Federal Railroad Administration December 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.