Federal Transit Administration December 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice announces final environmental actions taken by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) for a project in Bellevue, WA. The purpose of this notice is to announce publicly the environmental decisions by FTA on the subject project and to activate the limitation on any claims that may challenge these final environmental actions.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) received a request from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) for a Buy America non-availability waiver for the procurement of a proposed innovative electronic platform track intrusion system (PTIDS). LACMTA seeks to procure the PTIDS for research and testing purposes to determine whether such a system will help to increase rail safety by identifying obstacles in the right-of-way. PTIDS uses radar transponder technology, such as sensors, to detect intrusions on rail tracks. If an object is detected, the sensors immediately send notification to personnel who may then stop the train and take appropriate action. LACMTA seeks a waiver for the PTIDS because it contains twelve components, six of which only are available from a single source and currently are not manufactured in the United States. In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 5323(j)(3)(A), FTA published a notice of the waiver request and sought public comment in deciding whether to grant the request. Having received no comments opposing the waiver, FTA is hereby granting a non-availability waiver for this one procurement of the specific PTIDS components identified in this waiver request, and not to any future procurement by LACMTA or others.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) seeks public comment on a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for safety certification training. FTA proposes to adopt the current interim safety certification training provisions as the initial regulatory training requirements for public transportation industry personnel responsible for safety oversight of public transportation systems. The NPRM defines to whom the training requirements apply, describes recordkeeping requirements, provides administrative provisions, and compliance requirements.