Federal Railroad Administration March 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 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 collections and their expected burdens. The Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collections of information was published on January 23, 2013.

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.

FRA is issuing Safety Advisory 2013-02 to alert railroads and other industry members about low-speed, wheel-climb derailments of certain passenger equipment designs having ``stiff'' suspension systems. These derailments have occurred when such equipment was negotiating track with a high degree of curvature and crosslevel variations (commonly referred to as ``track warp'') that were still within the limits set forth in FRA's Track Safety Standards. The findings from the derailment investigations conducted by FRA and the respective railroads highlight the need to ensure that passenger equipment suspension systems are suitable for more-demanding track conditions found in low-speed operating environments. To avoid similar low-speed, wheel-climb derailments, this notice recommends that railroads and other industry members evaluate the trackworthiness of certain passenger equipment to determine whether the suspension systems meet truck-equalization industry standards, prevent wheel climb, and control static wheel-load distribution under the conditions and within the limits described in the notice; and take appropriate action to address the derailment tendency, if any, of the evaluated equipment. In order to minimize the risk of suspension spring failure, this notice also recommends that railroads and other industry members assessing the fatigue life of suspension springs and their corresponding maintenance intervals use a fatigue-evaluation load equal to the equipment's full- capacity loading conditions.

FRA is issuing this notice to advise the public that it will prepare a Service Level/Tier 1 EIS with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to study potential new and/or improved high- speed intercity passenger rail service along an 850-mile corridor extending from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to the south Texas cities of Laredo and Brownsville (proposed action). In addition to the Service Level EIS, the Texas Oklahoma Passenger Rail Study (Study) also includes preparation of a service development plan for the corridor for each of three sections of the corridor: Oklahoma City to Dallas/Fort Worth, Dallas/Fort Worth to San Antonio, and San Antonio to south Texas. The Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) is a partnering state agency in the development of the EIS. The Service Level EIS will evaluate a reasonable range of corridor alternatives and make decisions regarding the preferred corridor, location of train service termini, location of intermediate stops, the level of service, and future planning for projects to implement the service. Alternatives under consideration will include a No Action (No Build) alternative, as well as multiple build alternatives. The build alternatives may include infrastructure improvements in existing or prior rail corridors, the development of one or more new rail corridors, or a combination of both, as well as varying levels of service. FRA is issuing this Notice to solicit public and agency input in the development of the scope of the EIS and to advise the public that FRA and TxDOT will conduct outreach activities regarding the scope of the EIS. To ensure all significant issues are identified and considered, the public is invited to comment on the scope of the EIS, including the purpose and need, alternatives to be considered, impacts to be evaluated, and methodologies to be used in the evaluation.

FRA is issuing this notice to advise the public that it intends to grant the Illinois Department of Transportation (``IDOT'') a waiver from FRA's Buy America requirement for the use of three component parts that are not produced in the United States for the Incremental Train Control System (``ITCS''). The three component parts included in IDOT's waiver request are: (1) An ethernet cable; (2) an omni directional antenna; and (3) a router/server combination. FRA believes a waiver is appropriate because off-the-shelf domestically produced components meeting the specific technical and design needs of the ITCS are not available, and custom-designed components are not ``reasonably available'' given the short timeframe associated with Positive Train Control (PTC) implementation and the low dollar value of the two components as installed on just twenty (20) locomotives, and only one router/server combination needed for the entire project. The total cost of the non-domestically produced components is approximately $20,000, out of the $2.5 million cost for the ITCS.