83940 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 202 / Friday, October 18, 2024 / Notices 

1FRA issued a Safety Bulletin in response to this 

incident. See Safety Bulletin 2024–03 (available at 

https://railroads.dot.gov/elibrary/safety-bulletin2024-03-employee-fatality-working-around-trackequipment). 

2Although individual railroads define the ‘‘work 

zone’’ or ‘‘red zone’’ surrounding RMMs differently, 

generally the ‘‘work zone’’ or ‘‘red zone’’ is the area 

surrounding the RMM, which, if entered by an 

individual creates the potential for injury as a result 

of being struck by the equipment. 

disposition regarding his/her exemption 

request. Those decision letters fully 

outlined the basis for the denial and 

constitute final action by the Agency. 

This notice summarizes the Agency’s 

recent denials as required under 49 

U.S.C. 31315(b)(4) by periodically 

publishing names and reasons for 

denial. 

The following four applicants do not 

meet the eligibility criteria or meet the 

terms and conditions of the Federal 

exemption: 

Paul Hoover (PA) 

Paris Nooner (IN) 

Jesus Perez (IL) 

Kevin Young (AL) 

Larry W. Minor, 

Associate Administrator for Policy. 

[FR Doc. 2024–24101 Filed 10–17–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Railroad Administration 

Safety Advisory 2024–01; Roadway 

Maintenance Machines—Importance of 

Communications and Compliance With 

Red Zone Procedures 

AGENCY: Federal Railroad 

Administration (FRA), Department of 

Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice of safety advisory. 

SUMMARY: FRA is issuing Safety 

Advisory 2024–01 to emphasize the 

importance of rules and procedures 

regarding the safety of roadway workers 

who operate or work near roadway 

maintenance machines (RMMs). This 

safety advisory recommends that 

railroads and contractors review and 

update their rules regarding 

communication between roadway 

workers who work near RMMs and the 

operators of those RMMs, and increase 

monitoring of their employees for 

compliance with existing rules and 

procedures (including through 

operational testing). This safety advisory 

also recommends that railroads review 

and update their rules regarding work/ 

red zones and evaluate the work/red 

zone distances for each type of RMM. In 

addition, this safety advisory 

recommends that railroads and 

contractors conduct additional safety 

briefings to raise worker awareness of 

the hazards associated with operating 

and working around RMMs. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: YuJiang Zhang, Staff Director, Track and 

Structures Division, Office of Railroad 

Safety, FRA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue 

SE, Washington, DC 20590, at 

telephone: (202) 493–6460, or email: 

yujiang.zhang@dot.gov. 

Disclaimer: This Safety Advisory is 

considered guidance pursuant to DOT 

Order 2100.6A (June 7, 2021). Except 

when referencing laws, regulations, 

policies, or orders, the information in 

this Safety Advisory does not have the 

force and effect of law and is not meant 

to bind the public in any way. This 

document does not revise or replace any 

previously issued guidance. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

In September 2023, FRA issued Safety 

Advisory 2023–06, titled Roadway 

Maintenance Machines—Importance of 

Clear Communications and Compliance 

with Applicable Rules and Procedures. 

FRA addressed two accidents in that 

Safety Advisory, each involving a 

railroad contractor working on a main 

line and being fatally injured by an 

RMM. In Safety Advisory 2023–06, FRA 

recommended that railroads and 

contractors review and update their 

rules regarding the safety of roadway 

workers who operate or work near 

RMMs, communicate any resulting 

changes to their employees, and 

increase monitoring of roadway 

workers, railroad employees, and 

contractors for compliance with all 

applicable rules and procedures. 

To date, in calendar year 2024, two 

roadway workers have been fatally 

injured while working in the vicinity of 

RMMs. This Safety Advisory is based on 

FRA’s preliminary findings and the 

respective railroads’ latest reporting and 

is not intended to attribute a cause or 

assign responsibility for these incidents 

on the acts or omissions of any person 

or entity. 

The following is a summary of the 

circumstances involved in the incidents: 

In February 2024, an RMM struck and 

fatally injured a track foreman working 

on CSX’s main line in Roanoke Rapids, 

North Carolina. FRA’s preliminary 

investigation shows that at the time the 

incident, the track foreman was part of 

a four-person work group tasked to flag 

a highway-rail grade crossing for a 

ballast regulator that would be entering 

the crossing. When the work group 

arrived at the crossing, the track 

foreman walked to the north of the 

ballast regulator and stood in the gage 

of the track approximately seventeen 

feet from the ballast regulator. As the 

ballast regulator moved north to pull 

ballast into the track, the foreman was 

not visible to the operator of the ballast 

regulator and the machine struck and 

fatally injured the track foreman. 

In April 2024, a Union Pacific 

manager was fatally injured when he 

was struck by an RMM while working 

on the main line in McNeil, Arkansas.1

The manager was serving as the 

roadway worker in charge (RWIC) of a 

work group filling areas along an 

embankment with ballast. The RWIC 

was directing the on-track operations of 

a track-hoe excavator (e.g., instructing 

the excavator operator where to dump 

ballast). The RWIC positioned himself 

alongside the excavator, which was in a 

blind spot of the operator, and was 

struck and fatally injured by the bucket 

while it was being retracted. 

These incidents represent the worstcase scenario that can occur when 

roadway workers are working on or near 

RMMs. These incidents highlight the 

continued need for railroads to examine 

their rules and procedures for protecting 

roadway workers who operate or work 

near RMMs and the need for roadway 

workers to be vigilant in maintaining a 

safe distance from any operating RMM. 

Recommendations 

Considering the above discussion, 

FRA recommends that railroads and 

railroad contractors: 

1. Review and update work/red zone 

procedures 2 to: 

a. Address differences in sight 

distances and line of sight for different 

types of RMMs; and 

b. Prohibit a roadway worker from 

entering the work/red zone of any RMM 

unless communication is established 

and maintained between that roadway 

worker and the RMM operator. 

2. Ensure work/red zones are 

discussed in job briefings anytime an 

RMM will be part of a work group. 

3. Increase monitoring (including 

operational testing under 49 CFR part 

217) of roadway workers, railroad 

employees, and contractors for 

compliance with all existing applicable 

rules and procedures (and any updated 

rules and procedures to result from 

paragraphs (1 and 2)), particularly those 

involving the operation of RMMs and 

roadway workers working on and in the 

vicinity of RMMs. 

4. Conduct additional safety briefings 

to raise worker awareness of the hazards 

associated with operating and working 

around RMMs. 

5. Review Safety Advisory 2023–06; 

Roadway Maintenance Machines— 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 202 / Friday, October 18, 2024 / Notices 83941 

3NTSB Safety Recommendation R–23–23 

recommends that FRA ‘‘[i]ssue a safety alert to 

railroads regarding the importance of establishing 

roadway maintenance machine standoff distances 

that take into account the ability of an operator to 

see a worker or object in the track gauge behind a 

roadway maintenance machine.’’ 

Importance of Clear Communications 

and Compliance with Applicable Rules 

and Procedures during the additional 

safety briefings. 

FRA considers this Safety Advisory 

responsive to NTSB Safety 

Recommendation R–23–23 3 and FRA 

encourages all railroad industry 

members to take actions consistent with 

the recommendations of this Advisory. 

FRA may modify this Safety Advisory, 

issue additional safety advisories, or 

take other appropriate action necessary 

to ensure the highest level of safety on 

the Nation’s railroads, including 

pursuing other corrective measures 

under its rail safety authority. 

Issued in Washington, DC. 

John Karl Alexy, 

Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety, 

Chief Safety Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2024–24118 Filed 10–17–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Maritime Administration 

Voluntary Intermodal Sealift 

Agreement; Extension and 

Modification 

AGENCY: Maritime Administration, 

Department of Transportation. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Maritime Administration 

(MARAD) announces the extension of 

the Voluntary Intermodal Sealift 

Agreement (VISA) until October 1, 2029, 

pursuant to Section 708 of the Defense 

Production Act of 1950, as amended. 

VISA is intended to make intermodal 

shipping services/systems, including 

ships, ships’ space, intermodal facilities 

and equipment, and related 

management services, available to the 

Department of Defense (DoD) as 

required to support the emergency 

deployment and sustainment of U.S. 

Armed Forces through cooperation 

among the maritime industry, the 

Department of Transportation (DOT), 

and DoD. In addition to extending VISA 

for an additional 5 years for existing 

participants, MARAD is modifying 

VISA for new applicants by making 

certain modifications to the Agreement, 

including clarification of what is meant 

by shipping services/systems, and the 

required vessel certifications for 

program entry. MARAD has also 

updated references to authorities and 

statutory and regulatory citations. 

DATES: This agreement will be effective 

on October 1, 2024, superseding the 

existing VISA agreement, as published 

in the Federal Register on October 29, 

2014 (79 FR 64462–70) and renewed on 

September 30, 2019 (84 FR 51710–11). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

David J. Hatcher, Office of Sealift 

Support, Room W25–310, Maritime 

Administration, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590, 

(202) 366–0688, Fax (202) 366–5904. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

708 of the Defense Production Act of 

1950, as amended (50 U.S.C. 4558) (DPA 

Sec. 708), authorizes the President to 

consult with representatives of industry, 

business, finance, agriculture, labor, and 

other interests to establish voluntary 

emergency preparedness agreements, 

following a finding that conditions exist 

which may pose a direct threat to the 

national defense or its preparedness 

programs. It further authorizes the 

President to delegate that authority to 

individuals who are appointed by and 

with the advice and consent of the 

Senate, upon the condition that such 

individuals obtain the prior approval of 

the Attorney General after the Attorney 

General’s consultation with the Federal 

Trade Commission (FTC). Section 401 of 

Executive Order (E.O.) 13603 (Mar. 16, 

2012) delegated this authority of the 

President to the Secretary of 

Transportation (SecTrans), among 

others. In accordance with 49 CFR 

1.93(l), SecTrans delegated VISA’s 

sponsorship authority to the Maritime 

Administrator, in consultation and 

coordination with the DOT’s Office of 

Intelligence, Security and Emergency 

Response. Through advance 

arrangements in joint planning, VISA 

participants will provide capacity to 

support a significant portion of surge 

and sustainment requirements in the 

deployment of U.S. military forces 

during a time of war or national 

emergency, or whenever the Secretary of 

Defense (or delegate) determines that it 

is necessary for national security or 

contingency operations. 

The text of VISA was first published 

in the Federal Register on February 13, 

1997, effective for an initial two-year 

term expiring on February 13, 1999 (62 

FR 6838–46). The VISA document had 

been extended and subsequently 

published in the Federal Register every 

two years. Effective September 30, 2009, 

Congress amended DPA Sec. 708 to note 

that each voluntary agreement expires 

five (5) years after the date it becomes 

effective. MARAD updated the VISA 

agreement language most recently in 

2014, as published in the Federal 

Register on October 29, 2014 (79 FR 

64462–70), and extended the effective 

period of that language by five years 

until October 1, 2024, by notice in the 

Federal Register on September 30, 2019 

(84 FR 51710–11). The agreement 

published in this notice incorporates, 

among other changes: (1) updates to 

vessel eligibility requirements, as first 

published in the Federal Register on 

January 31, 2018 (83 FR 4552–54); (2) 

changes to the requirements for 

coastwise trading waivers under 46 

U.S.C. 501, pursuant to statutory 

amendments enacted in 2021 and 2022; 

(3) clarifications of certain definitions 

and obligations on VISA stakeholders; 

and (4) certain non-substantive clerical 

updates. 

In accordance with DPA Sec. 

708(f)(2), the Maritime Administrator 

continues to find that VISA is necessary 

to respond to direct threats to the 

national defense or its preparedness 

programs, and sought a concurrent 

finding from the Assistant Attorney 

General for the Antitrust Division, 

Department of Justice (whose authority 

has been delegated from the Attorney 

General in accordance with 28 CFR 

0.40(l)), in consultation with the Chair 

of the Federal Trade Commission, that 

the objectives of VISA may not be 

reasonably achieved through either a 

voluntary plan having fewer 

anticompetitive effects or the absence of 

such a voluntary agreement or plan of 

action. By notice in the Federal Register 

on October 2, 2024 (89 FR 80264–65), 

the Assistant Attorney General for the 

Antitrust Division, Department of 

Justice, in consultation with the Chair of 

the Federal Trade Commission, made 

such a concurrent finding on September 

26, 2024. Therefore, in accordance with 

DPA Sec. 708(f)(2), VISA may be 

extended for another five-year term. The 

text published herein supersedes the 

2014 language, as renewed in 2019, for 

an effective period of five years, ending 

October 1, 2029. Copies of this 

agreement will be made available to the 

public upon request. 

Voluntary Intermodal Sealift 

Agreement (VISA) 

Table of Contents 

Definitions 

Preface 

I. Purpose 

II. Authorities 

A. MARAD 

B. USTRANSCOM 

III. General 

A. Concept 

B. Responsibilities 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES