52078 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 174 / Monday, September 8, 2008 / Notices 

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–2008–

0020) and may be submitted by any of 

the following methods: 

• Web site: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Fax: 202–493–2251. 

• Mail: Docket Operations Facility, 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue, SE., W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590. 

• Hand Delivery: 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue, SE., Room W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. 

and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

except Federal holidays. 

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://www.regulations.gov. 

Anyone is able to search the 

electronic form of any written 

communications and comments 

received into any of our dockets by the 

name of the individual submitting the 

comment (or signing the comment, if 

submitted on behalf of an association, 

business, labor union, etc.). You may 

review DOT’s complete Privacy Act 

Statement in the Federal Register 

published on April 11, 2000 (Volume 

65, Number 70; Pages 19477–78). 

Issued in Washington, DC, on September 3, 

2008. 

Grady C. Cothen, Jr., 

Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety 

Standards and Program Development. 

[FR Doc. E8–20727 Filed 9–8–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Railroad Administration 

Notice of Informational Filing 

In accordance with § 236.913 of Title 

49 of the Code of Federal Regulations 

(CFR), notice is hereby given that the 

Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) 

has received an informational filing 

from the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) 

to permit field testing of the railroad’s 

processor-based train control system. 

The informational filing is described 

below, including the requisite docket 

number where the informational filing 

and any related information may be 

found. The document is also available 

for public inspection; however, FRA is 

not accepting public comments. 

Norfolk Southern Railway 

[Docket Number FRA–2008–0083] 

NS has submitted an informational 

filing to FRA to permit field testing of 

the railroad’s processor-based train 

control system identified as Optimized 

Train Control (OTC) Positive Train 

Control (PTC) System. The 

informational filing addresses the 

requirements under 49 CFR 

236.913(j)(1). 

Specifically, the informational filing 

contains a description of the NS OTC 

PTC product and an operational 

concepts document pursuant to 49 CFR 

236.913(j)(1). The NS OTC PTC system 

is designed to assist train crews in 

situational awareness, prevent authority 

limit and over-speed violations, provide 

open switch protection in non-signaled 

Track Warrant Control territory, and to 

prevent equipped trains from entering 

the limits without authorization of ontrack authority granted to employees. 

NS desires to commence field testing on 

or after September 1, 2008, or as soon 

as practicable thereafter, contingent 

upon FRA’s acceptance and approval of 

their informational filing. 

Interested parties are invited to 

review the informational filing and 

associated documents at the DOT 

Docket Management facility during 

regular business hours (9 a.m.–5 p.m.) at 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Room 

W12–140, Washington, DC 20590. All 

documents in the public docket are also 

available for inspection and copying on 

the Internet at http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

Anyone is able to search the 

electronic form of any written 

communications received into any of 

our dockets by name of the individual 

submitting the document (or signing the 

document, if submitted on behalf of an 

association, business, labor union, etc.). 

You may review the DOT’s complete 

Privacy Act Statement in the Federal 

Register published on April 11, 2000 

(Volume 65, Number 70; Pages 19477–

78). 

Issued in Washington, DC on September 3, 

2008. 

Grady C. Cothen, Jr., 

Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety 

Standards and Program Development. 

[FR Doc. E8–20757 Filed 9–5–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–06–P 

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) has 

received a request for a waiver of 

compliance from 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. 

Austin & Texas Central Railroad 

[Waiver Petition Docket Number FRA–2008–

0066] 

The Austin & Texas Central Railroad 

(ATCX) of Austin, Texas, has petitioned 

for an extension of an existing safety 

glazing waiver (RSGM–97–02) of 

compliance from Title 49 CFR Part 223 

to increase running track speed for four 

sleeper/lounge passenger cars operated 

by ATCX in excursion service. These 

cars are two sleeper lounge passenger 

cars NKP–151 and ATSF 1343, and two 

Pullman Coach Cars ATCX 107 and 

ATCX 325. 

ATCX intends to use the cars in 

passenger excursion service at speeds 

not to exceed 25 miles per hour (mph) 

over 154 miles of track owned by the 

city of Austin, Texas, between Cedar 

Park, TX, and Burnette, TX. ATCX 

operates one train daily on weekends 

from March to December, with 

occasional weekday trains. The original 

waiver specified that the maximum 

track speed shall not exceed 20 mph 

under condition #7. The following are 

reasons for the request to increase the 

track speed to 25 mph: 

• The authority to occupy the main 

track is now in the form of Track 

Warrant Control for the majority of the 

line and yard limits in a few limited 

areas. 

• Track warrants are issued by 

controllers in a centralized dispatching 

center and apply to all rail line traffic 

including passenger, commuter, freight, 

and Hyrail and Maintenance of Way 

Operations. 

• Maximum authorized speed is now 

25 mph as per ATCX Timetable 2. 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 174 / Monday, September 8, 2008 / Notices 52079 

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–2008–

0066) and may be submitted by any of 

the following methods: 

• Web site: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Fax: 202–493–2251. 

• Mail: Docket Operations Facility, 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue, SE., W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590. 

• Hand Delivery: 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue, SE., Room W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. 

and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

except Federal holidays. 

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://www.regulations.gov. 

Anyone is able to search the 

electronic form of any written 

communications and comments 

received into any of our dockets by the 

name of the individual submitting the 

comment (or signing the comment, if 

submitted on behalf of an association, 

business, labor union, etc.). You may 

review DOT’s complete Privacy Act 

Statement in the Federal Register 

published on April 11, 2000 (Volume 

65, Number 70; Pages 19477–78). 

Issued in Washington, DC, on September 3, 

2008. 

Grady C. Cothen, Jr., 

Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety 

Standards and Program Development. 

[FR Doc. E8–20725 Filed 9–5–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–06–P 

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 temporary waiver of 

compliance with certain requirements of 

its safety standards. The individual 

petition is described below, including 

the parties seeking relief, the regulatory 

provisions involved, the nature of the 

relief being requested, and the 

petitioner’s arguments in favor of relief. 

Norfolk Southern Railway 

[Waiver Petition Docket Number FRA–2008–

0083] 

The Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) 

has submitted a temporary waiver 

petition to support field testing of its 

processor-based train control system 

identified as NS Optimized Train 

Control (OTC) system, pursuant to 49 

CFR 211.7 and 211.51. 

An informational filing, as required 

under 49 CFR Part 236, Subpart H, has 

also been prepared and submitted in 

conjunction with this waiver petition, 

and can be found in the same docket as 

this waiver petition. 

The NS OTC Positive Train Control 

(PTC) system is designed to assist train 

crews in situational awareness, prevent 

authority limit and over-speed 

violations, provide open switch 

protection in non-signaled Track 

Warrant Control (TWC) territory, and to 

prevent equipped trains from entering 

the limits, without authorization, of ontrack authority granted to employees. 

NS desires to commence field testing 

of the NS OTC PTC system on or after 

September 1, 2008, or as soon as 

practicable thereafter, contingent upon 

FRA’s acceptance and approval of the 

informational filing and waiver petition. 

NS intends to test and develop the NS 

OTC PTC system on it’s Charleston 

district between milepost SC7.0 

(Charleston Station) and milepost 

SC128.9 (Andrews Yard Station, as well 

as on it’s Columbia district between 

milepost R0.0 Charlotte Junction 

station) and milepost R108.5 (Andrews 

Yard station). During this initial test 

phase, NS does not intend to activate 

the NS OTC PTC system’s locomotive 

enforcement functionality. 

NS is seeking regulatory relief for 

development testing and demonstration 

purposes only. Specifically, NS is 

requesting regulatory relief from the 

following FRA requirements: 

49 CFR 216.13 (Special Notice for 

Repairs—Locomotive); 

49 CFR 217.9 (Program of Operational 

Tests and Inspections—Recordkeeping); 

49 CFR 217.11 (Program of Instruction 

on Operating Rules—Recordkeeping, 

Electronic Recordkeeping); 

49 CFR Part 218 [Subpart D] 

(Prohibition against tampering with 

safety devices); 

49 CFR 229.7 (Prohibited Acts); 

49 CFR 229.135 (Event Recorders); 

49 CFR 233.9 (Annual Reports); 

49 CFR 235.5 (Changes Requiring 

Filing of Application); 

49 CFR 240.127 (Criteria for 

Examining Skill Performance); and 

49 CFR 240.129 (Criteria for 

Monitoring Operational Performance of 

Certified Engineers). 

Interested parties are invited to 

participate in these proceedings by 

submitting written views, data, or 

comments. All communications 

concerning these proceedings should 

identify the appropriate docket number 

(Docket Number FRA–2008–0083) and 

may be submitted by one of the 

following methods: 

• Web site: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Fax: 202–493–2251. 

• Mail: Docket Operations Facility, 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue, SE., W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590. 

• Hand Delivery: 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue, SE., Room W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. 

and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

except Federal holidays. 

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. 

Communications received within 30 

days of the date of this notice will be 

considered by FRA before final action 

being taken. Comments received after 

this period 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 

DOT Docket Management Facility, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue, SE., Room W12–

140, in Washington DC. All documents 

in the public docket are also available 

for inspection and copying on the 

internet at http://www.regulations.gov. 

Anyone is able to search the 

electronic form of any written 

communications and comments 

received into any of our dockets by 

name of the individual submitting the 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES