Federal Railroad Administration January 5, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On July 27, 2006, the 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. On September 22, 2006, the FRA published a second notice, which announced that FRA had scheduled subsequent meetings, to be held on September 27, 2006, in Raleigh, North Carolina; October 26, 2006, in San Francisco, California; and December 6, 2006, in New Orleans, Louisiana. This Notice No. 3 announces that the FRA has scheduled an additional meeting, to be held on February 15, 2007, in Syracuse, New York. At the 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 not be limited to, current practices concerning 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.