Federal Railroad Administration 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In this final rule, the Federal Railroad Administration is revising its regulations to reflect revisions to the penalty provisions in the Hazardous Materials Transportation Safety and Security Reauthorization Act of 2005 (Title VII of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users), enacted on August 10, 2005. We are also revising baseline assessments for several categories of violations, including those related to training and security plans, in our Civil Penalty Assessment Guidelines. We publish our Guidelines in order to provide the regulated community and the general public with information on the hazardous materials civil penalty assessment process for violations related to the transportation of hazardous materials by rail.

FRA is issuing this notice to advise the public that it will jointly prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) with the New Jersey Transit Corporation (NJ TRANSIT) and in cooperation with the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (AMTRAK), to study improvements to enhance the capacity and improve the operation of the Portal Bridge, a two-track moveable swing-span bridge crossing over the Hackensack River along AMTRAK's Northeast Corridor rail line. AMTRAK and NJ TRANSIT are proposing to enhance the capacity and improve the operation of the Portal Bridge. FRA is issuing this notice to solicit public and agency input into the development of the scope of the EIS and to advise the public that outreach activities conducted by NJ TRANSIT and its representatives will be considered in the preparation of the EIS. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is a cooperating agency for the environmental review. FTA will contribute information for which it has special expertise and ensure the EIS is prepared in compliance with its environmental regulations. The EIS will be prepared in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) of 1969 and the applicable regulations implementing NEPA as set forth in 64 FR 28545 (May 26, 1999) and 23 CFR part 771. The EIS will also address as necessary Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, Section 4(f) of the U.S. Department of Transportation Act of 1966 (49 U.S.C. 303) (DOT Act) and other applicable Federal, and State laws and regulations. The EIS will evaluate a ``No Action Alternative'' along with various build alternatives which could retain, replace, or modify the existing Portal Bridge. Alternatives proposing to retain the existing bridge would include the rehabilitation of the existing structure to a state of good repair, along with the construction of an additional bridge for added capacity. The new bridge could be either a moveable or a fixed bridge and its height above mean high water (MHW) would vary accordingly. The new structure may consist of a two- or three-track bridge. Alternatives proposing to replace the existing bridge would require the construction of two new bridges of varying heights, types, and number of tracks. The two new bridges could be built on new parallel alignments, or one new bridge could be built on the existing bridge alignment by use of a staged approach. Each of these new bridges would have two or three new tracks. Alternatives proposing to modify the existing bridge would entail rehabilitation and raising of the existing bridge to a new height. The existing bridge may be fixed in place or may remain moveable, depending on the proposed height above MHW. A new bridge could also be constructed on a different alignment.

FRA is issuing for comment proposed statements of agency policy that would amend the 25 schedules of civil penalties (Schedules) issued as appendixes to FRA's safety regulations to reflect more accurately the safety risks associated with a violation of each section or subsection of the regulations, as well as to make sure that the civil monetary penalty amounts (CMP) are consistent across all the safety regulations. These proposed revisions to the Schedules are being published to inform members and representatives of the regulated community and the general public of the amount of the civil penalty that a respondent would likely be assessed for a given violation and to invite their comments on those proposed amounts. In addition, FRA is proposing to correct any obvious errors or omissions in the Schedules.

On August 30, 2006, FRA published an Interim Final Rule (IFR) addressing the establishment of emergency relief dockets (ERD) and the procedures for handling petitions for emergency waivers of safety regulations, 71 FR 51517. The IFR provided that each year, FRA will establish an ERD for that year and publish a notice in the Federal Register identifying the docket number of the ERD for that year. This Notice announces the establishment of FRA's ERD for the current year (calendar year 2006). The designated ERD for calendar year 2006 is docket number FRA-2006-25808.

FRA is amending its existing regulations in an effort to address various mechanical issues relevant to the manufacture, efficient utilization, and safe operation of passenger equipment and trains that have arisen since FRA's original issuance of the Passenger Equipment Safety Standards. The miscellaneous amendments concentrate on the following five areas: Clarifying the terminology related to piston travel indicators; providing alternative design and additional inspection criteria for new passenger equipment not designed to allow inspection of the application and release of the brakes from outside the equipment; permitting some latitude in the use of passenger equipment with redundant air compressors when a limited number of the compressors become inoperative; recognizing current locomotive manufacturing techniques by permitting an alternative pneumatic pressure test for main reservoirs; and adding provisions to ensure the proper securement of unattended equipment. FRA is also clarifying the existing regulatory requirements related to the attachment of safety appliances and is mandating an identification and inspection protocol to address passenger equipment containing welded safety appliances or welded safety appliance brackets or supports. Finally, FRA is amending the regulations to permit railroads the ability to apply out-of-service credit to certain periodic maintenance requirements related to passenger equipment.

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 describe the nature of the information collection and its expected burden. The Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collections of information was published on August 2, 2006 (71 FR 43837).

FRA is proposing direct final rulemaking procedures to expedite the processing of noncontroversial regulatory changes to which no adverse comment is anticipated. Under the proposed procedures, FRA could choose to make routine or otherwise noncontroversial changes in a direct final rule which would become effective a specified number of days after its publication in the Federal Register, provided that no written adverse comment, or no request for a public hearing, was received before the rule's scheduled effective date. FRA would not use direct final rulemaking for complex or controversial matters.