4620 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 18 / Wednesday, January 28, 2015 / Notices 

Abu Taha al Almani, committed, or 

poses a significant risk of committing, 

acts of terrorism that threaten the 

security of U.S. nationals or the national 

security, foreign policy, or economy of 

the United States. 

Consistent with the determination in 

section 10 of Executive Order 13224 that 

‘‘prior notice to persons determined to 

be subject to the Order who might have 

a constitutional presence in the United 

States would render ineffectual the 

blocking and other measures authorized 

in the Order because of the ability to 

transfer funds instantaneously,’’ I 

determine that no prior notice needs to 

be provided to any person subject to this 

determination who might have a 

constitutional presence in the United 

States, because to do so would render 

ineffectual the measures authorized in 

the Order. 

This notice shall be published in the 

Federal Register. 

Dated: January 9, 2015. 

John F. Kerry, 

Secretary of State. 

[FR Doc. 2015–01589 Filed 1–27–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4710–AD–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Transit Administration 

[Docket No. FTA–2014–0009] 

National Transit Database: Safety 

Information Collection 

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, 

DOT. 

ACTION: Final Guidance to the Safety & 

Security Module in the National Transit 

Database (NTD) Reporting Manual for 

Safety Information Collection. 

SUMMARY: This notice conveys the 

Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) 

response to comments received 

regarding proposed revisions to the 

Safety & Security Module in the 

National Transit Database (NTD) 

Reporting Manual for Safety Information 

Collection. 

DATES: Effective Dates: The revisions to 

the NTD Reporting Manual Safety & 

Security Module will become effective 

for the 2015 calendar year reporting 

cycle. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Keith R. Gates, National Transit 

Database Program Manager, (202) 366– 

1794, Office of Budget and Policy, 

Federal Transit Administration, U.S. 

Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE., East Building, 

Washington, DC 20590 or email: 

keith.gates@dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

I. Overview 

FTA is updating the Safety & Security 

Module in the National Transit Database 

Reporting Manual in order to better 

align NTD safety data collection with 

data that is collected in the State Safety 

Oversight (SSO) program Rail Transit 

Event Database. 

On August 21, 2014, FTA issued a 

notice of request for comments for 

proposed revisions of the National 

Transit Database Safety Information 

Collection, in the Federal Register (79 

FR 49557, http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/

pkg/FR–2014–08–21/pdf/2014– 

19787.pdf). The comment period closed 

on October 20, 2014. FTA received a 

total of 37 comments from 12 

stakeholders, including 10 public 

transportation providers, one trade 

association, and one individual. This 

notice addresses comments received 

and explains the revisions FTA is 

making to the NTD Reporting Manual. 

An overview of the comments and the 

FTA responses are provided below. 

II. Response to Comments 

Commenters recommended that both 

FTA and the SSO agencies should use 

the same database and that reports sent 

to the SSO, FTA, and the Federal 

Railroad Administration (FRA) should 

be collected and maintained on one 

standard reporting form that meets the 

needs of all agencies then disseminated 

to other agencies as required from the 

assigned federal agency. 

While FTA notes the revisions we 

propose are meant to be a step in that 

direction, the primary motive for the 

revisions will align the NTD reporting 

thresholds and definitions with those of 

the SSO Program database, allowing the 

NTD and the SSO Program to share 

reports and simplify reporting 

requirements. Additionally, FRA’s 

regulatory responsibilities have 

historically differed from those of FTA. 

FTA also received comments that safety 

professionals cannot find statistics that 

are based on data provided to the NTD 

and the SSO Rail Transit Event 

Database. These commenters questioned 

FTA’s need for collecting more data and 

asserted that FTA does not do anything 

visible with the data it collects. The 

NTD produces a monthly time series of 

safety data that is used extensively by 

the rail transit industry. The FTA has 

new safety authority pursuant to MAP– 

21, and as a result its Office of Transit 

Safety and Oversight (TSO) now has 

additional staff and resources that is 

developing a more active program going 

forward. In the future, we will use the 

data collected to produce regular 

products and reports for use by the 

safety community. 

1. Reportable Event (clarification) 

Incidents reported to the NTD and the 

SSO Rail Transit Event Database will be 

called ‘‘events.’’ FTA suggested this 

change because other uses of the term 

‘‘incident’’ are defined as an occurrence 

that is less severe than an accident or 

imply a security event. ‘‘Event’’ in this 

case is intended to include planned and 

unplanned events that are required to be 

reported to the NTD. This change is 

necessary to provide better alignment 

with nomenclature used by other 

transportation modes, and to provide 

clarity during data analysis conducted 

to identify safety trends. 

Comment. One commenter disagreed 

with the ‘‘events’’ classification and 

stated that there would continue to be 

room for confusion with FRA’s 

definition of ‘‘incident.’’ 

FTA Response. FTA is primarily 

concerned with using terminology that 

is compatible with usage in the SSO 

Program. ‘‘Event’’ is the blanket term for 

accidents and other incidents that are 

not accidental (such as suicides). Since 

the NTD also collects information on 

security events, and such usage is 

compatible with the Department of 

Homeland Security (DHS) definition, 

FTA intends to proceed with this 

proposed revision. 

2. Change in Location Criteria 

The NTD currently includes events 

that are ‘‘related to or affect revenue 

service.’’ Consistent with data reported 

to the SSO Program, FTA proposed to 

revise these applicability criteria to ‘‘an 

event occurring on transit right-of-way, 

in a transit revenue facility, in a transit 

maintenance facility, or involving a 

transit revenue vehicle, excluding 

occupational safety events occurring in 

administrative buildings.’’ Application 

of these new criteria would mean that 

recipients will no longer report events at 

bus stops that are not on property 

owned or controlled by the agency, 

unless the event involves a transit 

vehicle, or boarding/alighting from a 

transit vehicle. 

Comment. FTA received eight 

comments to the proposed revision. 

Commenters expressed concern that 

changing ‘‘affecting revenue service 

standard’’ to a ‘‘location-based 

standard’’ would include a number of 

occupational safety events that are 

normally reported to the Occupational 

Safety & Health Administration (OSHA). 

Many commenters noted that these 

events are already reported to OSHA, 

and that this proposed revision would 

require agencies to file multiple reports 

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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 18 / Wednesday, January 28, 2015 / Notices 4621 

on these incidents. Commenters also 

noted, correctly, that the new policy 

would include other occupational safety 

events on transit property. 

FTA Response. FTA notes the 

proposed revision would specifically 

exclude ‘‘occupational safety events 

occurring in administrative buildings.’’ 

FTA further notes occupational safety 

events are reported by phoning the local 

OSHA office within 24 hours of the 

event, and only the most serious injuries 

are reported. In addition, telephone 

reporting on this time frame does not 

result in particularly reliable data, and 

therefore, OSHA-reported data does not 

meet FTA’s reliability standards. 

Furthermore, OSHA data are not made 

readily available to FTA. For these 

reasons, we have adopted the proposed 

revision. In response to comments, FTA 

has updated the standard to exclude 

other types of real property in addition 

to administrative buildings. In 

particular, non-transit property owned 

by municipalities or authorities that also 

operate transit systems will be 

excluded. 

3. Evacuations 

FTA proposed to revise the definition 

of evacuation to include patron/

passenger self-evacuations and 

evacuations for service or maintenancerelated issues when passengers are 

evacuated to locations where they 

potentially could be exposed to 

hazardous situations, such as a rail 

right-of-way, or a highway shoulder 

lane. These events will require a major 

event report and are consistent with 

data reported to the SSO Program. 

Comment. FTA received four 

comments to the proposed revision. 

Three commenters were opposed to the 

extension of the evacuation reporting to 

all revenue vehicles, making convincing 

arguments that bus evacuations were 

not sufficiently hazardous to justify a 

major safety report. The remaining 

commenter stated that it is difficult to 

capture data on self-evacuations. 

FTA Response. FTA concurs with 

these comments and only will require 

reporting of evacuations on rail vehicles 

and of passenger facilities. The revisions 

will expand evacuation reporting 

criteria for rail vehicles from 

evacuations due to life-threatening 

situations, to any evacuation to a 

potentially hazardous location. 

Additionally, FTA understands it may 

be difficult to capture data on selfevacuations, especially where 

evacuations are not managed by transit 

personnel, but will still require that the 

agency do its best to submit an accurate 

report. 

4. Derailments 

FTA proposed to expand the 

mandatory reporting of derailments to 

include yard derailments. Yard 

derailments will be reportable 

regardless of injuries, fatalities, or 

property damage. 

Comment. FTA received five 

comments on this proposal. 

Commenters suggested that derailments 

of service equipment in maintenance 

yards should not be reportable. 

FTA Response. The FTA understands 

that derailments of service equipment 

are rare, however, the agency would like 

to know when these derailments occur 

in an effort to improve the safety of 

transit agency operations and transit 

agency employees. Therefore, FTA is 

implementing the revision as proposed 

and derailments of service equipment in 

maintenance yards will be reported. 

5. Collisions at Grade Crossings 

FTA proposed to make all collisions 

at grade crossings reportable to the NTD 

in order to improve event reporting 

consistency. Transit agencies are 

already required to report and 

investigate these events under the 

existing SSO Program. 

Comment. FTA received three 

comments to the proposed revision. 

Commenters requested additional 

clarification of what constitutes a grade 

crossing and what ‘‘all collisions’’ mean. 

FTA Response. FTA defines ‘‘all’’ to 

mean any vehicular collision, even if 

the vehicles are not operated by a transit 

agency. It includes collisions involving 

pedestrians and bicyclists. ‘‘Grade 

Crossing’’ is defined as any place where 

a rail guideway used for transit 

operations is crossed at grade by a road 

or path. This reporting requirement will 

ensure that the NTD has reports on all 

incidents reported to the SSO. We 

realize that the elimination of damage 

and injury thresholds will result in 

some additional reports beyond what 

will be reported to the SSO Program, 

however, collection of minor event data 

will inform FTA safety specialists of 

potential elevated safety risk levels. 

6. Collision With an Individual on a Rail 

Right-of-Way 

FTA proposed to change the NTD 

thresholds to capture all rail collisions 

with individuals, regardless of injuries 

or fatalities, as collected in the SSO 

Program. Collisions with individuals 

that do not result in an injury would be 

reportable to the NTD. 

Comment. FTA received two 

comments to the proposed revision. 

Commenters stated that there needs to 

be a minimum train speed to eliminate 

unnecessary reporting events where 

someone walks/falls into the side of a 

train and also suggested that changes be 

addressed in FTA’s upcoming safety 

rulemakings. 

FTA Response. FTA will modify the 

requirement so that only events 

involving moving trains are reportable. 

7. Rail to Rail Collisions 

FTA proposed to require an NTD 

event report for every event involving a 

collision between rail vehicles. This 

would extend the existing SSO 

threshold to the NTD to support 

improvements in data quality and 

reporting. Transit agencies are already 

required to report and investigate these 

events under the existing SSO Program. 

This category is not intended to capture 

normal connection of vehicles. 

Comment. FTA received one 

comment to the proposed revision. The 

commenter noted that FTA currently 

collects the proposed information 

through the SSO Program and FTA 

should take into consideration that 

agencies are double reporting. 

FTA Response. This requirement will 

ensure that the NTD has reports for all 

incidents reported to the SSO Program. 

To reduce over reporting, FTA will 

clearly define what ‘‘bump coupling’’ 

means as part of the guidance for 

reporting this data. 

8. Addition of ‘‘Tow-Away’’ 

FTA proposed to add a ‘‘tow-away’’ 

checkbox to the Reportable Incident 

Report form (S&S–40) to make vehicle 

event reporting compatible with the 

accident reporting threshold used by the 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration. 

Comment. FTA received two 

comments to the proposed revision. 

Commenters questioned if the reporting 

requirement would only apply to towaways resulting from accidents that 

caused disabling damage to the motor 

vehicle and if it would cover driverrequested tows even though the event 

does not meet the FTA criteria of 

‘‘disabling damage.’’ 

FTA Response. FTA will provide 

guidance in the reporting manual to 

clarify that this requirement will only 

apply to vehicles that are not safe to 

operate. 

9. Revision to Non-Rail ‘‘Other Motor 

Vehicle’’ and ‘‘Collision Event’’ Screens 

FTA proposed to add selections for 

‘‘other motor vehicle type’’ to improve 

the ability of FTA and transit agencies 

to conduct trend analysis of non-rail 

vehicle collisions. New selections will 

include: Collision with an automobile, 

moped, scooter, motorcycle, charter bus, 

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4622 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 18 / Wednesday, January 28, 2015 / Notices 

or school bus as a collision with a Motor 

Vehicle; collision with another agency’s 

transit vehicle as a collision with a 

Motor Vehicle; and collision with 

another of your transit agency’s vehicles 

as a collision with a transit vehicle. 

FTA Response. FTA did not receive 

any comments to this proposed revision 

and the revision will be adopted as 

proposed. 

10. Revision to Non-Rail ‘‘Type of Fire’’ 

Categories on Fire Event Detail Screens 

FTA proposed to add selections for 

‘‘type of fire’’ to the non-rail fire event 

detail screens to provide better nationallevel information for vehicle fire 

prevention and mitigation. 

Comment. FTA received two 

comments to the proposed revision. 

Commenters indicated that ‘‘type of 

fire’’ was often difficult to ascertain and 

could only be identified after a lengthy 

investigation. 

FTA Response. The NTD allows for 

event reports to be edited months after 

being reported, thus FTA does not 

consider this problematic for reporters 

and will adopt the proposed revision as 

stated. 

11. Collect New Data on Geographic 

Location of Events 

FTA proposed to add fields for 

latitude and longitude of events. This 

change is necessary for FTA to 

participate in the U.S. DOT’s Open Data 

initiative that will provide for the 

creation and maintenance of highquality, nationwide transportation data 

in the public domain. 

Comments. FTA received nine 

comments to the proposed revision. 

Commenters expressed concern that 

they are not equipped to provide the 

proposed information. 

FTA Response. FTA will make this 

new requirement optional for the first 

year to allow time for reporters to 

develop procedures for determining the 

latitude and longitude for incidents. 

FTA also will provide functionality in 

the online forms for converting street 

addresses to latitude and longitude 

automatically. 

Although there is a potential increase 

in the reporting burden for some data 

elements affected by these revisions, 

there also are some potential reductions 

in the reporting burden. FTA will 

monitor these and generate a revised 

reporting burden estimate for our 

upcoming Paperwork Reduction Act 

application. This application will be 

completed in 2015. At this time the 

reporting burden is expected to be 

neutral and to remain within the 

currently approved Paperwork 

Reduction Act collection. 

Therese W. McMillan, 

Acting Administrator, Federal Transit 

Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2015–01479 Filed 1–27–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Transit Administration 

[Docket No. FTA–2014–0008] 

State of Good Repair Grants Program: 

Final Circular 

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration 

(FTA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of availability of final 

circular. 

SUMMARY: FTA has placed guidance in 

the docket and on its Web site, in the 

form of a circular, to assist recipients of 

financial aid under the 49 U.S.C. 5337 

State of Good Repair (‘‘SGR’’) Grants 

Program. The circular provides 

instructions and guidance on program 

administration and the grant application 

process. 

DATES: The effective date of the circular 

is February 27, 2015. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

program questions, contact Eric Hu, 

FTA Office of Program Management, 

1200 New Jersey Ave. SE., Room E44– 

419, (202) 366–0870, Eric.Hu@dot.gov. 

For legal questions, contact Christopher 

Hall, FTA Office of Chief Counsel, same 

address, Room E54–413, (202) 366– 

5218, Christopher.Hall@dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Availability of Final Circular 

This notice provides a summary of the 

circular and responses to comments 

received on the proposed version of the 

circular. The circular itself is not 

included in this notice. Instead, an 

electronic version of the circular can be 

found on FTA’s Web site at 

www.fta.dot.gov, or in the docket at 

www.regulations.gov. Paper copies of 

the circular can be obtained by 

contacting FTA’s Administrative 

Services Help Desk at (202) 366–4865. 

Table of Contents 

I. Overview 

II. Discussion of Comments 

III. Chapter-by-Chapter Summary 

I. Overview 

The Moving Ahead for Progress in the 

21st Century Act (‘‘MAP–21’’), Public 

Law 112–141, 126 Stat. 405 (2012), 

made significant changes to the Federal 

transit laws that are applicable across all 

of FTA’s financial assistance programs. 

These changes further several important 

goals of the U.S. Department of 

Transportation. Most notably, MAP–21 

grants FTA new authority to oversee 

and regulate the safety of public 

transportation systems in the United 

States and authorizes a new Public 

Transportation Safety Program at 49 

U.S.C. 5329. MAP–21 also establishes a 

new National Transit Asset Management 

system at 49 U.S.C. 5326, including a 

new requirement for transit asset 

management plans, performance 

measures and annual target setting 

based on a definition of ‘‘state of good 

repair,’’ and additional technical 

assistance from FTA. 

MAP–21 also establishes the new SGR 

Grants Program at 49 U.S.C. 5337. In 

contrast to the repealed Fixed Guideway 

Modernization Program, the purpose of 

the SGR Grants Program is the 

maintenance, replacement, and 

rehabilitation of capital assets, along 

with the development and 

implementation of transit asset 

management plans. 

These three new sections—the transit 

asset management provisions at section 

5326, the Public Transportation Safety 

Program at section 5329, and the SGR 

Grants Program at section 5337— 

enhance the process by which a transit 

provider evaluates the SGR needs of 

capital assets. Section 5337 provides 

financial assistance for repairs, 

replacement or rehabilitation, as 

informed by conditions of capital assets 

and safety risk priorities. A transit 

provider’s safety and asset assessment 

informs its asset management process, 

which informs budgeting and project 

selection. On October 3, 2013, FTA 

published an advance notice of 

proposed rulemaking (‘‘ANPRM’’), 78 

FR 61251, to request public comments 

on a wide range of topics related to the 

new Public Transportation Safety 

Program and the transit asset 

management provisions. FTA is 

currently reviewing the public input 

received in response to the ANPRM. 

On March 3, 2014, FTA published a 

notice in the Federal Register (79 FR 

11865) announcing the availability of a 

proposed version of this circular and 

requesting public comment. FTA 

received 12 individual responses that 

contained more than 60 comments. 

Commenters included eight transit 

providers, two metropolitan planning 

organizations (‘‘MPO’’), one advocacy 

association, and one architectural and 

engineering public contractor. This 

circular incorporates FTA’s responses to 

the comments. 

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