Federal Railroad Administration 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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 June 14, 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 Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) Program. CRISI Program funding under this notice is provided by the Consolidated Appropriations Act (2019 Appropriation). The opportunities described in this notice are made available under Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number 20.325, ``Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements.''

In accordance with the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, this final rule provides the 2019 inflation adjustment to civil penalty amounts that may be imposed for violations of certain DOT regulations.

FRA is proposing to require the installation of inward- and outward-facing locomotive image recording devices on all lead locomotives in passenger trains, and that these devices record while a lead locomotive is in motion and retain the data in a crashworthy memory module. FRA also proposes to treat locomotive-mounted recording devices on passenger locomotives as ``safety devices'' under existing Federal railroad safety regulations to prohibit tampering with or disabling them. Further, this NPRM would govern the use of passenger locomotive recordings to conduct operational tests to determine passenger railroad operating employees' compliance with applicable railroad rules and Federal regulations. FRA requests comment on the need for and effects of potential, additional safety requirements.

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 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 February 22, 2019, FRA published a notice providing a 60-day period for public comment on the ICRs.

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

In response to petitions for reconsideration of a final rule, FRA proposes to amend its regulations requiring commuter and intercity passenger railroads to develop and implement a system safety program (SSP) to improve the safety of their operations. The proposed amendments would include clarifying that while all persons providing intercity passenger rail (IPR) service or commuter rail passenger transportation share responsibility for ensuring compliance with the SSP final rule, the rule does not restrict a person's ability to provide for an appropriate designation of responsibility. FRA proposes extending the stay of the SSP final rule's requirements to allow FRA time to review and address any comments on this NPRM. FRA also proposes to amend the SSP rule to adjust the rule's compliance dates to account for FRA's prior stay of the rule's effect and to apply the rule's information protections to the Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C\3\RS) program included in a railroad's SSP. FRA is expressly providing notice of possible conforming amendments to a Risk Reduction Program (RRP) final rule that would ensure that the RRP and SSP rules have essentially identical consultation and information protection provisions.

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

FRA withdraws the March 15, 2016 NPRM concerning train crew staffing. In withdrawing the NPRM, FRA is providing notice of its affirmative decision that no regulation of train crew staffing is necessary or appropriate for railroad operations to be conducted safely at this time.

FRA is updating the Nationwide Significant Risk Threshold (NSRT) for purposes of FRA's regulation on the Use of Locomotive Horns at Public Highway-Rail Grade Crossings. This action is needed to ensure the public has the proper permissible risk threshold to evaluate risk resulting from prohibiting routine locomotive horn sounding at highway- rail grade crossings located in quiet zones. This is the eighth update to the NSRT and it is decreasing from 14,723 to 13,811.

FRA is proposing to revise its regulation governing the qualification and certification of locomotive engineers to make it consistent with its regulation for the qualification and certification of conductors. The proposed changes include: Amending the program submission process; handling engineer and conductor petitions for review with a single FRA review board (Operating Crew Review Board or OCRB); and revising the filing requirements for petitions to the OCRB. The proposed revisions would result in cost savings and benefits for railroads and locomotive engineers by adopting the conductor certification regulation's streamlined processes developed twenty years after the engineer certification regulation. Consistent with Executive Order 13771, the proposed rule would reduce the overall regulatory burden and the paperwork and reporting burden under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 on railroads and locomotive engineers.

In this final rule, FRA is eliminating the requirement that certain locomotives display a badge or tag to demonstrate the railroad has certified the locomotives comply with noise emission standards. This final rule reduces economic burdens on the rail industry by removing this badge or tag requirement.

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 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 December 3, 2018, FRA published a notice providing a 60-day period for public comment on the ICRs.