Federal Railroad Administration March 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

FRA is issuing notice of a public conference that will be held in Fort Lauderdale, FL to discuss the appropriate excess risk estimate that should be applied to highway-rail grade crossings that are currently subject to FRA Emergency Order 15 (``E.O. 15''). The public conference will provide an opportunity for interested parties to provide information to FRA on the effect of silencing the locomotive horn at highway-rail grade crossings that are currently subject to E.O. 15.

On December 18, 2003, FRA published an Interim Final Rule in the Federal Register addressing the use of locomotive horns at highway- rail grade crossings. As FRA was interested in receiving public comments on all aspects of the Interim Final Rule, FRA held a public hearing in Washington, DC on February 4, 2004, and extended the comment period from the originally scheduled deadline of February 17, 2004, to April 19, 2004. However, by the close of the extended comment period, FRA had received more than 1,400 comments on the Interim Final Rule and Environmental Impact Statement. Given the extensive amount of time needed to review and analyze the comments received, on November 22, 2004, FRA extended the effective date of the Interim Final Rule until April 1, 2005. However, as a result of delays related to the publication of the final rule, which FRA intends to issue before the Interim Final Rule takes effect, FRA is issuing this document to announce the change of the Interim Final Rule effective date to June 24, 2005.