Federal Railroad Administration – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

FRA is issuing this notice to advise the public that it intends to grant the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), a subsidiary of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, a waiver from FRA's Buy America requirement under 49 U.S.C. 24405(a)(2)(B) for the purchase of seven (7) turnouts manufactured by VAE Nortrak North America, Inc. at its plant in Birmingham, Alabama, for use in the LIRR North East Corridor Congestion Relief Project at Harold Interlocking. The turnouts will contain four components (ZU1-60 steel left and right switch point rail sections and Schwihag roller assemblies and plates) not produced in the U.S. The roller assemblies and plates are manufactured in Switzerland, and the ZUl-60 steel switch point rail sections are manufactured in Austria. The foreign material comprises approximately 11.9 percent of the turnouts' $3.1 million cost or approximately $367,000. FRA believes a waiver is appropriate under 49 U.S.C. 24405(a)(2)(B) for the ZUI-60 steel switch point rail sections and roller assemblies and plates because domestically-produced components meeting the specific needs of LIRR are not currently ``produced in sufficient and reasonably available amount or are not of a satisfactory quality.''

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces that the Information Collection Requests (ICRs) abstracted below are being forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The ICRs describes the nature of the information collections and their expected burdens. The Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collections of information was published on March 3, 2015 (80 FR 11518).

FRA hereby gives notice that it is submitting the following Information Collection request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for emergency processing under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. FRA requests that OMB authorize the collection of information identified below immediately upon publication of this Notice for a period of 180 days.

FRA hereby gives notice that it is submitting the following Information Collection request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for emergency processing under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. FRA requests that OMB authorize the collection of information identified below immediately upon publication of this Notice for a period of 180 days.

Recent derailments have occurred involving trains transporting large quantities of petroleum crude oil and ethanol. Preliminary investigation of one of these recent derailments involving a crude oil train indicates that a mechanical defect involving a broken tank car wheel may have caused or contributed to the incident. FRA is issuing this Safety Advisory to make recommendations to enhance the mechanical safety of the cars in trains transporting large quantities of flammable liquids. This Safety Advisory recommends that railroads use highly qualified individuals to conduct the brake and mechanical inspections and recommends a reduction to the impact threshold levels the industry currently uses for wayside detectors that measure wheel impacts to ensure the wheel integrity of tank cars in those trains.

Consistent with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and its implementing regulations, this document provides notice of FRA's intent to modify the existing instructions applicable to one currently approved information collection reporting form (Form FRA F 6180.54, Rail Equipment Accident/Incident Report). For a projected five-year period, FRA seeks to gather additional data on Form FRA F 6180.54 concerning rail cars carrying petroleum crude oil (crude oil) in any train involved in an FRA reportable accident. At present, railroads do not report this specific information to FRA on Form FRA F 6180.54, but rather aggregate crude oil information with information about all other hazardous materials being transported. This new reporting requirement will help FRA capture more specific information on accidents that involve trains transporting crude oil and provide FRA an opportunity to better address risks to railroad safety and the general public.

FRA and PHMSA are issuing this notice to remind railroads operating a ``high hazard flammable train'' (HHFT)defined as a train comprised of 20 or more loaded tank cars of a Class 3 flammable liquid in a continuous block, or a train with 35 or more loaded tank cars of a Class 3 flammable liquid across the entire trainas well as the offerors of Class 3 flammable liquids transported on such trains, that certain information may be required by PHMSA and/or FRA personnel during the course of an investigation immediately following an accident.

On April 3, 2015 (80 FR 18292), the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) provided notice of a public hearing to receive views, data, and comments regarding BNSF Railway's (BNSF) petition for modification and extension of its waiver of compliance from certain provisions of the Federal railroad safety regulations contained in title 49 Code of Federal Regulations part 232, Brake System Safety Standards for Freight and Other Non-Passenger Trains and Equipment, in Docket Number FRA-2006-24812. The notice contained an incorrect date of the public hearing.

FRA is issuing this notice to advise the public that it intends to grant the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) on behalf of its commuter railroad subsidiaries, Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) and Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company (Metro-North), a waiver from FRA's Buy America requirement for the use of (a) transponders and (b) Temporary Speed Restriction (TSR) safety servers, which are made in Sweden. Transponders and TSR safety servers are two components of LIRR's and Metro-North's Positive Train Control system (PTC). The two non-domestic components represent approximately 1% of the $428 million total value of the contracts Metro-North and LIRR entered into with a system integrator to design and furnish PTC (PTC Contracts). The TSR safety servers cost less than $1 million and the transponders approximately $4 million. FRA anticipates funding the PTC Contracts, and other PTC-related projects, under a $967.1 million FRA Railroad Rehabilitation & Improvement Financing loan.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and its implementing regulations, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) hereby announces that it is seeking an extension of the following currently approved information collection activities. On March 13, 2015, FRA issued its ``Railworthiness Directive Under 49 CFR 180.509 for Railroad Tank Cars Equipped With Certain McKenzie Valve & Machining LLC Valves'' and published this Directive in the Federal Register on March 18, 2015. See 80 FR 14027. Also, on March 18, 2015, FRA published a Notice in the Federal Register requesting immediate Emergency Clearance Processing from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the information collection associated with its Railworthiness Directive Notice No. 1. See 80 FR 14238. On March 19, 2015, OMB granted FRA's request for Emergency Clearance for its Railworthiness Directive Notice No. 1. The information collection activities associated with FRA's Railworthiness Directive Notice No. 1 received a six-month approval. FRA now seeks a regular clearance (extension of the current approval for three years) while tank car owners possessing the thousands of tank cars utilizing these problematic unapproved valves have them removed and replaced with approved valves. FRA has issued this Railworthiness Directive (Directive) to all owners of tank cars used to transport hazardous materials within the United States to ensure they identify and appropriately remove and replace these valves with approved valves consistent with Federal regulations. Before submitting these information collection requirements for clearance by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), FRA is soliciting public comment on specific aspects of the activities identified below.

Recent FRA investigations identified several railroad tank cars transporting hazardous materials and leaking small quantities of product from the cars' liquid lines. FRA's investigation revealed that the liquid lines of the leaking tank cars were equipped with a certain type of 3 ball valve marketed and sold by McKenzie Valve and Machining (McKenzie) (formerly McKenzie Valve & Machining Company), an affiliate company of Union Tank Car Company (UTLX). FRA further found certain closure plugs installed on the 3 valves cause mechanical damage to the valves, which leads to the destruction of the valves' seal integrity and that the 3 valves, as well as similarly-designed 1 and 2 valves provided by this manufacturer are not approved for use on tank cars. FRA is issuing this Railworthiness Directive (Directive) to all owners of tank cars used to transport hazardous materials within the United States to ensure they identify and appropriately remove and replace these valves with approved valves consistent with Federal regulations.

The Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 requires the development and implementation of railroad safety risk reduction programs. This NPRM proposes to implement this mandate by requiring each Class I railroad and each railroad with inadequate safety performance to develop and implement a Risk Reduction Program (RRP) to improve the safety of their operations. RRP is a comprehensive, system- oriented approach to safety that determines an operation's level of risk by identifying and analyzing applicable hazards and involves developing plans to mitigate, if not eliminate, that risk. Each RRP would be statutorily required to include a risk analysis and a technology implementation plan. An RRP would be implemented by a written RRP plan that has been submitted to FRA for review and approval. A railroad would be required to conduct an annual internal assessment of its RRP, and a railroad's RRP processes and procedures would be externally audited by FRA.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and its implementing regulations, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) hereby announces that it is seeking renewal of the following currently approved information collection activities. Before submitting the information collection requests (ICRs) below for clearance by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), FRA is soliciting public comment on specific aspects of the activities identified below.