Federal Railroad Administration March 2024 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice details the application requirements and procedures to obtain grant funding for eligible projects under the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements Program for Fiscal Years 2023 and 2024. This notice solicits applications for program funds made available by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. This notice also solicits applications for projects under the Magnetic Levitation Technology Deployment Program, funded by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021. The opportunity described in this notice is made available under Assistance Listings Number 20.325, "Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements," and Assistance Listings Number 20.318, "Maglev Project SelectionSAFETEA-LU."

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) and its implementing regulations, this notice announces that FRA is forwarding the Information Collection Request (ICR) summarized below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The ICR describes the information collection and its expected burden. On January 25, 2024, FRA published a notice providing a 60-day period for public comment on the ICR.

This document provides the public with notice that, on March 18, 2024, the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) submitted a request for amendment (RFA) to its FRA-certified positive train control (PTC) system to establish an Advanced Civil Speed Enforcement System II (ACSES II) Construction Zone to support the building of a new interlocking and associated signal system changes on LIRR's Mainline near Floral Park at Milepost (MP) 15.5. According to the RFA, the Construction Zone is planned be implemented on May 10, 2024, and is scheduled to not exceed a three-month duration. FRA is publishing this notice and inviting public comment on LIRR's RFA to its PTC system.

On February 15, 2024, the Central Florida Rail Corridor (CFRC) submitted a request for amendment (RFA) to its FRA-certified positive train control (PTC) system in order to temporarily disable its PTC system between Milepost (MP) 749.60 and MP 755.4 to perform necessary maintenance and improve an existing a crossing. FRA published a notice inviting public comment on CFRC's request to disable its PTC system to perform necessary maintenance, with the initial comment period closing on March 18, 2024. This document provides the public with notice that FRA is extending the comment period on CFRC's request from March 18, 2024, to April 1, 2024, as CFRC's request was uploaded to the docket late due to a technical error, and was not available for review during the full initial comment period.

FRA announces the sixty-sixth meeting of the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC or Committee), a Federal Advisory Committee that provides advice and recommendations to FRA on railroad safety matters through a consensus process. The meeting's focus will be potential safety improvements in response to the February 3, 2023, freight train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.