2015-16945. Petition for Waiver of Compliance

In accordance with Part 211 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), this provides the public notice that by a document dated June 15, 2015, the Chicago, Fort Wayne & Eastern Railroad (CFER) has petitioned the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) for a waiver of compliance from certain provisions of the Federal railroad safety regulations contained at Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 213. FRA assigned the petition docket number FRA-2015-0059.

Pursuant to 49 CFR 213.119(h), CFER requests a waiver from the accepted practice to conduct walking joint bar inspections to detect cracks and other indications of potential joint failures in Continuous Welded Rail (CWR). The inspection will be conducted utilizing a Joint Bar Inspection System (JBIS). The JBIS system will conduct two tests in fiscal year 2015 with the target dates of July 20, 2015 and November 2, 2015. Accordingly, CFER is seeking approval from the FRA to use the JBIS to fulfill the requirements of the walking joint bar inspection required by 49 CFR213.119(h).

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 Department of Transportation's 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.

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 FRA-2015-0059) 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 August 27, 2015 will be considered by FRA before final action is taken. Comments received after that date will be considered as far as practicable.

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

Issued in Washington, DC, on July 6, 2015.

Ron Hynes,

Director, Office of Technical Oversight.