. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/N/USA/610 
14 January 2011  
 (11-0256) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English 
  
NOTIFICATION 
 
The following notification is being circ ulated in accordance with Article 10.6 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  UNITED STATES
  
If applicable, name of local governme nt involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):     
2. Agency responsible:  Federal Railroad Administ ration (FRA, DOT) (627) 
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above :    
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [ X ], 2.10.1 [   ], 5.6.2 [   ], 5.7.1 [   ], other:   
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading. 
ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):  Railway or tramway 
maintenance or service vehicles (HS 8604, ICS 45.060) 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:  Safety and Health 
Requirements Related to  Camp Cars (15 pages, in English)     
6. Description of content:  To carry out a 2008 Congressiona l rulemaking mandate, FRA is 
proposing to create regulations prescribing minimum safety and health requirements for camp 
cars that a railroad provide s as sleeping quarters to any of its train employees, signal 
employees, and dispatching service employees an d individuals employed to maintain its right 
of way.  The proposed regulations would suppl ant existing guidelines that interpret existing 
statutory requirements, enacted decades earlier,  that railroad-provide d camp cars be clean, 
safe, and sanitary, and afford those employees  and individuals an oppor tunity for rest free 
from the interruptions caused by noise under the c ontrol of the railroad.  In further response to 
the rulemaking mandate, the proposed regulatio ns would include the additional statutory 
requirements, enacted in 2008, th at camp cars be provided with indoor toilets, potable water, 
and other features to protect the health of such workers.  
Under separate but related st atutory authority, FRA is proposing to amend regulations on 
construction of employee sleeping quarters. In particular, FRA proposes to implement a 2008 
statutory amendment that, on a nd after December 31, 2009, camp cars provided by a railroad 
as sleeping quarters exclusively for individuals employed to maintain the right of way of a 
railroad are within the scope of the prohibition against beginning construction or reconstruction of employee sleeping quarters near  railroad switching or  humping of hazardous 
material.  
FRA's existing guidelines with respect to the loca tion, in relation to switching or humping of 
hazardous material, of a camp car that is occ upied exclusively by individuals employed to 
maintain a railroad's right of way would be replaced with regulatory amendments prohibiting 
a railroad from positioning such a camp car in the immediate vicinity of the switching or 
humping of hazardous material. G/TBT/N/USA/610 
Page 2  
 
  Finally, FRA would make conforming changes, clarify a provision on applicability, remove 
an existing provision on preemptive effect as unnecessary, and move, without change, an 
existing provision on penalties for violation of FRA regulations. 
7. Objective and rationale, including the na ture of urgent problems where applicable:  
Protection of human health and safety.  
8. Relevant documents:   76 Federal Register (FR) 64, 3 January 2011; 49 CFR Part 228.   
9. Proposed date of adoption:   
Proposed date of entry into force:   }To be determined 
10. Final date for comments:  4 March 2011 
11. Text available from: National enquiry point [X], or address, telephone and fax numbers, 
e-mail and web-site addresses, if available of the other body:   Internet URLs: 
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2011/2010-32924.htm  
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2011/pdf/2010-32924.pdf