FRA 19-20 

December 15, 2020 

Contact: FRA Public Affairs

Tel.: (202) 493-6024 

FRAPA@DOT.gov

FRA Publishes Final Rule for State Highway-Rail 

Grade Crossing Action Plans

All states and the District of Columbia impacted

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration 

(FRA) published a final rule requiring 40 states and the District of Columbia to develop and 

implement highway-rail grade crossing action plans to improve public safety. In addition, the 

rule requires 10 states that have already developed grade crossing action plans, as required by the 

Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (RSIA) and FRA’s implementing regulation, to update 

their plans and submit reports describing the actions they have taken to implement them. 

“Grade crossing accidents and incidents are the second leading cause of rail-related deaths in the 

United States, but nearly every one of them is preventable,” said FRA Administrator Ronald L. 

Batory. “The action plans give states a tool to engage with federal and local partners, railroads, 

and rail safety advocates to identify high risk crossings and develop strategies to save lives.”

“Safety is imperative to FHWA, especially where roads and rails meet,” said FHWA

Administrator Nicole R. Nason. “These action plans can help states make highway-rail grade 

crossings safer for the traveling public.” 

The final rule responds to a Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) mandate 

requiring states to develop and implement (or update, if applicable) action plans. Each plan must 

identify crossings that have experienced at least one accident or incident in the previous three 

years, multiple accidents or incidents in the previous five years, or that are determined by the 

state to be at high-risk for accidents or incidents. Furthermore, each action plan must identify 

specific strategies for improving safety at crossings, including crossing closures or re-aligning 

roadways over or under railways. 

Under RSIA, FRA identified 10 states as having the most highway-rail grade crossing collisions, 

on average, over the three-year period from 2006 through 2008. In June 2010, FRA issued a final 

U.S. Department of Transportation

Office of Public Affairs

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE

Washington, DC 20590

http://www.transportation.gov/briefingroom

News
rule requiring these states to develop action plans and submit them to FRA for approval. The 

states are Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Ohio, and 

Texas. The FAST Act now requires each of them to submit an updated action plan and a report 

to FRA describing what it did to implement its previous action plan and how it will continue to 

reduce crossing safety risks. 

All 50 states and the District of Columbia are required to submit individual highway-rail grade 

crossing action plans to FRA for review and approval no later than 14 months after the final 

rule’s publication date of December 14, 2020. FRA will provide technical assistance to help 

them develop (or update) their action plans. The states may also use federal funds allocated 

through FHWA’s Railway-Highway Crossing (Section 130) Program to develop and update their 

action plans.

Further information on the final rule for State Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Action Plans is 

published in the Federal Register here. 

###