2019-16380. Petition for Waiver of Compliance

Under part 211 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), this provides the public notice that on June 5, 2019, Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NS) petitioned the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to modify an existing waiver of compliance from certain provisions of the Federal railroad safety regulations contained at 49 CFR part 231, Railroad Safety Appliance Standards. FRA assigned the petition Docket Number FRA-2002-11896.

Specifically, NS requested that FRA modify the current waiver allowing its Triple Crown Service to operate RoadRailer® trains to increase the permitted train length from 150 units to 165 units per train. The petition contends that the tonnage limitations (5,200 tons maximum, and the further limitation behind lightly loaded RoadRailer® units on various grades) assure draft and buff forces do not exceed 250 kips, regardless of the number of units in the consist. Additionally, NS states the coupling pin and the rest of the unit have a 250-kip design criteria, which makes 165-unit trains safe for current and potential operation.

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 about these proceedings since the facts do not appear to warrant a hearing. If any interested party desires 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:

• Website: 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 September 16, 2019 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.

John Karl Alexy,

Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety Chief Safety Officer.