83 FR 45004 - Petition for Waiver of Compliance

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 171 (September 4, 2018)

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 171 (Tuesday, September 4, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45004-45005]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-19106]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Docket Number FRA-2018-0069]


Petition for Waiver of Compliance

    Under part 211 of Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), this 
provides the public notice that by letter dated August 14, 2018, CSX 
Transportation, Inc. (CSXT) 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 
234. FRA assigned the petition Docket Number FRA-2018-0069.
    CSXT seeks a waiver of compliance from 49 CFR 234.247, Purpose of 
inspections and tests; removal from service of relay or device failing 
to meet test requirements, to remove approximately 400 stored rail cars 
and certain railbound equipment from CSXT's Illinois Subdivision, which 
is currently discontinued from service between milepost (MP) BC 244.7, 
near Flora, Clay County, Illinois, and MP BC 327.9, near Caseyville, 
St. Clair County, pursuant to the Surface Transportation Board's 
issuance of two Discontinuance of Service Exemptions dated December 10, 
2015 and January 9, 2017, respectively. CSXT notes that numerous 
communities have raised concerns and requested it remove the stored 
rail cars and rail-bound equipment.
    CSXT states that no revenue traffic has moved on the discontinued 
portion of the Illinois Subdivision since June of 2016. Because CSXT 
has no current intention of resuming revenue service on this 
Subdivision, CSXT seeks this relief to remove the cars and rail-bound 
equipment from its tracks as expeditiously as possible. Specifically, 
CSXT seeks relief to operate over non-functioning highway-rail grade 
crossings without making inspections and tests required in Sec. Sec.  
234.249 through 234.271. To ameliorate any safety concerns, CSXT will 
make all train moves at 10 miles per hour or less and during daylight 
hours, work with local authorities to obtain permission to close the 
roadway at impacted crossings, and will station an employee at each 
impacted crossing to provide waring to approaching highway traffic and 
communicate with motorists as needed.
    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 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:
     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 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 October 19, 2018 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.). In 
accordance with 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

[[Page 45005]]

commenter provides, to www.regulations.gov, as described in the system 
of records notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at 
www.dotransportation.gov/privacy. See also http://www.regulations.gov/#!privacyNotice for the privacy notice of regulations.gov.

Robert C. Lauby,
Associate Administrator for Safety, Chief Safety Officer.
[FR Doc. 2018-19106 Filed 8-31-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-06-P