Document ID: FRA-2014-0075-0004
Agency: fra
Document Type: Notice
Title: Petitions for Waivers of Compliance
Posted Date: 2014-08-11T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 154 (Monday, August 11, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46901-46902]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-18908]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Docket Number FRA-2014-0075]

Petition for Waiver of Compliance

    In accordance with Part 211 of Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations 
(CFR), this document provides the public notice that by a document 
dated July 18, 2014, BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) 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-2014-0075.
    Specifically, BNSF seeks a waiver of compliance from 49 CFR 232.15, 
Movement of defective equipment. The current rule provides that ``a 
railroad car or locomotive with one or more conditions not in 
compliance with this part may be used or hauled without civil penalty 
liability under this part only if all of the following conditions are 
met [including] the location to which the car or locomotive is being 
taken for repair is the nearest available location where necessary 
repairs can be performed on the line of the railroad where the car or 
locomotive was first found to be defective.'' BNSF requests relief to 
allow it to operate single cars with air brakes cut out and a crew 
inspection through to the destination or the next inspection point as 
opposed to the current ``nearest available location where necessary 
repairs can be performed.''
    BNSF states that it firmly believes that granting the requested 
relief will not

[[Page 46902]]

negatively impact safety, and will actually improve the safety and 
working conditions of BNSF employees who are conducting these setouts 
on line and making the field repairs. By granting this request, these 
cars, which do not compromise the safety of the operating train once 
the air is cut out and they have been evaluated by the crews, will move 
to locations where BNSF facilities are designated to perform quality 
repairs and where such repairs are routinely made; thus removing the 
variability and exposure to risks associated with performing the 
inspections and repairs in less than ideal field conditions.
    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 September 10, 2014 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.). 
See http://www.regulations.gov/#!privacyNotice for the privacy notice 
of regulations.gov or interested parties may review DOT's complete 
Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on April 11, 
2000 (65 FR 19477).

    Issued in Washington, DC, on August 5, 2014.
Ron Hynes,
Director, Office of Safety Assurance and Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2014-18908 Filed 8-8-14; 8:45 am]
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