Federal Railroad Administration 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

FRA is proposing to revise its regulations governing the minimum safety requirements for railroad track. The proposed changes include allowing inspection of rail using continuous rail testing; allowing the use of flange-bearing frogs in crossing diamonds; relaxing the guard check gage limits on heavy-point frogs used in Class 5 track; removing an inspection-method exception for high-density commuter lines; and other miscellaneous revisions. Overall, the proposed revisions would benefit track owners, railroads, and the public by reducing unnecessary costs and incentivizing innovation, while not negatively affecting rail safety.

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) and its implementing regulations, FRA is informing the public that FRA proposes to make three minor revisions to the Quarterly Positive Train Control (PTC) Progress Report Form (Form FRA F 6180.165) and Annual PTC Progress Report Form (Form FRA F 6180.166), which the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) previously approved on September 24, 2018, under its regular processing procedures. In addition, FRA is now proposing to require host railroads operating FRA-certified PTC systems to submit a Statutory Notification of PTC System Failures (Form FRA F 6180.177) to fulfill the temporary reporting requirement under the Positive Train Control Enforcement and Implementation Act of 2015 (PTCEI Act), and FRA is proposing an alternative reporting frequency and reporting location, as the statutory mandate authorizes FRA to establish. Before submitting this revised information collection request (ICR) to OMB for regular clearance and approval, FRA is soliciting public comment on specific aspects of the proposed ICR described below.

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) and its implementing regulations, this notice announces that FRA is forwarding the Information Collection Requests (ICRs) abstracted below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The ICRs describe the information collections and their expected burden. On October 7, 2019, FRA published a notice providing a 60-day period for public comment on the ICRs.

In response to a petition for rulemaking, FRA proposes amending its regulation on Training, Qualification, and Oversight for Safety-Related Railroad Employees by delaying the regulation's implementation dates for all contractors, and those Class II and III railroads that are not intercity or commuter passenger railroads with 400,000 total employee work hours annually or more.

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) and its implementing regulations, this notice announces that FRA is forwarding the Information Collection Requests (ICRs) abstracted below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The ICRs describe the information collections and their expected burden. On August 21, 2019, FRA published a notice providing a 60-day period for public comment on the ICRs.

This notice details the application requirements and procedures to obtain grant \1\ funding for eligible projects under the Magnetic Levitation Technology Deployment Program (Maglev Grants Program). Maglev Grants Program funding under this notice is provided by two sources, totaling $24,027,500. This funding includes $10,000,000 (2019 Funds) as appropriated by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019, (2019 Appropriation) and an additional $14,027,500 (2008 Funds) as authorized by sections 1101(a)(18) and 1307 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users SAFETEA-LU, (SAFETEA-LU), as amended by the SAFETEA-LU Technical Corrections Act of 2008, (Technical Corrections Act). There are differing requirements for each of these funding sources as described in this notice. The opportunities described in this notice are made available under Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number 20.318, ``Maglev Project Selection ProgramSAFETEA-LU.''

This notice details the application requirements and procedures to obtain grant funding for eligible projects under the Railroad Trespassing Enforcement Grant Program. Funding for this program totaling $150,000 is provided by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019. The opportunities described in this notice are available under Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number 20.301, ``Rail Safety Grants.''

This notice details the application requirements and procedures to obtain grant funding for eligible projects under the Federal-State Partnership for State of Good Repair Program (Partnership Program). This notice solicits applications for Partnership Program funds made available by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019. The opportunity described in this notice is made available under Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number 20.326, ``Federal-State Partnership for State of Good Repair.''

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) and its implementing regulations, FRA seeks approval of the Information Collection Request (ICR) abstracted below. Before submitting this ICR to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval, FRA is soliciting public comment on specific aspects of the activities identified in the ICR.