Federal Railroad Administration September 22, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On July 27, 2006, FRA published a notice announcing its intent to conduct a series of open meetings throughout the United States, in cooperation with appropriate State agencies, to consider issues related to the safety of private highway-rail grade crossings. This notice indicated that the first of these meetings would be held August 30, 2006, in Fort Snelling, Minnesota. Notice No. 2 announces that FRA has scheduled subsequent meetings to be held September 27, 2006, in Raleigh, North Carolina; October 26, 2006, in San Francisco, California; and December 6, 2006, in New Orleans, Louisiana. At each open meeting, FRA intends to solicit oral statements from private crossing owners, railroads and other interested parties on issues related to the safety of private highway-rail grade crossings, which will include, but will not be limited to, current practices concerning the responsibility for safety at private grade crossings, the adequacy of warning devices at private crossings, and the relative merits of a more uniform approach to improving safety at private crossings. FRA has also opened a public docket on these issues so that interested parties may submit written comments for public review and consideration.