Document ID: FRA-2016-0086-0003
Agency: fra
Document Type: Notice
Title: Petitions for Waivers of Compliance: BNSF Railway Co.
Posted Date: 2016-10-03T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 191 (Monday, October 3, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Page 68101]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-23794]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Docket Number FRA-2016-0086]

Petition for Waiver of Compliance

    In accordance with part 211 of Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations 
(CFR), this provides the public notice that by a document dated August 
19, 2016, BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) has petitioned the Federal 
Railroad Administration (FRA) for a waiver of compliance from certain 
provisions of the Federal railroad safety regulations contained at 49 
CFR part 229, Railroad Locomotive Safety Standards, and 49 CFR part 
232, Brake System Safety Standards for freight and other non-passenger 
trains and equipment; end-of-train devices. Specifically, BNSF seeks a 
test waiver to investigate whether the 92-day interval for calibration 
of the air flow method (AFM) indicator required by 49 CFR 229.29(b) and 
232.205(c)(1)(iii) can be safely extended to 184 days on locomotives 
equipped with New York Air Brake (NYAB) CCB-II air brake systems. This 
petition has been assigned Docket Number FRA-2016-0086.
    In the petition for waiver, BNSF states that it has been collecting 
data for 3 years in support of an extended interval of 184 days for 
calibration of the AFM indicator on CCB-II air brake systems, and it 
has obtained support for this extension from NYAB. Summaries and 
analysis of this data and a statement from NYAB are included as 
appendices. To validate this assertion, BNSF proposes to designate a 
test group of 200 locomotives running on the Southern Transcon route 
between Kansas City (Argentine), KS, and Barstow, CA. These locomotives 
would be evaluated by a test waiver team at initial AFM indicator 
calibration, after 92 days, and for locomotives qualified to continue 
the test, at 184 days. To help ensure the validity of this testing, 
BNSF has already updated the AFM indicator calibration training of its 
mechanical forces and has completed a software upgrade on 93 percent of 
CCB-II equipped locomotives to eliminate a previous problem with loss 
of AFM calibration data due to dead batteries in the locomotive 
computer's CPU.
    A copy of the petition, as well as any written communications 
concerning the petition, is available for review online at 
www.regulations.gov and in person at the U.S. Department of 
Transportation's (DOT) Docket Operations Facility, 1200 New Jersey 
Avenue SE., W12-140, Washington, DC 20590. The Docket Operations 
Facility is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except 
Federal Holidays.
    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 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 by November 17, 2016 will be considered by 
FRA before final action is taken. Comments received after that date 
will be considered as far as practicable.
    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 document, 
if submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.). 
In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits comments from the 
public to better inform its processes. DOT posts these comments, 
without edit, including any personal information the commenter 
provides, to www.regulations.gov, as described in the system of records 
notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at www.dot.gov/privacy. 
See also https://www.regulations.gov/privacyNotice for the privacy 
notice of regulations.gov.

Robert C. Lauby,
Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety, Chief Safety Officer.
[FR Doc. 2016-23794 Filed 9-30-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-06-P