Federal Railroad Administration June 27, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Notice of Decision to Grant Buy America Waiver to Washington Department of Transportation to Purchase Vossloh 101-LV Concrete Rail Ties
Document Number: 2012-15865
Type: Notice
Date: 2012-06-27
Agency: Federal Railroad Administration, Department of Transportation
FRA is issuing this notice to advise the public that it has granted the Washington Department of Transportation's (WSDOT) waiver request from the FRA Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act (PRIIA) Buy America requirement for the use of Vossloh 101-LV concrete ties in the Pacific Northwest Rail Corridor high-speed intercity passenger rail program funded by FRA grants. The waiver also covers three other high-speed intercity passenger rail projects being undertaken on BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) owned infrastructure in California, Texas and Illinois. The Vossloh 101-VL concrete rail ties are made in the United States but contain two components (dowel inserts and SKL-30 tension clamps) that are not manufactured in the United States. FRA has granted the waiver because dowel inserts and SKL-30 tension clamps that meet the BNSF's operational and safety needs are not produced in the United States. This waiver is conditioned on BNSF's good faith efforts to find a domestic source for the components and is time limited to two years after the effective date of this waiver or until Vossloh begins manufacturing the components in the United States, whichever occurs first.
Passenger Train Emergency Preparedness
Document Number: 2012-15746
Type: Proposed Rule
Date: 2012-06-27
Agency: Federal Railroad Administration, Department of Transportation
FRA is proposing to revise its regulations for passenger train emergency preparedness. These proposed revisions would: ensure that railroad personnel who communicate and coordinate with first responders during emergency situations receive initial and periodic training and are subject to operational (efficiency) tests and inspections; clarify that railroads must develop procedures in their emergency preparedness plans (e-prep plans) addressing the safe evacuation of passengers with disabilities during emergency situations; limit the need for FRA to formally approve purely administrative changes to approved e-prep plans; specify new operational (efficiency) testing and inspection requirements for both operating and non-operating employees; and remove as unnecessary the section on the preemptive effect of the regulations.
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