Federal Railroad Administration – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Under a notice published in the Federal Register, the FRA sought applications from eligible parties for the Fiscal Year 2018 Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements program that will improve intercity passenger and freight rail transportation systems in terms of safety, efficiency, or reliability. Due to Hurricane Florence, the FRA is extending the application deadline to give applicants additional time to complete the application process and submit applications.

This document provides the public with notice that Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) submitted to FRA its Positive Train Control Safety Plan (PTCSP), Revision 4.0, dated August 21, 2018, on FRA's Secure Information Repository (SIR) site on August 23, 2018. PATH asks FRA to approve its PTCSP and issue a Positive Train Control System Certification for PATH's Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) system.

On August 29, 2018, FRA published a final rule to reduce the paperwork burden associated with compliance with Federal hours of service laws and regulations. In preparing that final rule for publication, a technical error was made as described in the Supplementary Information. FRA is correcting this minor error so that the final rule clearly conforms to FRA's intent.

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

This NOFO details the application procedures and requirements to obtain remaining grant funding for eligible positive train control (PTC) system projects of the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) Program as provided by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018, (2018 Appropriation). The funding in this NOFO remains from the 2018 Appropriation after DOT selected applications submitted in response to an initial NOFO for PTC systems deployment published on May 18, 2018. The opportunity described in this notice is made available under Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number 20.325, ``Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements.''

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), this notice announces that FRA is forwarding the Information Collection Request (ICR) abstracted below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The ICR describes the information collections and their expected burden. On July 2, 2018, FRA published a notice providing a 60-day period for public comment on the ICR.

This rule is part of FRA's broader initiative to reduce the paperwork burden of its regulations while still supporting compliance with the Federal hours of service laws and regulations. Current regulations require employees covered by those laws or regulations (covered service employees) to create and retain hours of service records by hand (a paper system) or ``certify'' the record using a compliant computerized system (an electronic system) with program logic. Cognizant of the burden placed on small operations, FRA provides a simplified method of computerized recordkeeping (an automated system)in which employees apply their electronic signatures to automated records stored in a railroad computer system without the complexity and functionality of an electronic systemfor eligible smaller railroads (and contractors and subcontractors providing covered service employees to such railroads). This rule does not require the use of automated recordkeeping, but, when implemented by the small operations for which it is tailored, it will decrease the burden hours spent on hours of service recordkeeping.

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), this notice announces that FRA is forwarding the renewal Information Collection Request (ICR) abstracted below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The ICR describes the information collection and its expected burden. On April 26, 2018, FRA published a notice providing a 60-day period for public comment on the ICR.

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), this notice announces that FRA is forwarding the Information Collection Request (ICR) abstracted below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The ICR describes the information collections and their expected burden. On May 10, 2018, FRA published a notice providing a 60-day period for public comment on the ICR.

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 is issuing Safety Advisory 2018-01 to remind railroads, contractors, and the rail welding industry of the potential for electrode-induced rail pitting and fatigue cracking during the pressure electric rail welding process.

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, 2018, (2018 Appropriation). Funding for positive train control (PTC) systems deployment included in the 2018 Appropriation is provided under a different NOFO published on May 18, 2018 (CRISI PTC NOFO). Applicants may apply for funding for PTC system elements under this NOFO as well if such elements are otherwise eligible under the CRISI Program. 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.''

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) and its implementing regulations, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) seeks to renew the existing information collection abstracted below. FRA is soliciting public comment on the activities identified below before submitting this collection to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval.

This NOFO details the application procedures and requirements to obtain grant funding for eligible positive train control (PTC) system projects of the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) Program. The funding in this NOFO is provided by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018, Division L, Title I, Public Law 115-141 (2018 Appropriation). The opportunity described in this notice is made available under Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number 20.325, ``Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements.''

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) and its implementing regulations, FRA is informing the public that FRA has made five proposed 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 August 15, 2017, under its regular processing procedures. 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.