Federal Railroad Administration December 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.