fully

understand and consistently follow the

written procedures. These written

procedures should include the

following elements:

• Identification of structurally

significant components and welds;

• Access means to these components

and welds, including removal of jacket,

insulation or thermal coating, if

required;

• Inspection techniques to use to

ensure the detection of damage; and,

• Proper identification, measurement

and reporting of cracks by line item on

AAR Form SS–2.

In order to ensure the quality of the

data and consistency of the inspection

results, owners are requested to develop

these procedures and to forward them to

the inspecting parties as soon as

possible. A copy of the procedures

should also be filed with AAR, to the

attention of the Manager - Freight &

Tank Car Design; 50 F Street NW;

Washington, DC 20001. Owners should

contact the builders for assistance in the

development of these procedures.

2. The SILSPEC software used to

report the results of stub sill inspections

has been updated to include a more

comprehensive ‘‘look-up’’ of builders

and stub sill design styles. A paper copy

of the look-up table and the referenced

Figures is enclosed, as is a table of Stub

Sill Design Style Templates, which

defines weld locations that must and

must not be reported for each design. If

there is a need to report cars built to any

of the designs that have been added to

the table, a copy of the updated software

may be obtained from Paul Kinnecom at

202/639–2147 (FAX 202/639–2930).

(Note: Because the AAR’s O&M Circular

No. 1, Supplement No. 2 has been sent to all

AAR members and to private car owners,

FRA is not reproducing the inspection

program’s table and figures in the Federal

Register.)

[FR Doc. 95–7416 Filed 3–24–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–06–P

Maritime Administration

[Docket S–919]

Lykes Bros. Steamship Co., Inc.;

Application for a Waiver of Section

804(a) of the Merchant Marine Act,

1936, as amended, to permit ForeignFlag Reciprocal Space Charter, Sailing,

and Cooperative Working Agreement

Lykes Bros. Steamship Co., Inc.

(Lykes), by application dated March 16,

1995, requests waiver of the provisions

of section 804 of the Merchant Marine

Act, 1936, as amended, through the

expiration of its operating-differential

subsidy contract, December 31, 1997, to

permit a reciprocal space charter,

sailing, and cooperative working

agreement with Evergreen Marine

Corporation (Evergreen) in the U.S.

foreign commerce.

The agreement, according to Lykes,

covers the trade between the U.S. gulf

and east and west coasts on the one

hand and North Europe on the other.

The typical itinerary for Lykes’ U.S.-gulf

and east coast/North Europe vessel is

Galveston, New Orleans, Miami,

Charleston, Norfolk, New York, Boston,

Antwerp, Bremerhaven, Felixstowe,

LeHavre and Boston. The Evergreen

service covered by this Agreement will

be provided by the vessels dedicated to

its round-the-world service. Evergreen’s

westbound trans-Atlantic service

typically calls Hamburg, Thamesport,

Rotterdam, Antwerp, LeHavre, New

York, Norfolk, Charleston, and Long

Beach before proceeding west across the

Pacific. The ordinary eastbound transAtlantic itinerary for Evergreen is Long

Beach, Charleston, Baltimore, New

York, LeHavre, Antwerp, Thamesport,

and Hamburg.

Lykes notes that contingent on the

Maritime Administration’s approval and

expiration of the Federal Maritime

Commission’s review period, Lykes has

entered into an agreement with

Evergreen for a reciprocal space charter,

coordination of sailings, and

cooperative working arrangement in

these services. Under the agreement, the

companies will negotiate and agree

upon reciprocal space charters on their

respective vessels in the trade and upon

sailings coordination as appropriate.

Lykes points out that the agreement is

intended to permit Lykes to achieve

better utilization of the vessels

committed to North Atlantic services by

establishing a course of slot chartering

business with Evergreen. Through the

use of slots on Evergreen’s vessels the

agreement will enable Lykes to offer

shippers broader, more responsive

service without any additional capital

outlay. The opportunity to rationalize
15814 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 58 / Monday, March 27, 1995 / Notices

schedules, Lykes contends, will permit

operational savings to be realized and

lend flexibility to Lykes’ itineraries.

Lykes states that addition of vessels to

the services of Lykes or Evergreen

beyond those currently operated or

under contract for construction for this

trade is not contemplated. Accordingly,

Lykes concludes, the agreement will

have no substantial impact on U.S.-flag

carriers in the North Atlantic trade. This

application may be inspected in the

Office of the Secretary, Maritime

Administration. Any person, firm, or

corporation having any interest in such

request within the meaning of section

804 of the Act and desiring to submit

comments concerning the application

must file written comments in triplicate

with the Secretary, Maritime

Administration, Room 7210, Nassif

Building, 400 Seventh Street SW.,

Washington, DC 20590. Comments must

be received no later than 5 p.m. on April

10, 1995. This notice is published as a

matter of discretion and publication

should in no way be considered a

favorable or unfavorable decision on the

application, as filed or as may be

amended. The Maritime Administrator

will consider any comments submitted

and take such action with respect

thereto as may be deemed appropriate.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

Program No. 20.804 (Operating-Differential

Subsidies)).

By Order of the Maritime Administrator.

Dated: March 22, 1995.

Joel C. Richard,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 95–7427 Filed 3–24–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–81–P

FEDERAL RAILROAD

ADMINISTRATION

National High-Speed Ground

Transportation; Policy Outreach

Meetings

AGENCY: Federal Railroad

Administration, Office of Railroad

Development.

ACTION: Notice of Public Meetings.

SUMMARY: The Federal Railroad

Administration (FRA) will hold regional

public outreach meetings around the

United States to invite public input for

developing the National High Speed

Ground Transportation (HSGT) Policy,

as mandated by the Intermodal Surface

Transportation Efficiency Act. The

public is invited to attend and/or submit

written comments.

DATES: Written comments are invited at

any time until May 30, 1995. Comments

should be submitted by mail to the

address below and will be accepted in

person at each meeting. Comments

received by April 7, 1995 will be

considered in setting the agenda for the

outreach meetings.

The sessions will take place as

follows:

Dates: April 20, 1995.

Place: Knickerbocker Hotel, Grand

Ballroom, 163 E. Walton Place, Chicago,

Illinois 60611, (312) 751–8100.

Time: 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Local Contact: Merrill Travis, IDOT, (217)

782–2835.

Date: May 2, 1995.

Place: Shaker Ridge Club, 802 Albany

Shaker Road, Loudonville, New York 12211,

(518) 869–0246.

Time: 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Local Contact: Don Baker, New York DOT,

(518) 457–5521.

Date: May 4, 1995.

Place: Virginia DOT, Main Auditorium,

1221 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia

23219.

Time: 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Local Contact: Leo Bevon, Virginia DOT,

(804) 786–8410.

Date: May 15, 1995

Place: BPA Federal Office Building,

Auditorium, 911 N.E. 11th Avenue (at

Holladay St.) (Auditorium entrance on 9th St.

side), Portland, Oregon 97232, (503) 326–

2107.

Time: 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Local Contact: Donald Forbes, Oregon

DOT, (503) 378–3373.

Date: May 17, 1995.

Place: Grand Hall, 1215 J Street,

Sacramento, California 95814.

Time: 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Local Contact: Steve Zimrick, California

DOT, (916) 227–9409.

Date: May 25, 1995

Place: Marriott Hotel, 7499 Augusta

National Drive, Orlando, Florida 32822, (407)

851–9000.

Time: 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Local Contact: Charlie Smith, Florida DOT,

(904) 487–4261.

Registration: Attendees are asked to arrive

30 minutes prior to the beginning of the

meeting for registration.

In addition to the above sessions,

there will be a special session in Boston,

Massachusetts, during the annual

convention of the High Speed Rail/

Maglev Association. This is scheduled

for Monday, May 8 from 5:00 to 6:30 PM

at the Westin Hotel, Copley Place,

Boston, MA. The public is also invited

to this special session.

The addresses of the various sessions

are above.

Background

These meetings will comprise a key

part of the Department of

Transportation’s overall efforts to

develop policy in support of the

implementation of high-speed ground

transportation as an element of an

intermodal transportation system. The

Department is currently working to lay

the groundwork for the implementation

of HSGT through state and local

planning and investment and through a

federal partnership for technology

development.

The development of a HSGT policy is

particularly relevant at this time

because of the Secretary’s proposal to

consolidate current transportation

funding programs and increase

significantly the flexibility available to

State and local governments to finance

different types of projects with a unified

allocation of funds. In addition, the

Secretary has proposed developing State

Infrastructure Banks, capitalized in part

with Federal seed money, to leverage

further investment from private capital

and other sources. He has also proposed

that some discretionary funding would

be available for investments of regional

or national significance. How HSGT

investment would be treated in this

context is a topic of special importance

for HSGT policy.

The HSGT policy development will

also consider ongoing changes at

Amtrak. Since the future of HSGT,

particularly options to operate at up to

150 m.p.h. on existing rights-of-way

(Accelerail), is linked to the future of

conventional Amtrak service in corridor

markets, the recently announced

restructuring of Amtrak presents new

challenges as well as new opportunities,

for state participation. In particular, that

restructuring is designed to reduce

Amtrak’s cost structure by delivering

service more efficiently and to improve

customer service, and hence increase

revenues, by reorganizing the

corporation and empowering employees

and managers. These changes should

position Amtrak as a competitive

organization to deliver HSGT services

sponsored by State governments.

The HSGT policy development will

consider ongoing technology

development and corridor planning by

states and their partners. These

activities are currently authorized by the

Swift Rail Development Act of 1994.

The Swift Act, which was signed into

law by the President in November 1994,

authorizes matching grants up to a total

of $184 million over three years, to

assist HSGT technology development,

including projects such as positive train

control, non-electric high-speed

locomotive development, and corridor

planning, including engineering plans,

commercial feasibility and

environmental impact studies, and the

acquisition of right-of-way for upgrading

to HSGT. In FY 1995, $25 million