03-22471. 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) has 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.

Sumpter Valley Railroad Restoration, Inc.

The Sumpter Valley Railroad seeks a waiver of compliance from the Inspection and Maintenance Standards for Steam Locomotives, 49 CFR part 230, published November 17, 1999. Section 230.3(c)(1) of the standards requires steam locomotives having flue tubes replaced after September 25, 1995 to request Special Consideration to come under the new requirements by January 18, 2001 or undergo a one thousand four hundred seventy-two service day inspection (49 CFR 230.17) prior to being allowed to operate under the requirements. The Sumpter Valley Railroad Restoration, Inc. (SVRY) seeks an extension of time beyond January 18, 2001 to file for Special Consideration for SVRY steam locomotive number 19 which had the flue tubes replaced and was returned to service in May of 1996.

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 (FRA-2003-15641) 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) or at http://dms.dot.gov.

Issued in Washington, DC on August 27, 2003.

Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,

Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program Development.