60164 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 168 / Thursday, August 31, 2023 / Proposed Rules 

(13) Historically Black Colleges and 

Universities, Tribal Colleges and 

Universities, and Minority-serving 

institutions (institutions of higher 

education eligible to receive Federal 

assistance under title III, parts A and F, 

and title V of the HEA). 

(14) Federal Family Education Loan 

(FFEL) lenders, servicers, or guaranty 

agencies. 

The Department is particularly 

interested in ensuring the primary and 

alternate negotiators who represent the 

different borrower and student 

constituencies reflect a variety of 

experiences with student loans and 

postsecondary education, including 

attending different types of institutions, 

for different types of programs 

borrowing a Parent PLUS loan to pay for 

a dependent student’s education, 

borrowing either Direct or FFEL loans, 

and receiving a Pell grant. We also seek 

negotiators who have borrowed varied 

amounts and have varied repayment 

histories. We encourage nominations 

that provide the Department with 

diverse information about borrowing 

and repayment experiences. 

The goal of the committee is to 

develop proposed regulations that 

reflect a final consensus of the 

committee. Consensus means that there 

is no dissent by any member of a 

negotiating committee, including the 

committee member representing the 

Department. 

A negotiator is expected to represent 

the interests of their constituency and to 

participate in the negotiations in a 

manner consistent with the goal of 

developing proposed regulations on 

which the committee will reach 

consensus. If consensus is reached, all 

members of the organization or group 

represented by a negotiator are bound 

by the consensus and are prohibited 

from commenting negatively on the 

resulting proposed regulations. The 

Department will not consider any such 

negative comments on the proposed 

regulations that are submitted by a 

member of such an organization. 

Nominations 

We request that nominations include 

the information described in this 

section. 

(1) The name of the nominee; 

(2) The name of the constituency (or 

constituencies) for which the nominee 

is being nominated (see Constituencies 

for Negotiator Nominations); 

(3) The nominee’s place of 

employment or institution at which they 

are or were enrolled and, if different, the 

organization the nominee represents; 

(4) A resume or evidence of the 

nominee’s expertise and experience in 

the topics proposed for negotiations; 

and 

(5) The nominee’s contact 

information, including email address, 

telephone number, and mailing address. 

Please see the ADDRESSES section for 

submission information. We will 

confirm receipt of nominations to the 

submitter. The Department will provide 

additional information to those we 

select to serve as negotiators. Once 

complete, a list of negotiators will be 

posted here: https://www2.ed.gov/ 

policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/ 

2023/index.html. 

l. The Department will also provide 

information at that site about how any 

committee vacancies can be filled at the 

beginning of the first committee 

meeting. 

Schedule for Negotiations 

The Committee will meet for three 

sessions on the following dates: 

Session 1: October 10–11, 2023. 

Session 2: November 6–7, 2023. 

Session 3: December 11–12, 2023. 

Session times will be from 10 a.m. to 

12 p.m. and 1 to 4 p.m., with a public 

comment period from approximately 

3:30 to 4 p.m., Eastern time. 

All sessions will be conducted 

virtually and available for the public to 

view. Individuals who wish to observe 

the committee meetings will be required 

to register for each session they would 

like to observe. We will post registration 

links closer to the start of negotiations 

on our website at www2.ed.gov/policy/ 

highered/reg/hearulemaking/2023/ 

index.html. The Department will also 

post recordings and transcripts of the 

meetings on that site. 

At the end of each day (except for the 

final day of the final session), the 

Department will reserve 30 minutes for 

public comment. We will provide 

information on how to request time to 

speak on our website at www2.ed.gov/ 

policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/ 

2023/index.html. 

Accessible Format: On request to the 

program contact person listed under FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, 

individuals with disabilities can obtain 

this document in an accessible format. 

The Department will provide the 

requestor with an accessible format that 

may include Rich Text Format (RTF) or 

text format (txt), a thumb drive, an MP3 

file, braille, large print, audiotape, or 

compact disc, or other accessible format. 

Electronic Access to this Document: 

The official version of this document is 

the document published in the Federal 

Register. You may access the official 

edition of the Federal Register and the 

Code of Federal Regulations at 

www.govinfo.gov. At this site you can 

view this document, as well as all other 

documents of this Department 

published in the Federal Register, in 

text or Portable Document Format 

(PDF). To use PDF, you must have 

Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is 

available free at the site. You may also 

access the documents of the Department 

published in the Federal Register by 

using the article search feature at 

www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, 

through the advanced search feature at 

this site, you can limit your search to 

documents published by the 

Department. 

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1098a. 

Nasser H. Paydar, 

Assistant Secretary, Office of Postsecondary 

Education. 

[FR Doc. 2023–18853 Filed 8–30–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION 

SAFETY BOARD 

49 CFR Part 831 

[Docket No.: NTSB–2023–0007] 

RIN 3147–AA28 

Authority of NTSB in Railroad, 

Pipeline, and Hazardous Materials 

Investigations 

AGENCY: National Transportation Safety 

Board (NTSB). 

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed 

rulemaking (ANPRM). 

SUMMARY: The National Transportation 

Safety Board (NTSB) is publishing this 

advance notice of proposed rulemaking 

(ANPRM) to seek public feedback on 

whether it should define the term 

‘‘substantial property damage’’ as it 

relates to the agency’s authority to 

investigate railroad accidents. Neither 

the agency’s statute nor the regulation 

currently defines this term, thus, the 

NTSB seeks comments on whether 

defining ‘‘substantial property damage’’ 

would better clarify the scope of 

regulatory coverage for its railroad 

investigations. The issues raised in the 

comments submitted in response to this 

ANPRM will inform whether and how 

the NTSB will define this term in its 

regulation. 

DATES: Send comments on or before 

October 30, 2023. 

ADDRESSES: You may send comments, 

identified by Docket Number (No.) 

NTSB–2023–0007, by any of the 

following methods: 

• Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: 

https://www.regulations.gov. 

• Email: rulemaking@ntsb.gov. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 168 / Thursday, August 31, 2023 / Proposed Rules 60165 

1https://www.transportation.gov/railroads. 

2The FRA’s Monetary Threshold Notice is 

available at: https://railroads.dot.gov/safety-data/ 

forms-guides-publications/guides/monetarythreshold-notice. 

3https://www.transportation.gov/public-transit. 

4https://www.transit.dot.gov/ntd/national-transitdatabase-ntd-glossary#S. 

5https://www.transit.dot.gov/ntd/national-transitdatabase-ntd-glossary#S. 

• Fax: 202–314–6090. 

• Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier: NTSB, 

Office of General Counsel, 490 L’Enfant 

Plaza East SW, Washington, DC 20594. 

Instructions: All submissions in 

response to this ANPRM must include 

Docket No. NTSB–2023–0007. All 

comments received will be posted 

without change to https://

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided. 

Docket: For access to the docket, go to 

https://www.regulations.gov and search 

Docket No. NTSB–2023–0007. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

William Thomas (Tom) McMurry, Jr., 

General Counsel, (202) 314–6080, 

rulemaking@ntsb.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

accordance with the Independent Safety 

Board Act of 1974, as amended, the 

NTSB is required to ‘‘investigate or have 

investigated (in detail the Board 

prescribes) and establish the facts, 

circumstances, and cause or probable 

cause of . . . a railroad accident in 

which there is a fatality or substantial 

property damage, or that involves a 

passenger train.’’ 49 U.S.C. 

1131(a)(1)(C). The NTSB’s regulations 

found at 49 CFR 831.40(a)(1) further 

explain that the NTSB has the authority 

to investigate ‘‘railroad accidents, 

collisions, crashes, derailments, 

explosions, incidents, and releases in 

which involve a fatality, substantial 

property damage, or a passenger train.’’ 

Section 840.2 defines railroad as ‘‘any 

system of surface transportation of 

persons or property over rails. It 

includes, but is not limited to, line-haul 

freight and passenger-carrying railroads, 

and rapid transit, commuter, scenic, 

subway, and elevated railways.’’ 

Notably, the agency’s regulation has 

neither a definition nor a monetary 

threshold for the term ‘‘substantial 

property damage’’ as reflected in 

§ 831.40(a)(1). The NTSB believes that 

defining this term will clarify the types 

of railroad accidents the NTSB will 

investigate. Thus, the NTSB is soliciting 

comments on the promulgation of a 

regulatory definition of ‘‘substantial 

property damage’’ particular to railroad 

accidents. 

To define ‘‘substantial property 

damage,’’ the NTSB has considered 

regulatory thresholds utilized by the 

Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) 

and the Federal Transit Administration 

(FTA) at the United States Department 

of Transportation (DOT). The FRA 

‘‘[e]nables the safe, reliable, and 

efficient movement of people and goods 

along the Nation’s railroads.’’ 1 The FRA 

has a monetary threshold for reporting 

rail equipment accidents/incidents of 

$11,300 for calendar year (CY) 2022.2

The NTSB is disinclined to align itself 

with FRA’s threshold as the NTSB 

believes that $11,300 is too low of a 

value. However, if the NTSB does 

promulgate a rule establishing a 

monetary value for ‘‘substantial 

property damage,’’ the NTSB may 

consider periodically adjusting for 

inflation the monetary threshold as the 

FRA recently did for CY 2022. See 85 

FR 79130 (Dec. 9, 2020). 

By contrast, the FTA, which 

‘‘[p]rovides financial and technical 

assistance to local public transit 

systems, including buses, subways, light 

rail, commuter rail, trolleys and 

ferries,’’ 3 does not have a monetary 

value for reporting major events, but 

bases reporting requirements on 

whether there is ‘‘substantial damage’’ 

as defined by FTA.4 The FTA defines 

‘‘substantial damage’’ as ‘‘[d]amage to 

transit or non-transit property including 

vehicles, facilities, equipment, rolling 

stock, or infrastructure that disrupts the 

operations of the rail transit agency and 

adversely affects the structural strength, 

performance, or operating 

characteristics of the of the property, 

requiring towing, rescue, on-site 

maintenance, or immediate removal 

prior to safe operation.’’ 5 Notably, 

excluded from this definition is damage 

that is limited to: cracked windows; 

dents, bends, or small puncture holes in 

the body; broken lights or mirrors; or 

removal from service under the 

vehicle’s own power for minor repair or 

maintenance, testing, or video and event 

recorder download. 

The NTSB does have a reporting 

threshold notification requirement 

contained in 49 CFR 840.3(b), which 

requires reporting of accidents with 

$150,000 damage or more to railroad 

and nonrailroad property; or $25,000 or 

more for a passenger train, and railroad 

and nonrailroad property. The NTSB is 

considering these monetary values to 

establish the threshold for ‘‘substantial 

property damage.’’ However, with the 

different threshold reporting 

requirements for freight and passenger 

trains, the NTSB is considering whether 

the same distinctions should apply to 

‘‘substantial property damage.’’ 

Further, the NTSB is considering 

whether its proposed definition of 

‘‘substantial property damage’’ should 

contain a distinction between public 

railroads and private railroads reporting 

thresholds. The Board acknowledges, 

however, that if the NTSB were to 

define ‘‘substantial property damage’’ 

differently between public and private 

railroads, doing so may give rise to a 

question regarding which definition of 

‘‘substantial property damage’’ applies if 

there were an accident involving both a 

public and private railroad. 

Accordingly, the public is asked to 

address any or all of the following 

questions: 

1. Should the NTSB define 

‘‘substantial property damage’’? 

2. If not, why not? 

3. If so, how should the NTSB define 

‘‘substantial property damage’’? 

4. If ‘‘substantial property damage’’ is 

defined using a specific dollar amount, 

what would be a reasonable monetary 

threshold? 

5. How should the NTSB calculate the 

threshold value of ‘‘substantial property 

damage’’? 

6. Should the dollar amount 

established be indexed for inflation? 

7. Should the property damage value 

be consistent with the reporting 

threshold established by the FRA? Why 

or why not? 

8. Should the property damage value 

be consistent with the reporting 

threshold established by the NTSB? 

Why or why not? 

9. Should ‘‘substantial property 

damage’’ be based on total property 

damage, railroad property damage, or 

non-railroad property damage? 

10. Should ‘‘substantial property 

damage’’ consider factors other than 

monetary value? 

11. Should there be a distinction in 

threshold reporting requirements 

between public railroads and private 

railroads? 

12. And which definition should 

apply to an accident involving both a 

public railroad and private railroad? 

13. The NTSB has different threshold 

reporting requirements for freight and 

passenger trains. Should the definition 

of ‘‘substantial property damage’’ 

contain a similar distinction? 

List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 831 

Aircraft accidents, Aircraft incidents, 

Aviation safety, Hazardous materials 

transportation, Highway safety, 

Investigations, Marine safety, Pipeline 

safety, Railroad safety. 

William T. McMurry, Jr., 

General Counsel. 

[FR Doc. 2023–18840 Filed 8–30–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7533–01–P 


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