Extension of Comment Period; Petition for Grandfathering of Non- compliant Equipment National Railroad Passenger Corporation

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Docket No. FRA-1999-6404]

Extension of Comment Period; Petition for Grandfathering of Non-

compliant Equipment National Railroad Passenger Corporation

On October 18, 1999, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation

(Amtrak) petitioned the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) for

grandfathering of non-compliant passenger equipment for use on rail

lines between Vancouver, British Columbia and Eugene, Oregon; between

Las Vegas, Nevada and Los Angeles, California; and between San Diego,

California and San Luis Obispo, California. Notice of receipt of such

petition was published in the Federal Register on November 2, 1999, at

64 FR 59230. Interested parties were invited to comment on the petition

before the end of the comment period of December 2, 1999.

On December 2, 1999, FRA extended the comment period in this

proceeding until December 15, 1999, following a Freedom of Information

Act request that certain items in FRA files referenced in Amtrak's

petition be made available for review (see 64 FR 68195, Dec. 6, 1999).

FRA is currently processing this request, and has provided, in part,

such information to the requestor in accordance with the provisions of

the Freedom of Information Act. FRA has also submitted to the public

docket in this proceeding such information provided to the requestor,

and FRA will further submit to the public docket any such additional

information that may be provided to the requestor pursuant its request.

FRA's processing of the request is not complete, however, and FRA

is further extending the comment period in this proceeding until 10

a.m. on December 27, 1999 in order to provide the requestor, and other

interested parties, an opportunity to review any additional information

that may be submitted to the public docket in this proceeding. Comments

received after that date will be considered to the extent possible.

Amtrak's petition and all written communications concerning this

proceeding are available for examination during regular business hours

(9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) at DOT Central Docket Management Facility, Room PL-

401 (Plaza Level), 400 Seventh, SW, Washington, DC 20590-0001. 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.

Issued in Washington, D.C. on December 16, 1999.

Jolene M. Molitoris,

Administrator, Federal Railroad Administration.

[FR Doc. 99-33210 Filed 12-21-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910-06-P