05-2235. Petition for Waiver of Compliance

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

New York & Lake Erie Railroad (NYLE) (Waiver Petition Docket Number FRA-2004-19950)

The New York & Lake Erie Railroad (NYLE) seeks a waiver of compliance from certain provisions of the Safety Glazing Standards, 49 CFR Part 223, which requires certified glazing in all windows. The NYLE is a short line freight carrier that travels 29.5 miles through rural countryside and small communities, averaging 1.5 times per week. The number of cars hauled per train is 5 cars or less. The railroad has two line segments, which are connected and extend from Cattaraugus, NY to Dayton, NY (10.1 miles) and from Conewango Valley, NY to Gowanda, NY (19.4 miles). The point of interchange is in Gowanda, NY.

This request is for three locomotives, specifically locomotive numbers NYLE 6101, NYLE 1013, and NYLE 308. At the present time, NYLE 6101 is equipped with Safety Glass, AS-2, 230, 5, and DOT 1. NYLE 1013 is equipped with Laminated Safety Glass AS-1, DOT 14M-220-ASI-030. NYLE 308 is equipped with Clear Laminated Safety Glass, AS-2 101. The railroad claims that they have not had any problems with window breakage due to vandalism, and they have not had to replace glass due to breakage from flying objects.

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 (e.g., Waiver Petition Docket Number 2004-19950) and must be submitted to the Docket Clerk, DOT Docket Management Facility, Room PL-401 (Plaza Level), 400 7th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. Communications received within 45 days of the date of this notice will be considered by FRA before final action is taken. Comments received after that date will be considered as far as 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, if submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review 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 February 1, 2005.

Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,

Acting Associate Administrator for Safety.