2017-23843. Petition for Waiver of Compliance

Under part 211 of Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), this provides the public notice that on September 22, 2017, the Rogue Valley Terminal Railroad Corporation (RVT) 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 223, Safety Glazing Standards—Locomotives, Passenger Cars and Cabooses. FRA assigned the petition Docket Number FRA-2017-0099.

Specifically, RVT seeks a waiver for one diesel-electric switching locomotive, RVT 82. This locomotive is an EMD Model SW1200 constructed in 1965. RVT 82 will be used exclusively in common carrier industrial switching service on RVT non-main tracks and spurs (9.5 miles of track) and Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad, Inc. (CORP) yard limit trackage (2 miles of track). Speeds shall not exceed 10 miles per hour. All 11.5 miles of trackage are located within the Medford Industrial Park complex located in White City, Oregon. The glass currently installed on RVT 82 meets an ASI rating of AS-1. RVT states that the cost of replacing this glass with FRA-compliant safety glazing at this time would be prohibitively expensive and uneconomic due to the low volume of traffic presently handled by RVT.

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 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 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:

• Web site: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
• Fax: [phone].
• 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 December 18, 2017 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, on October 26, 2017.

John K. Alexy,

Director, Office of Safety Analysis.