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

This document stays the effectiveness 49 CFR part 224, which mandates the reflectorization of certain freight rolling stock. Part 224 was established by final rule on January 3, 2005, and took effect on March 4, 2005. FRA received three petitions for reconsideration in response to the final rule. Accordingly, in order to allow FRA appropriate time to respond to the petitions for reconsideration, this document stays the effectiveness of part 224 until further notice is published in the Federal Register.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces that the Information Collection Requirements (ICRs) abstracted below have been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The ICRs describes the nature of the information collections and their expected burdens. The Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collection of information was published on September 22, 2004 (69 FR 56819). An earlier Federal Register notice with a 30-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collection of information was published on December 2, 2004 (69 FR 70167).

FRA is issuing a safety advisory to facilitate improved cooperation in the investigation of collisions at highway-rail grade crossings. The advisory describes the roles of the Federal and state governments and of the railroads in highway-rail grade crossing safety. FRA reminds railroads of their responsibility to: Properly report any accident involving grade crossing signal failure; properly maintain records relating to credible reports of grade crossing warning system malfunctions; properly preserve the data from all locomotive-mounted recording devices following highway-rail grade crossing collisions; and cooperate fully with local law enforcement authorities during their investigations of such accidents. FRA also offers assistance to local authorities in the investigation of highway-rail grade crossing collisions where information or expertise within FRA's control is required to complete the investigation.