Petition for Waiver of Compliance

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

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.

Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority

[Waiver Petition Docket Number H-97-2]

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA)

seeks a waiver of compliance from certain provisions of the Railroad

Locomotive Safety Standards, 49 CFR Section 229.29, for its 304 MU

locomotives. Specifically, SEPTA wants to extend the required time

intervals for cleaning, repairing, and testing of MU locomotive brake

equipment from 736 days to 1104 days.

SEPTA believes that granting this waiver will in no way diminish

the safety of its operations and base its opinion on the following

declarations:

All of the major components of (or components virtually

identical to) SEPTA's MU brake systems are being used successfully with

3 or 4 year clean, oil, test, and stencil (COT&S) intervals on the

National Railroad Passenger Corporation, New Jersey Transit, and

freight railroads.

[[Page 29777]]

The condition of the internal components of the brake

valves at the 2 year COT&S interval is excellent.

All of SEPTA's MU locomotives with air compressors are

equipped with air dryers, as are all of its shop air supplies. (SEPTA

has no yard air plants).

SEPTA's MU fleet is confined to a small area. All air

brake valves are rebuilt at one location, and failures are entered into

a computer tracking system for monitoring of brake system performance

to aid in quick identification of and reaction to any failure trends.

Testing recently completed by Metro-North Railroad (Metro-

North) demonstrating that extending COT&S to 1104 days could be

accomplished without compromising brake system reliability and safety

was successful. While SEPTA's equipment is not identical to Metro-

North's, SEPTA feels the hardware and service requirements are very

similar.

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 H-97-2]

and must be submitted in triplicate to the Docket Clerk, Office of

Chief Counsel, FRA, Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, S.W.,

Washington, D.C. 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 (9:00 a.m.-

5:00 p.m.) at FRA's temporary docket room located at 1120 Vermont

Avenue, N.W., Room 7051, Washington, D.C. 20005.

Issued in Washington, D.C. on May 20, 1997.

Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,

Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program

Development.

[FR Doc. 97-14247 Filed 5-30-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910-06-P