Brake System Safety Standards for Freight and Other Non-Passenger Trains and Equipment

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

49 CFR Parts 229, 231, and 232

[FRA Docket No. PB-9; Notice No. 15]

RIN 2130-AB16

Brake System Safety Standards for Freight and Other Non-Passenger

Trains and Equipment

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), DOT.

ACTION: Extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: By notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) published on September

9, 1998 (63 FR 48294), FRA proposed revisions to the regulations

governing the power braking systems and equipment used in freight and

other non-passenger railroad train operations. In that notice, FRA

established a deadline for the submission of written comments of

January 15, 1999. Due to the need to ensure that all interested parties

have a sufficient amount of time to fully develop their comments and

because several requests for additional time to submit written comments

have been received by FRA, this document announces an extension of the

deadline for the submission of written comments.

DATES: Written comments must be received by March 1, 1999. Comments

received after that date will be considered to the extent possible

without incurring additional expenses or delay.

ADDRESSES: Address written comments to the Docket Clerk, Office of

Chief Counsel, RCC-10, Federal Railroad Administration, 400 Seventh

Street, S.W., Stop 10, Washington, D.C. 20590. Comments should identify

the docket and notice number, and five copies should be submitted.

Persons wishing to receive confirmation of receipt of their comments

should include a self-addressed, stamped postcard. The Docket Clerk

will indicate on the postcard the date on which the comments were

received and will return the card to the addressee. The dockets are

housed in the Seventh Floor of 1120 Vermont Avenue, N.W., Washington

D.C. Public dockets may be reviewed between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and

5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Leon Smith, Deputy Regional

Administrator--Region 3, FRA Office of Safety, RRS-14, 400 Seventh

Street, S.W., Stop 25, Washington, D.C. 20950 (telephone 404-562-3800),

or Thomas Herrmann, Trial Attorney, Office of the Chief Counsel, RCC-

10, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Stop 10, Washington, D.C. 20950

(telephone 202-493-6053).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FRA held two public hearings and one

technical conference in October and November of 1998 in regard to this

NPRM. During the hearings and technical conference, a vast amount of

oral information was presented, and a considerable number of issues

were raised and discussed in detail. Subsequent to these meetings,

interested parties began the preparation of written comments, which

were to be submitted to FRA no later than January 15, 1999. Recently, a

few interested parties notified FRA of the need for additional time in

which to prepare their written comments. Due to the complexity and

importance of this rulemaking, especially to the railroads and rail

labor, FRA does not wish to inhibit the ability of any party to fully

develop its comments and seeks to provide sufficient time for all

interested parties to gather necessary information. Therefore, as FRA

is inclined to extend the period for the submission of written comments

for certain interested parties, FRA is compelled to provide the same

extension to all commenters. Consequently, FRA believes it is in the

best interest of all parties involved to extend the period for the

submission of written comments in this proceeding to March 1, 1999. It

should be noted that FRA does not expect anyone to seek any further

extension of the comment period in this proceeding and will consider

comments submitted after March 1, 1999, only to the extent possible

without causing additional expense or delay.

George A. Gavalla,

Acting Associate Administrator for Safety.

[FR Doc. 99-1377 Filed 1-20-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910-06-P