Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 18 / Friday, January 26, 1996 / Notices 2569

may solicit and recommend plan

holders. Companies that wish to

participate should contact the Coast

Guard or EPA OSC, who will then

forward the name to the NSCC at the

address listed under ADDRESSES.

Dated: January 18, 1996.

G.N. Naccara,

Captain, U.S. Coast Guard, Director for Field

Activities, Office of Maine Safety, Security

and Environmental Protection.

[FR Doc. 96–1385 Filed 1–25–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–14–M

Federal Railroad Administration

Petition for Waivers of Compliance

In accordance with 49 CFR Sections

211.9, 211.41 and 211.45, notice is

hereby given that the Federal Railroad

Administration (FRA) has received a

request for a waiver of compliance with

certain requirements of the Federal

safety laws and regulations. The

individual petitions are 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.

Renfe Talgo of America, Incorporated

FRA Docket Numbers RSGM–94–2 and

SA–94–1

Renfe Talgo of America, Incorporated

(RTOA) petitioned the FRA to permit

the operation of a second TALGO

Pendular Train (TALGO) trainset

expected to arrive at the Port of

Baltimore on or about January 28, 1996.

The trainset is similar to the one

presently operating in the State of

Washington under conditional waivers.

The original request was for waivers of

compliance with certain provisions of

the Railroad Safety Glazing Standards

(49 CFR Part 223) under Docket Number

RSGM–94–2 and Railroad Safety

Appliance Standards (49 CFR Part 231),

under Docket Number SA–94–1 (see FR

9016, February 24, 1994). RTOA

requested that the conditional waiver

granted the first Talgo trainset be

extended to include the second train set.

RTOA was granted the original

waivers in order to permit operation of

a TALGO train under two conditions. It

was intended that the train would be

operated (1) in non-revenue

demonstration runs and (2) in revenue

service as part of a regularly scheduled

service operated by National Railroad

Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) in the

Pacific Northwest High Speed Rail

Corridor. The first TALGO train

completed demonstration runs between

a number of city pairs and is currently

in revenue service under contract to the

Washington State Department of

Transportation (WSDOT).

The second TALGO trainset will be

comprised of 15 Pendular cars, which

would include two service cars, one

sleeper car, one dining car, one cafeteria

car and ten coaches. It is similar to the

trainset currently in service in

Washington State. RTOA seeks to

include the second TALGO train in the

current conditional waivers from

compliance with the Railroad Glazing

Standards, (49 CFR 223.15 (b)), which

requires that all side facing glazing on

passenger cars must meet the FRA Type

II testing criteria. The original petition

RTOA stated that the side facing glazing

of the TALGO train may in fact meet the

FRA requirements for FRA Type II, but

it had not been subjected to the test

specified in the regulation. The

windows in the sides of the cars are

double glazed with tempered safety

glass. Each layer is 6 mm (.24 inches)

thick with an air space in between the

two layers. RTOA says that there is not

sufficient time to retrofit windows in

the TALGO train prior to shipment from

Spain.

The original RTOA petition also

sought a waiver from compliance of the

Railroad Safety Appliance Standards,

(49 CFR 231.14) and Sections 2 and 4

of the Safety Appliance Act (45 U.S.C.

Sections 2 and 4), which requires that

each passenger car must be equipped

with side handholds, end handholds

and uncoupling levers. The passenger

cars have side handholds at the doors

for the assistance of passengers, but

there are no side handholds or end

handholds which the rules contemplate

for use in switching operations or

coupling and uncoupling. RTOA states

that the cars in the TALGO train

constitute a single unit, in that the cars

will not be uncoupled from one another,

except at specified maintenance

facilities. The individual cars are joined

by swivel type traction bars which will

not uncouple in normal operations and

because of this configuration there is no

need for uncoupling levers. Standard

AAR Type E couplers will be installed

at the ends of the front and rear service

cars.

According to RTOA and Amtrak West

Business Unit, the TALGO train will be

moved directly from Baltimore to

Oakland, California. RTOA and Amtrak

West are cooperating in evaluating

existing and potential emerging rail

corridors. Amtrak suggested the

following tentative list of city pairs for

both revenue service and demonstration

runs for the TALGO train:

Oakland, California to Reno, Nevada

(non-revenue)

Oakland to Bakersfield, California

(revenue)

Altamount Pass (non-revenue)

Los Angeles, California to Las Vegas,

Nevada (revenue special)

Los Angeles/San Diego, California to

Santa Barbara, California (revenue)

Los Angeles to San Francisco, California

(revenue)

RTOA says that after the revenue and

demonstration runs are completed, it is

their intention to have this second

TALGO train operate in the Pacific

Northwest. If TALGO is the successful

bidder to provide two trainsets to the

State of Washington, the two trainsets

would be leased to WSDOT for an

interim period which would terminate

upon delivery of the two trainsets

manufactured to WSDOT specification.

Interested parties are invited to

participate in this proceeding by

submitting written views, data, or

comments. FRA does not anticipate

scheduling a public hearing in

connection with this proceeding 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 SA–94–1) and

must be submitted in triplicate to the

Docket Clerk, Office of Chief Counsel,

Federal Railroad Administration, Nassif

Building, 400 Seventh Street, S.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20590.

Communications received within 30

days of the date of publication 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.) in Room 8201,

Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street,

S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590.

Issued in Washington, D.C. on January 22,

1995.

Phil Olekszyk,

Associate Administrator for Safety

Compliance and Program Implementation.

[FR Doc. 96–1313 Filed 1–25–96;8:45am]

BILLING CODE 4910–06–M