E7-186. Petition for Waiver of Compliance

In accordance with Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 211, notice is hereby given that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) received a request for a waiver of compliance from certain Federal railroad safety requirements. 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.

Twin Cities and Western Railroad

Twin Cities and Western Railroad (TC&W) seeks a permanent waiver of compliance from certain provisions of the Railroad Safety Appliance Standards in 49 CFR part 231, concerning RailRunner® train operations over their system. Specifically, TC&W requests relief from those sections of 49 CFR part 231 that stipulate the number, location, and dimensions for handholds, ladders, sill steps, uncoupling levers, and handbrakes. TC&W also seeks relief from 49 CFR 231.31, which sets the standard height for drawbars.

TC&W states that this waiver is necessary to permit them to begin operation of RailRunner® equipment between Appleton, Minnesota, and Minneapolis, Minnesota. TC&W requests that this petition, if approved, be modeled on conditions contained in waiver FRA-2003-16203, which was granted to the Norfolk Southern Railway and RailRunner® on March 25, 2005.

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 this petition should identify the appropriate docket number (FRA-2006-26093) and may be submitted by one of the following methods:

• Web site: http://dms.dot.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments on the DOT electronic site;
• Fax: [phone];
• Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building, Room PL-401, Washington, DC 20590-0001; or
• Hand Delivery: Room PL-401 on the plaza level of the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

Communication received within 45 days of the date of this notice will be considered by FRA prior to final action being taken. Comments received after that date will be considered to the extent 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://dms.dot.gov.

Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all comments received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual submitting the comment (or signing the comment on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review the DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on April 11, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 70; Pages 19477-78). The Statement may also be found at http://dms.dot.gov.

Issued in Washington, DC, on January 5, 2007.

Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,

Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program Development.