Federal Railroad Administration June 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents
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Notice of Availability of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement, for the Chicago, IL to St. Louis, MO High Speed Rail Corridor Program
FRA is issuing this notice to advise the public that a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (Draft EIS) has been prepared for the Chicago, Illinois to St. Louis, Missouri High Speed Rail Corridor Program. The Draft EIS includes a Tier 1 corridor-level evaluation and a Tier 2 project-level evaluation for the Springfield Rail Improvements Project. FRA is the lead federal agency and the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) is the lead state agency for the environmental review process. IDOT proposes to improve high speed passenger rail service between Chicago, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri, including the rail lines through Springfield, Illinois. The proposed including the development of double tracking along the existing Amtrak railroad corridor to improve high-speed passenger service reliability and safety, and to increase the number of trips between Chicago and St. Louis, as well as including improvements to railroad crossings, signals, and stations. The Draft EIS presents the Program's purpose and need, identifies all reasonable alternatives, describes the affected environment, analyzes the potential environmental impacts of all the reasonable alternatives and the no action alternative, and identifies appropriate mitigation measures to minimize the potential environmental impacts.
Notice of Decision to Grant Buy America Waiver to Washington Department of Transportation to Purchase Vossloh 101-LV Concrete Rail Ties
FRA is issuing this notice to advise the public that it has granted the Washington Department of Transportation's (WSDOT) waiver request from the FRA Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act (PRIIA) Buy America requirement for the use of Vossloh 101-LV concrete ties in the Pacific Northwest Rail Corridor high-speed intercity passenger rail program funded by FRA grants. The waiver also covers three other high-speed intercity passenger rail projects being undertaken on BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) owned infrastructure in California, Texas and Illinois. The Vossloh 101-VL concrete rail ties are made in the United States but contain two components (dowel inserts and SKL-30 tension clamps) that are not manufactured in the United States. FRA has granted the waiver because dowel inserts and SKL-30 tension clamps that meet the BNSF's operational and safety needs are not produced in the United States. This waiver is conditioned on BNSF's good faith efforts to find a domestic source for the components and is time limited to two years after the effective date of this waiver or until Vossloh begins manufacturing the components in the United States, whichever occurs first.
Passenger Train Emergency Preparedness
FRA is proposing to revise its regulations for passenger train emergency preparedness. These proposed revisions would: ensure that railroad personnel who communicate and coordinate with first responders during emergency situations receive initial and periodic training and are subject to operational (efficiency) tests and inspections; clarify that railroads must develop procedures in their emergency preparedness plans (e-prep plans) addressing the safe evacuation of passengers with disabilities during emergency situations; limit the need for FRA to formally approve purely administrative changes to approved e-prep plans; specify new operational (efficiency) testing and inspection requirements for both operating and non-operating employees; and remove as unnecessary the section on the preemptive effect of the regulations.
Environmental Impact Statement for the Northeast Corridor Between Washington, DC, New York, NY, and Boston, MA
FRA is issuing this Notice of Intent (Notice) to advise the public of the preparation of a Tier 1 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to evaluate potential passenger rail improvements between Washington, DC, New York City, and Boston, MA. FRA is leading the planning and environmental evaluation of the Northeast Corridor (NEC), an effort known as NEC FUTURE, in close coordination with the involved states, Northeast Corridor Infrastructure and Operations Advisory Commission (NEC Commission), Amtrak and other stakeholders. The purpose of the NEC FUTURE program is to define current and future markets for improved rail service and capacity on the NEC, develop an integrated passenger rail transportation solution to incrementally meet those needs, and create a regional planning framework to engage stakeholders throughout the region in the development of the program. NEC FUTURE is being advanced consistent with the federal High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail (HSIPR) program and includes the development of a Passenger Rail Corridor Investment Plan (PRCIP). A PRCIP provides the data necessary to support an FRA decision to fund and implement major investments in a passenger rail corridor. A PRCIP is comprised of two components: A Tier 1 EIS and a Service Development Plan (SDP). The Tier 1 EIS will be developed in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4321 and the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations, 40 CFR part 1500 et seq., and will address documentation on a broad corridor level. The SDP articulates the overall scope, alternatives, approach and business case for proposed service and improvements. As part of the Tier 1 EIS, FRA will evaluate various passenger rail alternatives: A No Action Alternative, consisting of already planned improvements to the corridor, and Build Alternatives consisting of a full array of passenger rail alternatives which could range from operational and service enhancements to new physical improvements. FRA will consider the type, location and need for ancillary facilities for each alternative. The primary passenger rail route is the existing NEC passenger rail spine and its connecting corridors; however, in some areas, FRA may consider alternatives off of the existing NEC. FRA is issuing this Notice to alert the public and agencies about the preparation of the Tier 1 EIS and associated SDP. To ensure that all significant issues are identified and considered, all interested parties are invited to comment on the proposed scope of environmental review, project purpose and need, alternatives to be considered, environmental effects to be considered and evaluated, and methodologies to be used for evaluating effects.
Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request
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.
Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request
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. The ICRs describes the nature of the information collection and their expected burden. The Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collection of information was published on April 4, 2012 (77 FR 20478).
Pilot Project Grants in Support of Railroad Safety Risk Reduction Programs
This notice details the application requirements and procedures for obtaining grant funding for pilot projects designed to eliminate or reduce railroad accidents caused by Electronic Device Distraction (EDD), by improving safety culture and making misuse socially unacceptable. Components of these pilot projects will include peer-to-peer safety training techniques, and other innovative processes. These pilot projects will be used to supplement and enhance compliance with Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 220, Subpart C, Electronic Devices. The purpose of this subpart is to reduce safety risks resulting from railroad operating employees being distracted by the inappropriate use of electronic devices, such as mobile telephones and laptop computers. This subpart was codified in response to an increase in the number of accidents caused by misuse of personal electronic devices. The opportunities described in this notice are available under the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number 20.301
National Environmental Policy Act Implementation
FRA is publishing this notice to request comments on FRA's proposed additions to the list of categorical exclusions (CEs) contained in FRA's Procedures for Considering Environmental Impacts (Environmental Procedures). CEs are actions that FRA has determined do not individually or cumulatively have significant effects on the human or natural environment and thus, do not require the preparation of an environmental assessment (EA) or environmental impact statement (EIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). FRA's Environmental Procedures currently contain twenty CEs, and FRA is proposing to add seven additional CEs. FRA is also making a Categorical Exclusion Substantiation Document (Substantiation Document) available for public review. That document supports the proposed CEs and demonstrates that the actions covered by the proposed CEs are unlikely to have significant impacts on the human or natural environment. The Substantiation Document is available on FRA's Web site at https://www.fra.dot.gov/.
Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request
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 for the new Safety Appliance Standards Guidance Checklist form listed below. Before submitting information collection requirements (ICRs) for clearance by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), FRA is required to solicit public comment on specific aspects of the activities identified below.
Systems for Telephonic Notification of Unsafe Conditions at Highway-Rail and Pathway Grade Crossings
This final rule requires certain railroads to establish and maintain systems that allow members of the public to call the railroads, using a toll-free telephone number, and report an emergency or other unsafe condition at highway-rail and pathway grade crossings. The rule refers to such a system as an ``Emergency Notification System,'' and it consists of the following components: the signs, placed at the grade crossing, that display the information necessary for the public to report an unsafe condition to the appropriate railroad; the method that the railroad uses to receive and process a telephone call reporting the unsafe condition; the remedial actions that the appropriate railroad or railroads take to address the report of the unsafe conditions; and the related recordkeeping conducted by the railroad(s).
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