Federal Railroad Administration May 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Since 1985, FRA has conducted post-accident toxicological testing (post-accident testing) on blood, urine, and, if an employee is deceased, tissue samples from railroad employees involved in serious train accidents. If an accident qualifies for post-accident testing, FRA routinely conducts tests for alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, phencyclidine (PCP), and certain amphetamines, opiates, barbiturates, and benzodiazepines. FRA is proposing to add certain potentially impairing non-controlled substances to its standard post-accident testing panel because FRA's research indicates that use of prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, most of which are non-controlled substances, is prevalent among railroad employees.

FRA announces the charter renewal of the RSAC, a Federal Advisory Committee that develops railroad safety regulations through a consensus process. This charter renewal will take effect on May 17, 2012, and will expire after 2 years.

On April 24, 2012, FRA published a final rule, pursuant to the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, which increased the aggravated maximum civil monetary penalty that the agency will apply when assessing a civil penalty for a violation of a railroad safety statute, regulation, or order under its authority. See 77 FR 24416. In preparing that final rule for publication, three errors were made as described in the Supplementary Information. FRA is correcting these minor errors so that the final rule clearly conforms to FRA's intent.