[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 20 (Thursday, January 30, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5535-5536]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-01670]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Docket Number FRA-2020-0009]


Petition for Waiver of Compliance

    Under part 211 of title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), this 
provides the public notice that on January 13, 2020, the Metropolitan 
Council's Metro Transit Division (Metro Transit), petitioned the 
Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) for a waiver of compliance from 
certain provisions of the Federal railroad safety regulations contained 
at 49 CFR parts 214, 219, 220, 229, 235, and 236. FRA assigned the 
petition Docket Number FRA-2020-0009.
    Metro Transit operates two rail fixed guideway transit systems in 
Minnesota--the METRO Blue and Green light rail transit (LRT) Lines. 
Currently, the Green Line is 11 miles in length with 18 stations 
between Target Field Station in downtown Minneapolis, and Union Depot 
Station in downtown St. Paul, sharing 5 stations in downtown 
Minneapolis with the Blue Line. The Green Line LRT Extension Project, 
also known as Southwest Light Rail Transit Line (SWLRT), will add 
approximately 14.5 miles of standard-gage light rail double-track with 
16 new passenger stations within Hennepin County, Minnesota, to the 
existing Green Line LRT operations. The SWLRT project will extend the 
existing Green Line from the Target Field/Interchange Station near the 
central business district of downtown Minneapolis through the 
communities of St. Louis Park, Hopkins, Minnetonka, and Eden Prairie, 
passing near Edina. The SWLRT line will terminate at the Southwest 
Station in Eden Prairie. Construction of the SWLRT Project began in 
2019 with the projected opening for revenue service operations in 2023.
    SWLRT will be constructed adjacent to freight rail service operated 
by Twin Cities & Western Railroad (TCWR) in the Kenilworth Corridor and 
a portion of the Bass Lake Spur, and adjacent to freight rail service 
operated by BNSF Railway (BNSF) in the Wayzata Subdivision. Typical 
track center spacing averages 25 feet or more throughout this shared 
corridor. SWLRT and TCWR will share use of five highway-rail grade 
crossings (HRGC) on the Kenilworth Corridor and Bass Lake Spur located 
at 21st Street South in Minneapolis, Beltline Boulevard and Wooddale 
Avenue in St. Louis Park, and 5th Avenue South and Blake Road North in 
Hopkins. There are no shared HRGCs on the BNSF Wayzata Subdivision. An 
intrusion detection system will be installed wherever typical spacing 
for track centers between SWLRT and freight tracks is less than 50 
feet.
    On the Bass Lake Spur (Milepost (MP) 16.3/428.38 to MP 435.06), the 
Metropolitan Council has, on Hennepin County Regional Railroad 
Authority's behalf, contracted with third parties to perform freight 
rail operations maintenance, dispatching, and flagging services. The 
SWLRT track and signal system is wholly separate and distinct from any 
adjacent freight tracks and related equipment. Metro Transit will 
maintain its own track and signals in the SWLRT, and only Metro Transit 
Signal and Train Control employees will be working on signal and train 
control equipment at the five shared HRGCs.
    Specifically, Metro Transit seeks a waiver of compliance from 
certain provisions of FRA regulations applicable to the limited 
connections of the SWLRT to the general railroad system at five shared 
HRGCs, stating it has alternative procedures in place on its existing 
Green Line operations which are comparable from a substantive 
perspective to FRA safety regulations. Moreover, Metro Transit states 
the waivers would promote consistency in the standard operating 
procedures followed by Metro Transit in its Green Line LRT operations 
and provide an equivalent level of safety to the corresponding FRA 
regulations.
    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 Ave. 
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.

[[Page 5536]]

    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, 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 March 16, 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 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. 2020-01670 Filed 1-29-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-06-P


