[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 95 (Friday, May 16, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28592-28593]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-11348]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
[Docket Number FRA-2014-0043]
Petition for Waiver of Compliance
In accordance with part 211 of Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations
(CFR), this document provides the public notice that by a document
dated April 22, 2014, the National Passenger Railroad Corporation
(Amtrak) is requesting a waiver from the requirements of 49 CFR
214.336, On-track safety procedures for certain roadway work groups and
adjacent tracks. FRA assigned the petition Docket Number FRA-2014-0043.
In its petition, Amtrak requests relief from the portion of 49 CFR
part 214 where roadway workers (herein referred to as ``workers'') are
able to occupy and satisfy the requirements of a predetermined place of
safety (PPOS). The waiver is sought for the express purpose of
providing workers with a safe means of traversing to a PPOS when
working alongside Amtrak's production equipment, which does not allow
access between the rails of the occupied track, and where an adjacent
controlled track is present on the same side as the worker. When it is
safe to do so, the Roadway Worker-In-Charge (RWIC) will identify the
PPOS to be within the vertical planes projected by the occupied track's
running rails within working limits, or clear of all tracks, per 49 CFR
214.336(b). When such a place is not accessible or will require the
worker to directly expose themselves to movement on one or more tracks
while traversing to occupy their PPOS, the RWIC will identify the PPOS
to be within the perimeter of the equipment so that no part of their
person will break the plane of the equipment's perimeter. The equipment
will effectively protect the worker from fouling the adjacent
controlled track.
Title 49 CFR 214.336(a)(1) defines the procedure for on-track
safety that is required for each adjacent controlled track when a
roadway work group with at least one of the roadway workers on the
ground is engaged in a common task with on-track, self-propelled
equipment, or coupled equipment on an occupied track. Title 49 CFR
214.336(b)(1) provides the requirements for affected workers to cease
all on-ground work and equipment movement being performed, and occupy a
PPOS upon receiving either a warning or notification of equipment
movement on the adjacent controlled track. The average track center
spacing on the Northeast Corridor (NEC) is less than 19 feet, and is
therefore regulated under the requirements of 49 CFR 214.336. Amtrak's
production equipment units are typically work trains that consist of
many on-track, self-propelled, coupled pieces of equipment, and the
materials required for continuous action track renewal (rail, ballast,
and/or tie replacement), removal of track, and/or track laying. The
current practice for workers engaged in a common task with on-track,
self-propelled equipment prevents worker access to a PPOS between the
running rails of the occupied track, and when the workers must cross
the tracks for which movement is authorized. The safest PPOS is
identified within the perimeter of the immobile production equipment on
the occupied track but not between the running rails.
Title 49 CFR 214.336(e)(2) provides exceptions for workers
performing maintenance or repairs either alongside or within the
perimeter of a roadway maintenance machine, or coupled equipment on the
occupied track. The exception to the requirement to cease work does not
apply to workers on the ground engaged in a common task with such
equipment when a warning is provided for movement on the adjacent
controlled track, when the equipment prevents access between the rails
of the occupied track, when the only alternate PPOS requires workers to
cross tracks for which movement is authorized at maximum authorized
speeds (the highest authorized speed on the NEC is 150 mph, 220 feet
per second).
An unfortunate consequence of the procedures for adjacent
controlled track is that workers are frequently required to engage in a
common task alongside Amtrak's production equipment to cross a
convergent path with the projected path of the movement for which a
warning was just received. A worker's exposure to the risk associated
with an adjacent controlled track is maximized at that moment as a
result of the regulation designed to minimize this particular risk. The
normal frequency of passing trains on the NEC can be as high as 30
trains per hour, which includes instances of multiple trains authorized
to pass the work group simultaneously. In the scenario of multiple
authorized movements, a worker's view of adjacent track movements could
be obstructed by an approaching movement requiring them to blindly
cross an unprotected track.
Amtrak seeks regulatory relief so that the RWIC may identify a PPOS
in an area of the stationary equipment, which minimizes risk for the
worker traversing to occupy the identified PPOS, provided that such
PPOS is within the widest perimeter dimension of the equipment and no
part of the worker's person may break the plane projected by the
equipment's widest perimeter dimension. The equipment would effectively
shelter the worker in a place of safety. Equipment authorized to
operate on the NEC must meet the dimensional specification, ``Clearance
Limitations of Roadway Equipment; Plate C'', which is defined
specifically for the safe passage of multiple adjacent movements at the
most restrictive spacing of track center locations (Figure 1). It is
this specification that ensures the worker a PPOS protected from
authorized movements.
Amtrak states in its petition that it is dedicated to ensuring the
safety of its employees, and emphasizes that Amtrak does not wish to
seek a waiver from the procedures for adjacent controlled track
movements when the RWIC feels it safe for the workers to cross and
occupy a PPOS in accordance with the regulation. The method of
identifying a PPOS within the widest perimeter dimension of stationary
equipment on an occupied track is a common practice that has been
employed since Amtrak's inception without any records of serious injury
or fatality. In contrast, the procedure provided in the regulation
(crossing live tracks to reach the PPOS) has resulted in fatalities.
The Fatality Analysis of Maintenance-of-way Employees and Signalmen
committee's most recent publication on ``Fatalities on Adjacent
Tracks'' shows that 91 percent of the Roadway Worker Protection
fatalities that are classified as adjacent track fatalities occurred on
adjacent tracks with less than 19-foot spacing, where roadway
maintenance machines were present and in use on the track where work
was being performed.
Amtrak believes that the waiver requested will provide a level of
safety for workers engaged in a common task with on-track, self-
propelled equipment, or coupled equipment on an occupied track that
exceeds the regulation's requirements. Therefore, Amtrak believes that
relief from the PPOS
[[Page 28593]]
requirements for production track-laying machines, as defined in the
regulation, is in the best interest of its roadway workers and
consistent with railroad safety objectives.
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 and may be submitted by any of the following
methods:
Web site: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online
instructions for submitting comments.
Fax: 202-493-2251.
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 June 16, 2014 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://www.regulations.gov.
Anyone is able to 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.).
See http://www.regulations.gov/#!privacyNotice for the privacy notice
of regulations.gov or interested parties may review the U.S. Department
of Transportation's complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal
Register published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477).
Robert C. Lauby,
Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety, Chief Safety Officer.
[FR Doc. 2014-11348 Filed 5-15-14; 8:45 am]
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