Federal Railroad Administration 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On April 19, 2005, FRA published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) proposing 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. FRA received two comments supporting the adoption of the proposed rule. Therefore, FRA adopts the proposed rule as a final rule.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and its implementing regulations, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) hereby announces that it is seeking renewal of the following currently approved information collection activities. Before submitting these information collection requirements (ICRs) for clearance by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), FRA is soliciting public comment on specific aspects of the activities identified below.

FRA is issuing revisions to the regulations governing locomotive event recorders to improve the crashworthiness of railroad locomotive event recorders and to enhance the quality of information available for post-accident investigations. FRA is amending its existing regulations in four major ways: By requiring that a new locomotive have an event recorder with a ``hardened'' memory module, proven by a requirement that the memory module preserve stored data throughout a sequence of prescribed tests; by requiring that this event recorder on a new locomotive collect certain additional types of information; by simplifying standards for inspecting, testing, and maintaining all event recorders; and by requiring the phasing out, over a four-year period, of event recorders on existing locomotives that use magnetic tape as a data storage medium and their replacement with event recorders with a certified survivable version of its previous event recorder. FRA is also revising the definitions contained in the existing regulation to remove the letter designations so that the defined terms are simply presented in alphabetical order.

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.

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.

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.

The FRA is updating its announcement of RSAC's Working Group activities to reflect its current status.

FRA is issuing a performance standard for the development and use of processor-based signal and train control systems. The rule also covers systems which interact with highway-rail grade-crossing warning systems. The rule establishes requirements for notifying FRA prior to installation and for training and recordkeeping. FRA is issuing these standards to promote the safe operation of trains on railroads using processor-based signal and train control equipment.