
[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 244 (Thursday, December 21, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 88488-88489]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-28110]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Docket Number FRA-2016-0086]


Petition for Waiver of Compliance

    Under part 211 of title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), this 
document provides the public notice that by letter dated December 13, 
2022, Union Pacific Railroad Company (UPRR) and Canadian National 
Railway Co. (CN) petitioned the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) 
to join an existing waiver of compliance in Docket Number FRA-2016-
0086.\1\ The existing relief in this docket provides CSX Transportation 
(CSX), BNSF Railway (BNSF), and Kansas City Southern Railway (now known 
as CPKC) conditional relief from certain provisions of the Federal 
railroad safety regulations contained at 49 CFR parts 232 (Brake System 
Safety Standards for Freight and Other Non-Passenger Trains and 
Equipment; End-Of-Train Devices), and 229 (Railroad Locomotive Safety 
Standards). Specifically, the existing relief allows the railroads to 
test extending the air flow method (AFM) test intervals from 92 days to 
184 days on locomotives equipped with the New York Air Brake (NYAB) 
CCB-II and Fastbrake air brake systems.
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    \1\ UPRR's petition is available at https://www.regulations.gov/document/FRA-2016-0086-0024, and CN's petition is available at 
https://www.regulations.gov/document/FRA-2016-0086-0022. Notice of 
CN's petition was previously published on November 16, 2022. See 
https://www.regulations.gov/document/FRA-2016-0086-0021.
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    UPRR and CN seek to form test waiver teams operating under the 
current test committee overseeing the relief in this docket to test 
UPRR's 2,113 NYAB CCBII-equipped and 660 Fastbrake-equipped locomotives 
and CN's 772 NYAB CCB-2 equipped locomotives.
    This document also provides the public notice that BNSF, who is 
already a party to the relief in this docket, petitioned FRA to extend 
the existing relief and make the relief permanent.\2\ Subsequently, 
however, BNSF recognized existing implementation issues that could 
impact the validity of data being gathered under the terms of the 
existing relief in this docket and

[[Page 88489]]

asked FRA to suspend its field investigation of BNSF's extension 
request until the railroad reviewed and addressed the issues through 
the Test Committee established per the terms of the existing relief in 
this docket.\3\ Given BNSF's request, on October 6, 2022, FRA dismissed 
BNSF's petition to allow the railroad time to correct the identified 
issues.\4\ In a letter dated June 14, 2023, BNSF notified FRA that it 
had addressed the issues identified and BNSF reiterated its requests to 
extend and make permanent the existing relief in this docket.\5\
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    \2\ https://www.regulations.gov/document/FRA-2016-0086-0016.
    \3\ https://www.regulations.gov/document/FRA-2016-0086-0019.
    \4\ https://www.regulations.gov/document/FRA-2016-0086-0020.
    \5\ https://www.regulations.gov/document/FRA-2016-0086-0025.
_____________________________________-

    A copy of the petitions from UPRR, CN, and BNSF, as well as any 
written communications concerning the petitions, are 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 party 
desires 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 at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
    Communications received by February 20, 2024 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 notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at https://www.transportation.gov/privacy. See also https://www.regulations.gov/privacy-notice for the privacy notice of regulations.gov.

    Issued in Washington, DC.
John Karl Alexy,
Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety, Chief Safety Officer.
[FR Doc. 2023-28110 Filed 12-20-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P


