Federal Railroad Administration – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On July 1, 2016, FRA published two interim final rules to comply with the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015. FRA received no comments in response to the interim final rules. This document confirms the July 1, 2016, interim final rules will not be changed and the effective date is August 1, 2016.

To comply with the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, FRA is adjusting the minimum, maximum, and aggravated maximum penalties it will apply when assessing a civil penalty for a violation of a railroad safety statute, regulation, or order under its authority. FRA is also adjusting the minimum penalty, ordinary maximum penalty, and aggravated maximum penalty that it will apply when assessing a civil monetary penalty for a knowing violation of the Federal hazardous material transportation laws or a regulation, special permit, order, or approval issued under those laws. The aggravated maximum penalty under the hazardous material transportation laws is available only for a violation that results in death, serious illness, or severe injury to any person or substantial destruction of property.

FRA announces the eighth meeting of the NECSC, a Federal Advisory Committee mandated by section 212 of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (PRIIA) and amended by section 11305 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act of 2015 (FAST Act). The NECSC is made up of stakeholders operating on the Northeast Corridor, and the purpose of the NECSC is to provide annual recommendations to the Secretary of Transportation. The NECSC meeting agenda will include presentations on: Implementation of Positive Train Control; the state of moveable bridges; New York City tunnel system inspection and maintenance; an update to the ongoing study of maintenance-of-way worker fatigue; state of the NEC catenary; condition of railroad tracks adjacent to the NEC; security along the NEC; and a general discussion of safety issues. This agenda is subject to change.

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) and its implementing regulations, FRA is informing the public that FRA has made three proposed revisions to the Quarterly Positive Train Control (PTC) Progress Report Form (Form FRA F 6180.165), which the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) previously approved on June 20, 2016, under its regular processing procedures. Before submitting this revised quarterly information collection request to OMB for regular clearance and approval, FRA is soliciting public comment on specific aspects of the proposed information collection identified below.

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), this notice announces that FRA is forwarding the renewal and reinstatement of the Information Collection Request (ICR) abstracted below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, comment, and approval. The ICR describes the information collections and the expected burden. On December 6, 2016, 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 currently approved 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.

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), this notice announces that FRA is forwarding the proposed 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 October 26, 2016, FRA published a notice providing a 60-day period for public comment on the ICRs.

On August 12, 2016, FRA published a final rule requiring commuter and intercity passenger railroads to develop and implement a system safety program (SSP) to improve the safety of their operations. See 81 FR 53850. In this document we are issuing a stay of those requirements until March 21, 2017.

This Notice announces the establishment of FRA's emergency relief docket (ERD) for calendar year 2017. The designated ERD for calendar year 2017 is Docket Number FRA-2017-0001.

On October 18, 2016, under its emergency processing procedures, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved the information collection activities associated with FRA's Railworthiness Directive No. 2016-01. This 6-month approval expires on April 30, 2017. Since OMB's approval of the information collection activities associated with Railworthiness Directive No. 2016-01, on November 18, 2016, FRA issued a revised Railworthiness Directive which supersedes the original Directive. FRA is now seeking approval for the revised information collection activities and associated burden listed below. Before submitting this information collection request (ICR) to OMB for approval, FRA is soliciting public comment on specific aspects of the activities, which are identified in this notice.

This rule amends FRA's regulations on railroad police officers to implement certain provisions of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. Consistent with the FAST Act, FRA is amending its regulations to allow: Railroads to hire contractors as railroad police officers; railroad police officers to transfer from one state to another without immediately needing to be commissioned or certified in the new state; and a state to recognize an officer's training at another state's recognized police academy or at a Federal law enforcement training center as meeting the state's basic police officer certification or commissioning requirements.

FRA is proposing to amend its regulations for passenger equipment safety standards, which currently provide for passenger rail service in a shared right-of-way under two separate tiers of safety standards: Tier I (speeds up to 125 miles per hour (mph)) and Tier II (speeds up to 150 mph). Consistent with the regulations' approach supporting interoperable passenger rail service by sharing the right- of-way, this proposed rulemaking would add a new tier of safety standards (Tier III) to facilitate the safe implementation of interoperable high-speed passenger rail service at speeds up to 220 mph. However, Tier III standards would require operations at speeds above 125 mph to be in an exclusive right-of-way without grade crossings. The proposal also would establish crashworthiness and occupant protection performance requirements in the alternative to those currently specified for Tier I passenger trainsets. Adopting the proposed alternative crashworthiness and occupant protection requirements would remove regulatory barriers, allowing a more open U.S. rail market, incorporating recent technological designs. In addition, the proposal would increase from 150 mph to 160 mph the maximum speed FRA's existing regulations allow for passenger equipment that complies with FRA's Tier II standards.

FRA is issuing Safety Advisory 2016-02 out of concern for the number of railroad and railroad contractor fatalities that occur when roadway workers perform certain activities that fall outside the scope of FRA's safety regulations, but within the purview of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) regulations. FRA is issuing this Safety Advisory to remind railroads and railroad contractors, and their employees (including roadway workers) of the importance of identifying hazardous conditions at job locations, conducting thorough job safety briefings to discuss the hazardous conditions, and taking appropriate actions to mitigate those conditions. This Safety Advisory reminds railroads, railroad contractors, and their respective employees that OSHA's job safety regulations may apply to certain roadway worker activities and makes recommendations for hazard recognition strategies and challenge procedures that could improve roadway worker safety while roadway workers are engaged in activities subject to OSHA's regulations. FRA considers this Safety Advisory responsive to the National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) Recommendations R-14-33, R-14-35, and R-14-36.

FRA announces its intent to prepare an EIS for the Baltimore- Washington Superconducting Magnetic Levitation (Maglev) (SCMAGLEV) Project (Proposed Action) jointly with the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT). The Proposed Action consists of the construction and operation of a high-speed SCMAGLEV train system between Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD with an intermediate stop at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall (BWI) Airport. FRA and MDOT will develop the EIS in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.

This document provides the public with notice that Amtrak submitted via FRA's Secure Information Repository a letter dated September 14, 2016, requesting FRA approval of its PTCSP Revision 4.0, dated August 2016, for Amtrak's Advanced Civil Speed Enforcement System II (ACSES II).