Federal Railroad Administration 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) and 5 CFR 1320.5(b), this notice announces that new information collections requirements (ICRs) listed below have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). These new ICRs pertain to 49 CFR Parts 214, 217, 218, 225, 232, 238, 260, and 262. Additionally, FRA hereby announces that other ICRs listed below have been re-approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). These ICRs pertain to Parts 214, 220, 224, 225, 229, 234, 236, 238, 240, and 244. The OMB approval numbers, titles, and expiration dates are included herein under supplementary information.

This notice is to advise the public that FRA and the California High Speed Rail Authority (Authority) will jointly prepare a project Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and project Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the San Francisco to San Jose section of the Authority's proposed California High-Speed Train (HST) System in compliance with relevant state and federal laws, in particular the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). In 2001, the Authority and FRA started a tiered environmental review process for the HST system and in 2005, completed the first tier California High Speed Train Program EIR/EIS and approved the statewide HST system for intercity travel in California between the major metropolitan centers of Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area in the north, through the Central Valley, to Los Angeles and San Diego in the south. The approved HST system would be about 800-miles long, with electric propulsion and steel-wheel-on-steel-rail trains capable of maximum operating speeds of 220 miles per hour (mph) on a mostly dedicated system of fully grade-separated, access-controlled steel tracks and with state-of-the-art safety, signaling, communication, and automated train control systems. In 2008, the Authority and FRA completed a second program EIR/EIS to evaluate alignments and station locations within the broad corridor between and including the Altamont Pass and the Pacheco Pass to connect the Bay Area and Central Valley portions of the HST system. The Authority and FRA selected the Pacheco PassSan Francisco and San Jose termini network alternative, as well as preferred corridor alignments and station location options. The selected alignment uses the Caltrain rail right-of-way, between San Francisco and San Jose along the San Francisco Peninsula, and the Pacheco Pass via Henry Miller Road, between San Jose and the Central Valley. The preparation of the San Francisco to San Jose HST Project EIR/ EIS will involve development of preliminary engineering designs and assessment of environmental effects associated with the construction, operation, and maintenance of the HST system, including track, ancillary facilities and stations, along the Caltrain corridor from San Francisco to San Jose.

This rule increases the rail equipment accident/incident reporting threshold from $8,500 to $8,900 for certain railroad accidents/incidents involving property damage that occur during calendar year 2009. This action is needed to ensure that FRA's reporting requirements reflect cost increases that have occurred since the reporting threshold was last computed in December of 2007.

Section 502 of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008, Public Law 110-432 (October 16, 2008), requires the Secretary of Transportation to ``issue a request for proposals for projects for the financing, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of a high-speed intercity passenger rail system operating within'' either the Northeast Corridor or a Federally designated high- speed rail (HSR) corridor. To satisfy this requirement, the FRA is soliciting and encouraging the submission of Expressions of Interest for potential projects to finance, design, construct, operate, and maintain an improved HSR intercity passenger system in the Northeast Corridor or in one of ten Federally designated corridors. FRA envisions this as the first phase of a qualification process that Congress may follow with more specific actions regarding particular proposals in one or more corridors.

On October 16, 2008, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) published a Notice of Funds Availability in the Federal Register. (FR Vol. 73, No. 201/Thursday October 16, 2008, pg 61449) In that Notice, FRA solicited applications from eligible applicants for $45 million authorized by section 1307 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) for preconstruction activities and capital costs of fixed guideway infrastructure of maglev projects east of the Mississippi River. (That notice and this notice do not apply to the maglev project between Las Vegas and Primm, NV.) Based upon the Joint Explanatory Statement of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee, and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Congress explained its intent ``to limit the eligible projects to three existing projects east of the Mississippi River: Pittsburgh, Baltimore-Washington, and Atlanta- Chattanooga.'' Proponents of eligible projects have requested meetings with FRA to clarify the application requirements. Because of the competitive nature of the application process, FRA will hold an open meeting where interested proponents of any of these three projects might discuss application requirements with FRA, in a forum that will permit proponents of all eligible projects to benefit from these discussions. All questions and responses will be available in summary form on FRA's Web site after the meeting.

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 for clearance by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), FRA is soliciting public comment on specific aspects of the activities identified below.

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. Each ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its expected burden. The Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the collection of information listed below was published on October 2, 2008 (See 73 FR 57404).

On October 16, 2008, the final rule in this proceeding providing regulatory relief for implementation and use of electronically controlled pneumatic brake systems was published with an effective date of December 15, 2008. See 73 FR 61512. See 73 FR 61512. To comply with the Congressional Review Act, the effective date of the final rule is being delayed to January 12, 2009.

FRA is issuing Safety Advisory 2008-02 in order to provide guidance to interested parties concerning the inspection and repair of GVSR series flatcars that have been modified to add welded vertical hand brake supports. FRA's Office of Safety Assurance and Compliance Motive Power and Equipment (MP&E) Division has been notified of a catastrophic failure of the welded securement of the vertical hand brake support on Flatcar GVSR 209000. The failure occurred on May 29, 2008, and resulted in the fatality of a Union Pacific Railroad (UP) train crewmember.

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

By notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) published on September 9, 2008 (73 FR 52496), FRA proposed revisions to its regulations governing railroad accident/incident recording and reporting. This document announces a public hearing to provide interested parties the opportunity to comment on the NPRM and announces a thirty (30) day extension of the comment period, which closed November 10, 2008, to commence on the date of the public hearing. This extension provides interested parties the opportunity to comment on the NPRM and to respond to matters that arise at the public hearing related to the NPRM.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and its implementing regulations, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) hereby announces that it is seeking an extension of the following currently approved information collection activities. These information collection activities received a six-month emergency approval from OMB. FRA seeks this extension while it works on developing a proposed rule related to the same topic of inappropriate cell phone use and other electronic/electrical devices by railroad employees while on-duty. Before submitting these information collection requirements for clearance by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), FRA is soliciting public comment on specific aspects of the activities identified below.

FRA announces the thirty-seventh meeting of the RSAC, a Federal advisory committee that develops railroad safety regulations through a consensus process. The RSAC meeting topics will include opening remarks from the FRA Administrator, and status reports will be provided by the Passenger Safety, Locomotive Safety Standards, Railroad Bridge Safety, Medical Standards, Railroad Operating Rules, and Track Safety Standards Working Groups. FRA may offer several tasks pertaining to the mandates contained in the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008. Subjects to be addressed by these tasks include hours of service recordkeeping and reporting, implementing regulations for Positive Train Control systems, hours of service limitations and fatigue management for employees of intercity and commuter passenger railroads, certification of conductors, and potentially other topics. This agenda is subject to change.

Under this Notice, the FRA encourages interested State departments of transportation to submit applications for grants to repair and rehabilitate Class II and Class III railroad infrastructure damaged by hurricanes, floods, and other natural disasters in areas for which the President declared a major disaster after January 1, 2008, under Title IV of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act of 1974.

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 hereby gives notice that it is seeking emergency approval processing from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35) for the information collection request (ICR) listed below. FRA requests that OMB authorize the collection of information identified below on or before October 31, 2008, for a period of 180 days after the date of issuance of this notice in the Federal Register. On October 7, 2008, in response to the September 12, 2008, Chatsworth, California, collision of a Union Pacific (UP) freight train and a Metrolink commuter train, which resulted in the deaths of 25 people and numerous injuries, as well as other recent accidents/incidents involving cell phone use and use of electronic/electrical devices, FRA published in the Federal Register Emergency Order No. 26 (E.O. 26) (see 73 FR 58702) restricting on-duty railroad operating employees' use of cell phones and other distracting electronic and electronic devices. Because E.O. 26 goes into effect on October 27, 2008, and because E.O. 26 imposes information collection requirements that must be fulfilled by the nation's railroads, FRA is seeking emergency approval for the proposed collection of information to enforce compliance with E.O. 26 and to ensure the safety of affected railroad employees and the general public during train operations throughout the United States.

FRA is issuing revisions to the regulations governing freight power brakes and equipment by adding a new subpart addressing electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP) brake systems. The revisions are designed to provide for and encourage the safe implementation and use of ECP brake system technologies. These revisions contains specific requirements relating to design, interoperability, training, inspection, testing, handling defective equipment, and periodic maintenance related to ECP brake systems. The final rule also identifies provisions of the existing regulations and statutes where FRA is proposing to provide flexibility to facilitate the voluntary adoption of this advanced brake system technology.

On September 26, 2008, the Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) determined that the impending landfall of tropical storm Kyle on the coast of the United States and the potential of that storm to reach hurricane status constituted an emergency event as related to railroad operations. Accordingly, the Administrator activated the Emergency Relief Docket. This document provides notice of the Administrator's determination.

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

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 for clearance by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), FRA is soliciting public comment on specific aspects of the activities identified below.