Document ID: FRA-2020-0081-0003
Agency: fra
Document Type: Notice
Title: Petition for Waiver of Compliance
Posted Date: 2020-10-07T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 195 (Wednesday, October 7, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63352-63353]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-22205]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Docket Number FRA-2020-0081]

Petition for Waiver of Compliance

    Under part 211 of title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), this 
document provides the public notice that on September 23, 2020, 
Canadian National Railway Company (CN) 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 
232, Brake System Safety Standards for Freight and Other Non-Passenger 
Trains and Equipment; End-of-Train Devices. FRA assigned the petition 
Docket Number FRA-2020-0081.
    CN seeks relief from the requirements of 49 CFR 232.219 regarding 
the Class III airbrake test for helper locomotives equipped with the 
``Helperlink'' system. Specifically, CN requests relief on trains with 
one or more distributed power (DP) locomotives on the rear in helper 
operations without cutting in the brake pipe to the helper locomotive.
    CN explains that the operation of trains over Steelton Hill, and 
intermittently on Hawthorne Hill, near Superior, Wisconsin, as well as 
Byron Hill, near Fond-Du-Lac, Wisconsin, require the use of helper 
locomotives. CN currently shoves with conventional helper locomotives 
and cannot utilize the ``Helperlink'' technology due to a lack of an 
End-of-Train Telemetry Device on many trains with DP at the rear the 
train. The number of trains with this configuration, particularly in 
the bulk product category, has been steadily increasing over the past 
few years.
    CN contends ``Helperlink'' technology will help to eliminate 
unnecessary risks to transportation employees in helper service, as CN 
helper service employees could couple and uncouple from trains being 
assisted over grade from the rear without cutting in train-line air, 
eliminating going between rolling equipment twice per train assisted. 
The waiver would reduce (1) the amount of mounting and dismounting 
equipment an employee does during their shift, and (2) related slip/
trip/fall incidents from occurring. Additionally, CN states relieving 
train crews from stopping their trains at the top of mountain grades to 
cut away helpers will improve the overall train handling scenario and 
reduce the potential for in-train mechanical failures related to having 
to start and stop trains on varying degrees of grade.
    A copy of the petition, as well as any written communications 
concerning the petition, is available for review online at 
www.regulations.gov.
    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 parties 
desire an opportunity for oral comment and a public hearing, 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:
     Website: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 
instructions for submitting comments.
     Fax: 202-493-2251.
     Mail: Docket Operations Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation (DOT), 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, W12-140, Washington, DC 
20590.
     Hand Delivery: 1200 New Jersey Ave. 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 23, 2020 will be considered by 
FRA before final action is taken. Comments received after that date 
will be considered if practicable.
    Anyone can 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.). 
Under 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

[[Page 63353]]

notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at https://www.transportation.gov/privacy. See also https://www.regulations.gov/privacyNotice for the privacy notice of regulations.gov.

    Issued in Washington, DC.
John Karl Alexy,
Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety, Chief Safety Officer.
[FR Doc. 2020-22205 Filed 10-6-20; 8:45 am]
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