Document ID: FRA-2009-0015-0005
Agency: fra
Document Type: Rule
Title: Petition for Waiver of Compliance
Posted Date: 2010-06-17T04:00Z

[Federal Register: June 17, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 116)]
[Notices]               
[Page 34526]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr17jn10-146]                         

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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 a waiver of compliance with 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.

Ritron, Incorporated

[Waiver Petition Docket Number FRA-2009-0015]

    Ritron, Incorporated (Ritron) seeks a waiver of compliance from 
certain provisions of 49 CFR part 232, Brake System Safety Standards 
for Freight and Other Non-Passenger Trains and Equipment. Specifically, 
Section 232.409(d)--Inspection and testing of end-of-train devices, 
which requires the telemetry equipment to be tested for accuracy and 
calibrated, if necessary at least every 368 days. It also requires that 
the date and location of the last calibration or test, as well as the 
name of the person performing the calibration or test, be legibly 
displayed on a weather-resistant sticker or other marking device 
affixed to the outside of both the front and the rear unit.
    This petition concerns Ritron models DTX-445 and DTX-454 radio 
transceiver modules. While the DTX-445 is a new product, it is similar 
in mechanical and electrical design to the model DTX-442, and its field 
reliability statistical performance should be representative of the 
performance of the DTX-445. The DTX-454 is an established product, 
having been in production for 7 years. These modules are used in a 
large number of U.S. railroad head-of-train (HOT) and end-of-train 
(EOT) devices manufactured and sold by various companies. The Ritron 
DTX transceiver module line has been in production from 4 to 8 years, 
depending upon the specific module. These transceivers use a master 
reference oscillator to determine the frequency stability of the 
transmitted signal. The actual transmitted signal is phase-locked to 
this master oscillator by the phase-locked loop (PLL). Circuitry within 
the PLL determines when the system is in ``lock'' and will prevent or 
inhibit transmission if the transmitted signal is not on frequency. The 
master oscillator, itself, is specified to a much higher accuracy than 
that required by Federal regulations. This oscillator is used in all of 
Ritron's extensive radio offerings and, to date, has never had a 
failure due to being out of tolerance.
    In addition, the modulation circuitry used in the DTX radios is 
based upon very stable limiting operational amplifiers followed by 
passive filters and potentiometers. This has proven to be extremely 
reliable and has not produced any failures related to out-of-band 
emissions. The power control circuitry is different in the various 
versions of the DTX family, but is based either on a closed loop final 
amplifier current sensing design or an open loop lookup table. Both 
have shown to work well in the field and are believed to have caused 
little, if any, service issues.
    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-
2009-0015) 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 30 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 June 10, 2010.
Robert C. Lauby,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Regulatory and Legislative 
Operations.
[FR Doc. 2010-14479 Filed 6-16-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P