Federal Railroad Administration April 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents
Results 1 - 11 of 11
Use of Locomotive Horns at Highway-Rail Grade Crossings
On December 18, 2003, FRA published an interim final rule that required that the locomotive horn be sounded while trains approach and enter public highway-rail grade crossings. The interim final rule contained an exception to the above requirement in circumstances in which there is not a significant risk of loss of life or serious personal injury, use of the locomotive horn is impractical, or safety measures fully compensate for the absence of the warning provided by the locomotive horn. Communities that qualify for this exception may create ``quiet zones'' within which locomotive horns would not be routinely sounded. The final rule issued today amends certain provisions of the interim final rule to facilitate the development of quiet zones, while balancing the needs of railroads, States and local communities.
Railroad Safety Advisory Committee; Notice of Meeting
FRA announces the next meeting of the RSAC, a Federal Advisory Committee that develops railroad safety regulations through a consensus process. The RSAC briefing topics may include a State of Safety Report; recent safety advisories; the Rail Integrity Task Force; implementation of the final rule on Performance Standards for Processor-Based Signal and Train Control Systems; and an update on other regulatory activity. Status reports will be given on the Roadway Worker Working Group, and other active working groups. The Event Recorder Working Group will report recommendations for a final rule, which the Committee will be asked to vote on by mail ballot following the meeting. The Committee will be asked to vote on (1) the Passenger Safety Working Group Emergency Preparedness recommendations for a proposed amendments to passenger safety regulations and (2) the Cab Working Conditions Occupational Noise Exposure recommendations for final rule. The Committee may be asked to adopt a task on revision of FRA rules governing railroad operating rules and practices.
Notice of Safety Advisory 2005-02
The FRA is issuing Safety Advisory 2005-02, which provides information on the potential catastrophic failure of locomotive main reservoir tanks manufactured by R&R Metal Fabricators, Incorporated, and installed on General Electric Transportation System (GETS) locomotives. The GETS has informed FRA that a total of 5,826 suspect main reservoir tanks were manufactured between 1988 and 1995. To date, four of these main reservoir tanks have failed catastrophically while in service, and additional tanks have been removed for leaking through the welded seams.
Revision of Method for Calculating Monetary Threshold for Reporting Rail Equipment Accidents/Incidents
FRA is proposing to amend a portion of the accident reporting regulations. Specifically, FRA proposes to amend the method for calculating the monetary threshold for reporting rail equipment accidents/incidents. The amendment is necessary because, in 2001, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) ceased collecting and publishing railroad wage data used by FRA in the calculation. Consequently, FRA has had to seek a new source of publicly-available data. FRA is recommending the use of wage data collected and maintained by the Surface Transportation Board (STB) in place of the unavailable BLS wage data. As equipment data remain available from the BLS, no change is proposed in the source of the equipment component of the reporting threshold. The purpose of the rule is to ensure and maintain comparability between different years of accident data by having the threshold keep pace with any increases or decreases in equipment and labor costs so that each year accidents involving the same minimum amount of railroad property damage are included in the reportable accident counts.
Inspection and Maintenance Standards for Steam Locomotives
FRA proposes to correct an inadvertent, small omission from FRA Form 4 (``Boiler Specification Card'') in the Steam Locomotive Inspection and Maintenance Standards. The form is used to record information about inspections of steam locomotive boilers.
Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC); Working Group Activity Update
The FRA is updating its announcement of RSAC's Working Group activities to reflect its current status.
Alcohol and Drug Testing: Change of Corporate Name, Address, and Telephone Numbers of Post-Accident Toxicological Testing Laboratory
FRA is amending its alcohol and drug rule to reflect changes to the corporate name, address, and telephone numbers of the laboratory designated to conduct post-accident toxicological testing.
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