Railroad Workplace Safety; Adjacent-Track On-Track Safety for Roadway Workers, 33754 [2013-13291]

Agencies

• Federal Railroad Administration
• DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 108 (Wednesday, June 5, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 33754]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-13291]



[[Page 33754]]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

49 CFR Part 214

[Docket No. FRA-2008-0059, Notice No. 7]
RIN 2130-AC37


Railroad Workplace Safety; Adjacent-Track On-Track Safety for 
Roadway Workers

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Final rule; delay of effective date.

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SUMMARY: This document delays the effective date of the final rule 
published November 30, 2011, and scheduled to take effect on July 1, 
2013. The final rule mandates that roadway workers comply with 
specified on-track safety procedures that railroads must adopt to 
protect those workers from the movement of trains or other on-track 
equipment on ``adjacent controlled track.'' FRA received two petitions 
for reconsideration of the final rule, and five comments in response to 
the March 8, 2012, final rule that requested comments on the petitions 
for reconsideration. The petitions and comments raised a number of 
substantive issues requiring a detailed response. As FRA's response to 
those petitions and comments is still being reviewed, this document 
delays the effective date of the final rule until July 1, 2014.

DATES: The effective date for the final rule published November 30, 
2011, at 76 FR 74586, and delayed on March 8, 2012, at 77 FR 13978, is 
further delayed until July 1, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kenneth Rusk, Staff Director, Track 
Division, Office of Safety Assurance and Compliance, FRA, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE., RRS-15, Mail Stop 25, Washington, DC 20590 
(telephone 202-493-6236); or Joseph St. Peter, Trial Attorney, Office 
of Chief Counsel, FRA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., RCC-12, Mail Stop 
10, Washington, DC 20590 (telephone 202-493-6052).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On November 30, 2011, FRA published a final 
rule amending its regulations on railroad workplace safety to further 
reduce the risk of serious injury or death to roadway workers 
performing work with potentially distracting equipment near certain 
adjacent tracks. See 76 FR 74586. In particular, the rule requires that 
roadway workers comply with specified on-track safety procedures that 
railroads must adopt to protect those workers from the movement of 
trains or other on-track equipment on ``adjacent controlled track.'' In 
response to the final rule, FRA received two petitions for 
reconsideration that raised substantive issues, requiring a detailed 
response from FRA. The effective date of the 2011 final rule was to be 
May 1, 2012; however, due to the complexity of the issues raised in the 
petitions, as well as in consideration of the railroads' safety 
training schedules, FRA published a final rule delaying the effective 
date of the 2011 final rule until July 1, 2013, and establishing a 60-
day comment period in order to permit interested parties an opportunity 
to respond to the petitions for reconsideration. See 77 FR 13978 (March 
8, 2012). FRA received five comments on the petitions for 
reconsideration, a number of which raise additional substantive issues 
or provide further detailed information on the issues already raised. 
FRA's response to the petitions and comments is still being reviewed, 
and may not be published before the 2011 final rule's current effective 
date of July 1, 2013. Accordingly, in order to accommodate railroads' 
normal training schedules and to allow railroads to incorporate any 
amendments that FRA's response to the petitions and comments on the 
petitions may make to the final rule, this document delays the 
effective date of the November 30, 2011, final rule until July 1, 2014. 
Therefore, railroads and roadway workers need not comply with any 
requirements imposed by the 2011 final rule until July 1, 2014.

List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 214

    Occupational safety and health, Penalties, Railroad safety.

The Final Rule

    In consideration of the foregoing, FRA delays the effective date of 
the November 30, 2011, final rule until July 1, 2014.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on May 30, 2013.
Joseph C. Szabo,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2013-13291 Filed 6-4-13; 8:45 am]
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