[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 169 (Friday, August 29, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51041-51044]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-20030]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Docket No. FRA-2000-7257; Notice No. 49]


Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC); Working Group Activity 
Update

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Announcement of Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC) 
working group activities.

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SUMMARY: FRA is updating its announcement of RSAC's working group 
activities to reflect its current status.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Larry Woolverton, RSAC Coordinator, 
FRA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Mailstop 25, Washington, DC 20590, 
(202) 493-6212; or Grady Cothen, Deputy Associate Administrator for 
Safety, FRA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Mailstop 25, Washington, DC 
20590, (202) 493-6302.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice serves to update FRA's last 
announcement of working group activities and status reports of May 22, 
2008 (73 FR 29838). The 35th full RSAC meeting was held June 11, 2008, 
and the 36th meeting is scheduled for September 10, 2008, at the 
National Housing Center in Washington, DC.
    Since its first meeting in April of 1996, the RSAC has accepted 25 
tasks. The status for each of the open tasks is provided below:

Open Tasks

    Task 96-4--Tourist and Historic Railroads. Reviewing the 
appropriateness of the agency's current policy regarding the 
applicability of existing and proposed regulations to tourist, 
excursion, scenic, and historic railroads. This task was accepted on 
April 2, 1996, and a working group was established. The working group 
monitored the steam locomotive regulation task. Planned future 
activities involve the review of other regulations for possible 
adaptation to the safety needs of tourist and historic railroads. 
Contact: Grady Cothen, Jr., (202) 493-6302.
    Task 03-01--Passenger Safety. This task includes updating and 
enhancing the regulations pertaining to passenger safety, based on 
research and experience. This task was accepted on May 20, 2003, and a 
working group was established. Prior to embarking on substantive 
discussions of a specific task, the working group set forth, in 
writing, a specific description of the task. The working group reports 
planned activity to the full Committee at each scheduled full RSAC 
meeting, including milestones for completion of projects and progress 
toward completion. At the first meeting held September 9-10, 2003, a 
consolidated list of issues was completed. At the second meeting held 
November 6-7, 2003, four task groups were established: emergency 
preparedness; mechanical; crashworthiness; and track/vehicle 
interaction. The task groups met and reported on activities for working 
group consideration at the third meeting held May 11-12, 2004, and a 
fourth meeting was held October 26-27, 2004. The Working Group met on 
March 21-22, 2006, and again on September 12-13, 2006, at which time 
the group agreed to establish a task force on general passenger safety. 
The full Passenger Safety Working Group met on April 17-18, 2007; 
December 11-12, 2007; and June 18, 2008. The next meeting is scheduled 
for November 13, 2008. Contact: Charles Bielitz, (202) 493-6314.
    (Emergency Preparedness Task Force) At the working group meeting on 
March 9-10, 2005, the working group received and approved the consensus 
report of the Emergency Preparedness Task Force related to emergency 
communication, emergency egress, and rescue access. These 
recommendations were presented to, and approved by, the full RSAC on 
May 18, 2005. The working group met on September 7-8, 2005, and 
additional, supplementary recommendations were presented to, and 
accepted by, the full RSAC on October 11, 2005. The Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking (NPRM) was published on August 24, 2006, and was open for 
comment until October 23, 2006. The working group agreed upon 
recommendations for the final rule, including resolution of final 
comments received, during its April 17-18, 2007, meeting. The 
recommendations were presented to, and approved by, the full RSAC on 
June 26, 2007. The final rule regarding passenger train emergency 
systems, focusing on emergency communication, emergency egress, and 
rescue access, was published on February 1, 2008 (73 FR 6370). The task 
force met on October 17-18, 2007, and reached consensus on draft rule 
text for a followup NPRM on passenger train emergency systems, focusing 
on low location emergency exit path marking, emergency lighting, and 
emergence signage. The task force presented the draft rule text to the 
Passenger Safety Working Group on December 11-12, 2007, and the 
consensus draft rule text was presented to, and approved by, full RSAC 
vote during the February 20, 2008 meeting. At its most recent meeting, 
which was held May 13-14, 2008, the task force recommended clarifying 
the applicability of backup emergency communication system requirements 
in the February 1, 2008, final rule, and FRA announced its intention to 
exercise limited enforcement discretion for a new provision amending 
instruction requirements for emergency window exit removal. The working 
group ratified these recommendations on June 19, 2008. No additional 
task force meetings are currently scheduled. Contact: Brenda Moscoso, 
(202) 493-6282.
    (Mechanical Task Force) (Completed) Initial recommendations on 
mechanical issues (revisions to Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations 
(CFR) part 238) were approved by the full Committee on January 26, 
2005. At the working group meeting of September 7-8, 2005, the task 
force presented additional perfecting amendments and the full RSAC 
approved them on October 11, 2005. An NPRM was published in the Federal 
Register on December 8, 2005 (70 FR 73070). Public comments were due by 
February 17, 2006. The final rule was published in the Federal Register 
on October 19, 2006 (71 FR 61835), effective December 18, 2006.
    (Crashworthiness Task Force) Among its efforts, the Crashworthiness 
Task Force provided consensus recommendations on static-end strength 
that were adopted by the working group on September 7-8, 2005. The full 
Committee accepted the recommendations on October 11, 2005. The Front-
End Strength of Cab Cars and Multiple-Unit Locomotives NPRM was 
published in the Federal Register on August 1, 2007 (72 FR 42016), with 
comments due by October 1, 2007. A number of comments were entered into 
the docket, and FRA is considering each of them in drafting a final 
rule. To demonstrate means of determining compliance with the 
crashworthiness requirements of the rule, FRA scheduled deformation 
tests as prescribed in the

[[Page 51042]]

NPRM. A dynamic impact test, per the performance standard, was 
conducted on April 16, 2008. Additionally, two quasi-static tests were 
conducted on June 25, 2008, and August 13, 2008. The objectives of the 
tests were to show alternative means for demonstrating compliance with 
dynamic performance and quasi-static strength-based standard outlined 
in the NPRM. The next task force meeting is scheduled for September 9-
10, 2008. Contact: Gary Fairbanks, (202) 493-6322.
    (Vehicle/Track Interaction Task Force) The task force is developing 
proposed revisions to 49 CFR parts 213 and 238, principally regarding 
high-speed passenger service. The task force met on October 9-11, 2007, 
and again on November 19-20, 2007, in Washington, DC, and presented the 
final task force report, final recommendations, and proposed rule text 
for approval by the Passenger Safety Working Group at the December 11-
12, 2007, meeting. The final report and the proposed rule text were 
approved by the working group and were presented to, and approved by, 
full RSAC vote during the February 20, 2008, meeting. The group last 
met on February 27-28, 2008, and FRA is currently crafting an NPRM. No 
additional task force meetings are currently scheduled. Contact: John 
Mardente, (202) 493-1335.
    (General Passenger Safety Task Force) At the working group meeting 
on April 17-18, 2007, the task force presented a progress report to the 
working group. The task force met on July 18-19, 2007, and afterwards, 
it reported proposed reporting cause codes for injuries involving the 
platform gap that was approved by the working group by mail ballot in 
September 2007. The full RSAC approved the recommendations for changes 
to 49 CFR part 225 accident/incident cause codes on October 25, 2007. 
The task force continues work on passenger train door securement, 
``second train in station,'' trespasser incidents, and system safety 
based solutions by developing a regulatory approach to system safety. 
The General Passenger Safety Task Force presented draft guidance 
material for management of the gap that was considered and approved by 
the working group during the December 11-12, 2007, meeting and was 
presented and approved by full RSAC vote during the February 20, 2008, 
meeting. The group met April 23-24, 2008, and the next meeting is 
scheduled for November 4-6, 2008. Contact: Dan Knote, (631) 567-1596.
    Task 05-01--Review of Roadway Worker Protection Issues. This task 
was accepted on January 26, 2005, to review 49 CFR part 214, Subpart C, 
Roadway Worker Protection, and related sections of Subpart A, and to 
recommend consideration of specific actions to advance the on-track 
safety of railroad employees and contractors engaged in maintenance-of-
way activities throughout the general system of railroad 
transportation, including clarification of existing requirements. A 
working group was established and reported to the RSAC any specific 
actions identified as appropriate. The first meeting of the working 
group was held on April 12-14, 2005. The group drafted and accepted 
regulatory language for various revisions, clarifications, and 
additions to 32 separate items in 19 sections of the rule. However, two 
parties raised technical concerns regarding the draft language 
concerning electronic display of track authorities. The working group 
reported recommendations to the full Committee at the June 26, 2007, 
meeting. The FRA, through the NPRM process, is to address this issue 
along with eight additional items on which the working group was unable 
to reach a consensus. Comments were received and were considered during 
the drafting of the NPRM. In early 2008, the external working group 
members were solicited to review the consensus text for errata review. 
In order to address the heightened concerns raised with the current 
regulations for adjacent track on-track safety, an NPRM was published 
on July 17, 2008, that focused on this element of the Roadway Worker 
Protection rule alone. As this was an NPRM, FRA sought comment on the 
entire proposal, including those portions that FRA sought to clarify. 
However, on August 13, 2008, the NPRM was withdrawn to permit further 
consideration of the RSAC-reported consensus language. FRA is currently 
reviewing options concerning the smaller adjacent track on-track safety 
aspect of the rule, as well as the remaining changes to the rule. 
Target for completion of all items in the larger NPRM is spring of 
2009. Contact: Christopher Schulte, (610) 521-8201.
    Task 05-02--Reduce Human Factor-Caused Train Accident/Incidents. 
This task was accepted on May 18, 2005, to reduce the number of human 
factor-caused train accidents/incidents and related employee injuries. 
The Railroad Operating Rules Working Group was formed, and the group 
extensively reviewed the issues presented. The final working group 
meeting devoted to developing a proposed rule was held February 8-9, 
2006. The working group was not able to deliver a consensus regulatory 
proposal, but did recommend that it be used to review comments on FRA's 
NPRM, which was published in the Federal Register on October 12, 2006 
(FR 71 60372) with public comments due by December 11, 2006. Two 
reviews were held, one on February 8-9, 2007, and the other on April 4-
5, 2007. Consensus was reached on four items and those items were 
presented and accepted by the full RSAC at the June 26, 2007, meeting. 
A final rule was published in the Federal Register on February 13, 2008 
(73 FR 8442), with an effective date of April 14, 2008. Working group 
meetings were held on September 27-28, 2007; January 17-18, 2008; and 
May 21-22, 2008. The next scheduled meeting will occur on September 25-
26, 2008. Contact: Douglas Taylor, (202) 493-6255.
    Task 06-01--Locomotive Safety Standards. This task was accepted on 
February 22, 2006, to review 49 CFR part 229, Railroad Locomotive 
Safety Standards, and revise as appropriate. A working group was 
established with the mandate to report any planned activity to the full 
Committee at each scheduled full RSAC meeting, to include milestones 
for completion of projects and progress toward completion. The first 
working group meeting was held May 8-10, 2006. Working group meetings 
were held on August 8-9, 2006; September 25-26, 2006; and October 30-
31, 2006, and the working group presented recommendations regarding 
revisions to requirements for locomotive sanders to the full RSAC on 
September 21, 2006. The NPRM regarding sanders was published in the 
Federal Register on March 6, 2007 (72 FR 9904). Comments received were 
discussed by the working group for clarification, and FRA published a 
final rule on October 19, 2007 (72 FR 59216). The working group is 
continuing the review of 49 CFR part 229 with a view to proposing 
further revisions to update the standards. The working group met on 
January 9-10, 2007; November 27-28, 2007; February 5-6, 2008; May 20-
21, 2008; and August 5-6, 2008. The next meeting is scheduled for 
October 22-23, 2008, and a followup meeting is scheduled for January 6-
7, 2009. Contact: George Scerbo, (202) 493-6249.
    Task 06-02--Track Safety Standards and Continuous Welded Rail. 
Section 9005 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient 
Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (Pub. L. 109-59, 
``SAFETEA-LU''), the 2005 surface transportation authorization act, 
requires FRA to issue requirements for inspection of joint bars in 
continuous welded rail (CWR) to detect cracks that could affect the 
integrity of the track structure. See 49 U.S.C. 20142(e). FRA published 
an interim final rule (IFR),

[[Page 51043]]

establishing new requirements for inspections, on November 2, 2005 (70 
FR 66288). On October 11, 2005, FRA offered the RSAC a task to review 
comments on this IFR, but the conditions could not be established under 
which the Committee could have undertaken this with a view toward 
consensus. Comments on the IFR were received through December 19, 2005. 
FRA reviewed the comments. On February 22, 2006, the RSAC accepted this 
task to review and revise the CWR related to provisions of the Track 
Safety Standards (TSS), with particular emphasis on reduction of 
derailments and consequent injuries and damage caused by defective 
conditions, including joint failures, in track using CWR; a working 
group was established. The working group will report any planned 
activity to the full Committee at each scheduled full RSAC meeting, 
including milestones for completion of projects and progress toward 
completion. The first working group meeting was held April 3-4, 2006, 
at which time the working group reviewed comments on the IFR. The 
second working group meeting was held April 26-28, 2006. The working 
group also met May 24-25, 2006, and July 19-20, 2006. The working group 
reported consensus recommendations for the final rule that were 
accepted by the full RSAC Committee by mail ballot on August 11, 2006. 
The final rule was published in the Federal Register on October 11, 
2006 (71 FR 59677). The working group continued review of 49 CFR 
213.119 with a view to proposing further revisions to update the 
standards. The working group met January 30-31, 2007; April 10-11, 
2007; June 27-28, 2007; August 15-16, 2007; October 23-24, 2007; and 
January, 8-9, 2008. The working group reported consensus 
recommendations for revisions to 49 CFR Section 213.119 regulations to 
the full RSAC on February 20, 2008, and the recommendations were 
accepted. FRA is preparing an NPRM. No additional working group 
meetings are currently scheduled on this issue. Contact: Ken Rusk, 
(202) 493-6236.
    Task 06-03--Medical Standards for Safety-Critical Personnel. This 
task was accepted on September 21, 2006, to enhance the safety of 
persons in the railroad operating environment and the public by 
establishing standards and procedures for determining the medical 
fitness for duty of personnel engaged in safety-critical functions. A 
working group has been established and will report any planned activity 
to the full Committee at each scheduled full RSAC meeting, including 
milestones for completion of projects and progress toward completion. 
The first working group meeting was held December 12-13, 2006. The 
working group has held followup meetings on the following dates: 
February 20-21, 2007; July 24-25, 2007; August 29-30, 2007; October 31-
November 1, 2007; December 4-5, 2007; February 13-14, 2008; March 26-
27, 2008; and April 22-23, 2008. A task force of physicians was 
established in May 2007 to work on specific medical exam-related 
issues. The task force of physicians has had meetings or conference 
calls on July 24, 2007; August 20, 2007; October 15, 2007; October 31, 
2007; and June 23-24, 2008. The next meeting of the task force is 
scheduled for September 8-10, 2008. Contact: Alan Misiaszek, (202) 493-
6002.
    Task 07-01--Track Safety Standards. This task was accepted on 
February 22, 2007, to consider specific improvements to the TSS or 
other responsive actions, supplementing work already under way on CWR, 
specifically to: Review controls applied to reuse of rail in CWR ``plug 
rail,'' review the issue of cracks emanating from bond wire 
attachments, consider improvements in the TSS related to fastening of 
rail to concrete ties, and ensure a common understanding within the 
regulated community concerning requirements for internal rail flaw 
inspections. The tasks were assigned to the Track Safety Standards 
Working Group. The working group will report any planned activity to 
the full Committee at each scheduled full RSAC meeting, including 
milestones for completion of projects and progress toward completion. 
The first working group meeting was held on June 27-28, 2007, and the 
group met again on August 15-16, 2007, and October 23-24, 2007. Two 
task forces were created under the working group: Concrete Ties and 
Rail Integrity Task Forces. The Concrete Ties Task Force met on 
November 26-27, 2007; February 13-14, 2008; April 16-17, 2008; and July 
9-10, 2008. The next Concrete Ties Task Force meeting is scheduled for 
September 17-18, 2008. The Rail Integrity Task Force met on November 
28-29, 2007; February 12-13, 2008; April 15-16, 2008; and July 8-9, 
2008. The next meeting is scheduled for September 16-17, 2008. Contact: 
Ken Rusk, (202) 493-6236.
    Task 08-01--Report on the Nation's Railroad Bridges. This task was 
accepted on February 20, 2008, to report to the Federal Railroad 
Administrator on the current state of railroad bridge safety 
management, update the findings and conclusions of the 1993 Summary 
Report of the FRA Railroad Bridge Safety Survey, and include 
recommendations for further action with a target date of November 3, 
2008. The working group first met on April 24-25, 2008, with followup 
meetings held on June 12-13, 2008, and August 7-8, 2008. The working 
group will present findings and a final report to the RSAC during the 
September 10, 2008, full Committee meeting. Contact: Gordon Davids, 
(202) 230-9568.

Completed Tasks

    Task 96-1--(Completed) Revising the freight power brake 
regulations.
    Task 96-2--(Completed) Reviewing and recommending revisions to the 
TSS (49 CFR part 213).
    Task 96-3--(Completed) Reviewing and recommending revisions to the 
radio standards and procedures (49 CFR part 220).
    Task 96-5--(Completed) Reviewing and recommending revisions to 
steam locomotive inspection standards (49 CFR part 230).
    Task 96-6--(Completed) Reviewing and recommending revisions to 
miscellaneous aspects of the regulations addressing locomotive engineer 
certification (49 CFR part 240).
    Task 96-7--(Completed) Developing roadway maintenance machines (on-
track equipment) safety standards.
    Task 96-8--(Completed) This planning task evaluated the need for 
action responsive to recommendations contained in a report to Congress 
titled, Locomotive Crashworthiness & Working Conditions.
    Task 97-1--(Completed) Developing crashworthiness specifications 
(49 CFR part 229) to promote the integrity of the locomotive cab in 
accidents resulting from collisions.
    Task 97-2--(Completed) Evaluating the extent to which 
environmental, sanitary, and other working conditions in locomotive 
cabs affect the crew's health and the safe operation of locomotives, 
proposing standards where appropriate.
    Task 97-3--(Completed) Developing event recorder data survivability 
standards.
    Task 97-4--and Task 97-5--(Completed) Defining Positive Train 
Control (PTC) functionalities, describing available technologies, 
evaluating costs and benefits of potential systems, and considering 
implementation opportunities and challenges, including demonstration 
and deployment.
    Task 97-6--(Completed) Revising various regulations to address the 
safety implications of processor-based signal and train control 
technologies,

[[Page 51044]]

including communications-based operating systems.
    Task 97-7--(Completed) Determining damages qualifying an event as a 
reportable train accident.
    Task 00-1--(Completed-task withdrawn) Determining the need to amend 
regulations protecting persons who work on, under, or between rolling 
equipment and persons applying, removing, or inspecting rear end 
marking devices (Blue Signal Protection).
    Task 01-1--(Completed) Developing conformity of FRA's regulations 
for accident/incident reporting (49 CFR part 225) to revised 
regulations of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. 
Department of Labor, and to make appropriate revisions to the FRA Guide 
for Preparing Accident/Incident Reports (Reporting Guide).
    Please refer to the notice published in the Federal Register on 
March 11, 1996 (61 FR 9740), for more information about the RSAC.

    Issued in Washington, DC on August 20, 2008.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program 
Development.
[FR Doc. E8-20030 Filed 8-28-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P