746 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 3 / Tuesday, January 6, 2015 / Rules and Regulations 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Railroad Administration 

49 CFR Part 234 

[Docket No. FRA–2011–0007, Notice No. 4] 

RIN 2130–AC26 

National Highway-Rail Crossing 

Inventory Reporting Requirements 

AGENCY: Federal Railroad 

Administration (FRA), Department of 

Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: This final rule requires 

railroads that operate one or more trains 

through highway-rail or pathway 

crossings to submit information to the 

U.S. DOT National Highway-Rail 

Crossing Inventory about the crossings 

through which they operate. These 

amendments, mandated by section 204 

of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 

2008, require railroads to submit 

information about previously 

unreported and new highway-rail and 

pathway crossings to the U.S. DOT 

National Highway-Rail Crossing 

Inventory and to periodically update 

existing crossing data. 

DATES: This final rule is effective March 

9, 2015. Petitions for reconsideration 

must be received on or before February 

25, 2015. Petitions for reconsideration 

will be posted in the docket for this 

proceeding. Comments on any 

submitted petition for reconsideration 

must be received on or before April 13, 

2015. 

ADDRESSES: Petitions for reconsideration 

and any comments to petitions for 

reconsideration must be identified by 

docket number FRA–2011–0007 and 

may be submitted by any of the 

following methods: 

• Online: Federal eRulemaking 

Portal, http://www.regulations.gov. 

Follow the online instructions for 

submitting comments. 

• Fax: 202–493–2251. 

• Mail: Docket Management Facility, 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE., Room W12– 

140, Washington, DC 20590. 

• Hand Delivery: Room W12–140 on 

the Ground level of the West Building, 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 

Docket Management Facility, 1200 New 

Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 

20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., 

Monday through Friday, except Federal 

holidays. 

Instructions: All submissions must 

include the agency name, docket name 

and docket number or Regulatory 

Identifier Number (RIN) for this 

rulemaking (2130–AC26). Note that all 

comments received will be posted 

without change to http://

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided. Please 

see the Privacy Act heading in the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of 

this document for Privacy Act 

information related to any submitted 

comments or materials. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments received, go to http://

www.regulations.gov at any time or visit 

the Docket Management Facility, U.S. 

Department of Transportation, West 

Building Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 

1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 

Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 

p.m., Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Ronald Ries, Staff Director, HighwayRail Crossing and Trespasser Prevention 

Programs Division, Office of Railroad 

Safety, FRA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue 

SE., Mail Stop 25, Washington, DC 

20590 (telephone: 202–493–6299), 

ronald.ries@dot.gov; or Kathryn Shelton 

Gresham, Office of Chief Counsel, FRA, 

1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Mail Stop 

13, Washington, DC 20590 (telephone: 

202–493–6063), kathryn.gresham@

dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents for Supplementary 

Information 

I. Executive Summary 

II. Statutory Background 

III. The U.S. DOT National Highway-Rail 

Crossing Inventory Program 

A. History 

B. Overview of the Reporting Process 

C. Use of Crossing Inventory Data in 

Private Litigation 

IV. Section-by-Section Analysis 

V. Regulatory Impact and Notices 

A. Executive Order 12866 and 13563 and 

DOT Regulatory Policies and Procedures 

B. Regulatory Flexibility Act and Executive 

Order 13272 

C. Federalism 

D. Paperwork Reduction Act 

E. Environmental Impact 

F. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 

G. Energy Impact 

H. Trade Impact 

I. Privacy Act 

I. Executive Summary 

On October 18, 2012, consistent with 

the statutory mandate of Section 204(a) 

of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 

2008 (RSIA) (codified at 49 U.S.C. 

20160), FRA published a notice of 

proposed rulemaking (NPRM) proposing 

to require railroads to submit certain 

information to the existing U.S. DOT 

National Highway-Rail Crossing 

Inventory (Crossing Inventory). 77 FR 

64077. After careful consideration of 

comments received in response to the 

NPRM and testimony received at a 

February 19, 2013 public hearing on 

FRA’s proposal, FRA is amending 49 

CFR part 234 to require railroads that 

operate one or more trains through 

highway-rail or pathway crossings (i.e., 

‘‘operating railroads’’) to submit certain 

information to the Crossing Inventory 

about the highway-rail and pathway 

crossings through which they operate. 

This rule furthers FRA’s efforts to 

improve existing data on the 

characteristics of the Nation’s highwayrail and pathway crossings and 

implements the statutory mandate. 

Consistent with the statute, this rule 

requires operating railroads to submit 

initial reports to the Crossing Inventory, 

including current information about 

warning devices and signs, for 

previously unreported and new 

highway-rail and pathway crossings. 

This rule also requires operating 

railroads to periodically update data in 

the Crossing Inventory, including the 

prompt reporting of a crossing sale, 

crossing closure, or changes in certain 

crossing characteristics. 

In the NPRM, FRA estimated the costs 

of the proposed rule to be $2.1 million 

over a 20-year period. Using a 7-percent 

discount rate, the cost estimate would 

have been $1.5 million. The final rule’s 

estimated cost is $2.8 million, 

discounted to $2.0 million (7%). The 

base cost estimates increased in the final 

rule due to adjustment of the 

Congressional Budget Office (CBO) real 

wage forecasts for each year of the 

analysis. FRA also updated wage inputs 

using the Surface Transportation 

Board’s newest wage rates for 2012, 

which impacted the overall cost 

estimate. FRA also assumed that the 

implementation year will be 2014 and 

adjusted all wages accordingly. While 

the final rule will not take effect until 

2015, FRA does not believe this will 

materially impact the findings of its 

analysis. FRA conducted a break-even 

analysis of the rule and believes that 

potential benefits from the rule will 

equal or exceed total costs. 

FRA analyzed the industry costs 

associated with requiring railroads to 

establish and maintain an inventory for 

all public and private highway-rail 

crossings and pathway crossings. Many 

railroads have already implemented 

components of the final rule prior to 

publication of this rulemaking. FRA 

estimates that as many as 50 percent of 

all highway-rail crossings have up-todate information in the current Crossing 

Inventory. For more details on the costs, 

see the Regulatory Evaluation contained 


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in the public docket. The burdens of the 

rule relate to the collection of recent 

information and to the periodic update 

of the Crossing Inventory. The table 

below presents the estimated costs 

associated with the rule. 

20-YEAR COST FOR FINAL RULE

Initial Update of Inventory .... $1,178,701 

Periodic Update of Inventory 819,473 

Total ............................... 1,998,174 

Future costs are discounted to present 

value using a 7-percent discount rate. 

In the Regulatory Evaluation, FRA has 

explained what the likely benefits are 

for the final rule and provided a breakeven analysis. The main benefit of the 

rule is improved Crossing Inventory 

data. This more precise information will 

better enable FRA, railroads, and any 

other entity, to accurately analyze 

pertinent data, detect trends, and if 

needed, initiate crossing-related safety 

initiatives. In this analysis, FRA 

determined that if there were a decrease 

of 0.015 percent in crossing accidents 

over the twenty-year period, the costs of 

the rule will break-even with the 

benefits. In the last decade there were 

over 26,000 collisions at grade 

crossings. This break-even analysis 

indicates that preventing at least three 

incidents over the next twenty years 

would justify the rule. FRA anticipates 

that this rulemaking will increase the 

precision, completeness, and utility of 

railroad records and will improve the 

Crossing Inventory and safety. This will 

allow FRA to identify certain highwayrail crossings and pathway crossings 

that are not currently recorded in the 

existing voluntary crossing inventory 

and analyze the data to identify safety 

trends and issues. FRA believes that 

these benefits will offset costs 

associated with the rulemaking by 

simplifying the reporting process and 

decreasing crossing accidents. FRA also 

believes the value of the anticipated 

benefits justifies the cost of 

implementing the final rule. 

II. Statutory Background 

This final rule implements section 

204(a) of RSIA, Public Law 110–432, 

Division A (Oct. 16, 2008) (codified at 

49 U.S.C. 20160 and titled ‘‘National 

crossing inventory’’). Consistent with 

Section 20160, this rule is intended to 

improve existing data on highway-rail 

and pathway crossings in the Crossing 

Inventory. Section 20160 requires the 

Secretary to establish reporting 

requirements for railroad carriers for 

highway-rail and pathway crossings. As 

stated above, the Secretary delegated 

this responsibility to the FRA 

Administrator. 49 CFR 1.89(b). 

Section 20160 mandates that the 

Secretary issue regulations requiring 

railroad carriers to report certain 

information, including current 

information about warning devices and 

signage, for new and previously 

unreported highway-rail and pathway 

crossings to the Crossing Inventory. 

Section 20160 also requires the 

Secretary to issue regulations that 

require railroad carriers to periodically 

update existing information in the 

Crossing Inventory about highway-rail 

and pathway crossings through which 

they operate. Under Section 20160, 

whenever a railroad carrier sells all, or 

a portion of, a highway-rail or pathway 

crossing it must submit updates. 

However, in the interim, Section 20160 

provides that the Secretary may enforce 

the Crossing Inventory policy, 

procedures, and instructions in effect at 

the time of Section 20160’s enactment 

(October 16, 2008). The policy, 

procedures, and instructions in effect at 

the time of Section 20160’s enactment 

are the guidance we issued in August 

2007 titled, ‘‘U.S. DOT National 

Highway-Rail Crossing Inventory Policy, 

Procedures and Instructions for States 

and Railroads.’’ 

III. The U.S. DOT National HighwayRail Crossing Inventory Program 

A. History 

As detailed in the preamble to the 

NPRM, in August 1972, DOT submitted 

a Report to Congress titled ‘‘RailroadHighway Safety Part II: 

Recommendations for Resolving the 

Problem’’ (Report). DOT intended for 

the Report to provide recommendations 

to Congress for actions that would lead 

to a significant reduction in accidents, 

fatalities, personal injuries, and 

property damage at highway-rail 

crossings. In the Report, DOT 

recommended the establishment of an 

information system consisting of a 

national database of all highway-rail 

crossings in the Nation. 

Following the submission to and 

acceptance of the Report by Congress, 

FHWA, FRA, AAR, certain States and 

railroads cooperatively developed the 

Crossing Inventory. Based on an 

instruction manual that was issued in 

the early 1970s, railroads and States 

surveyed each highway-rail crossing 

—public and private, grade-separated 

and at-grade—and recorded the data on 

an inventory form railroads submitted to 

FRA. This instruction manual evolved 

into the ‘‘Highway-Rail Crossing 

Inventory Instructions and Procedures 

Manual,’’ dated December 1996. A 

revised policy and set of instructions, 

‘‘U.S. DOT National Highway-Rail 

Crossing Inventory Policy, Procedures 

and Instructions for States and 

Railroads,’’ were subsequently issued in 

August 2007. 

As a result of these efforts, the 

Crossing Inventory has become a 

national database of highway-rail 

crossings, both at-grade and gradeseparated, that railroads, States, and 

others use to obtain information about 

the physical and operating 

characteristics of individual crossings. 

The Crossing Inventory is intended to 

provide a uniform inventory database 

which public and private agencies 

responsible for highway-rail crossing 

safety, as well as the railroad industry 

and academia, can merge with highwayrail crossing collision files and use to 

analyze information for planning and 

implementation of crossing 

improvement programs. 

The Crossing Inventory receives 

information from individual railroads 

and States to form a composite record 

for each crossing. This composite record 

has many purposes because it can be 

used to predict the likelihood of an 

accident at a specific crossing. Armed 

with this information, States, law 

enforcement organizations, the Federal 

Government, and others can focus their 

efforts on crossings that have a high risk 

of collisions and implement measures 

such as improved warning systems, 

enhanced enforcement, and community 

awareness. 

B. Overview of the Reporting Process 

As previously explained, the Crossing 

Inventory is a national database that 

contains data on highway-rail crossings, 

which States and railroads have 

voluntarily submitted. Because the 

crossing data has been submitted to the 

Crossing Inventory voluntarily, FRA 

estimates the Crossing Inventory 

contains up-to-date information for 

approximately 50 percent of the 

highway-rail crossings reported. 

To improve the accuracy of existing 

data in the Crossing Inventory and 

implement the statutory mandate 

contained in Section 20160, this final 

rule requires primary operating 

railroads (i.e., generally, the railroads 

that either own or maintain the track 

through the highway-rail or pathway 

crossing, or operate the most trains 

through the crossing) to assign 

Inventory Numbers to previously 

unreported and new highway-rail and 

pathway crossings and, in most cases, to 

provide the assigned Inventory Number 

to the other railroads that operate 

through the crossing. In addition, the 

rule will require primary operating 


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railroads to submit completed Inventory 

Forms (or the electronic equivalent) for 

previously unreported and new 

highway-rail and pathway crossings to 

the Crossing Inventory. 

FRA recognizes that as related to new 

and previously unreported highway-rail 

and pathway crossings, this rule 

requires primary operating railroads to 

submit some crossing data State 

agencies have traditionally maintained. 

Therefore, FRA strongly encourages 

primary operating railroads to work 

with the appropriate State agencies to 

obtain this information. However, in the 

event the primary operating railroad 

requests crossing data from a State 

agency that the State has traditionally 

maintained (e.g., highway system class, 

highway speed limit, estimated percent 

of truck traffic, and the average number 

of school buses per day), but does not 

timely receive the requested data, the 

primary operating railroad may notify 

FRA of the State’s lack of response. In 

such a case, FRA will not hold the 

primary operating railroad responsible 

for failing to submit the requested data 

to the Crossing Inventory. (See the 

Section-by-Section Analysis of 

§§ 234.405(d) and 234.407(d) for more 

information.) 

This final rule also requires primary 

operating railroads to submit periodic 

updates to the Crossing Inventory every 

three years. To minimize the burden of 

submitting periodic updates, the final 

rule only requires the primary operating 

railroad to submit updated crossing data 

for specific data fields on the Inventory 

Form. Railroads have traditionally 

completed these data fields, identified 

in Appendix B to the Inventory Guide, 

which consist of information that 

railroads can identify and supply on 

their own (e.g., the total number of daily 

train movements and the speed of the 

trains at the crossing). 

This final rule also will require 

primary operating railroads to submit 

updates to the Crossing Inventory to 

report the closure of a highway-rail or 

pathway crossing within three months 

of the closure. In addition, the rule will 

require primary operating railroads to 

report changes in crossing surface or 

changes in warning devices at public 

highway-rail grade crossings within 

three months of the change. Also, any 

railroad that sells all, or part, of a 

highway-rail or pathway crossing must 

report the crossing sale to the Crossing 

Inventory within three months of the 

sale. 

As further explained below, this final 

rule implements the statutory mandate 

in Section 20160 to issue regulations 

requiring railroads to submit crossing 

data to the Crossing Inventory. Although 

this final rule does not require States to 

report crossing data to or update data in 

the Crossing Inventory, DOT, and FRA 

in particular, will continue to evaluate 

whether additional regulations are 

needed to address State reporting to the 

Crossing Inventory to maintain the 

accuracy of crossing records contained 

in the Crossing Inventory. DOT may 

issue regulations in the future that 

would address State reporting of public 

highway-rail and pathway crossing data 

to the Crossing Inventory. However, as 

stated above, FRA strongly encourages 

railroads to work with appropriate State 

agencies to obtain crossing data the 

State maintains. Similarly, FRA 

encourages State agencies responsible 

for maintaining crossing data to 

promptly release State-maintained data 

to railroads, upon request, and to submit 

timely updates to existing crossing 

records in the Crossing Inventory. As 

reflected by the detailed and thoughtful 

comments our State partners submitted 

during the course of this rulemaking, 

State agencies generally share FRA’s 

interest in ensuring that Crossing 

Inventory records are up-to-date and 

accurate to the extent permitted by 

existing resources. 

C. Use of Crossing Inventory Data in 

Private Litigation 

FRA received comments on the 

proposed rule from Orion’s Angels, a 

non-profit organization located in 

Chattanooga, Tennessee, which 

recommended that this final rule should 

allow all crossing data to be 

discoverable in private litigation so 

courts can determine whether there has 

been compliance with railroad safety 

regulations. However, this 

recommendation falls outside the scope 

of FRA’s statutory authority. The 

current prohibition against the use of 

crossing data in private litigation can be 

found in 23 U.S.C. 409. RSIA did not 

amend this statute. Therefore, in the 

absence of specific statutory authority to 

revise the current Federal prohibition 

against the use of crossing data in 

private litigation, FRA cannot adopt this 

recommendation in this final rule. 

IV. Section-by-Section Analysis 

In response to the NPRM, FRA 

received comments from several State 

agencies, AAR, the Brotherhood of 

Railroad Signalmen (BRS), and other 

individual stakeholders. Although 

commenters generally expressed 

support for FRA’s goal of improving the 

accuracy and completeness of Crossing 

Inventory data, commenters did make 

several recommendations about the 

practicalities of implementing the 

proposed reporting scheme. 

Accordingly, in developing this final 

rule, FRA carefully considered each of 

the comments received, as well as the 

testimony presented at the February 19, 

2013 public hearing on the NPRM. 

Within the constraints imposed by the 

specific statutory mandate, FRA has, as 

appropriate, modified its original 

proposals in response to the comments 

received and those modifications are 

discussed in detail in the relevant 

section-by-section analyses below. 

Section 234.1 Scope 

To reflect the proposed expansion of 

part 234 to include a new subpart F 

titled, Highway-Rail and Pathway 

Crossing Inventory Reporting, in the 

NPRM, FRA proposed to revise 

paragraph (a) of this section to include 

a reference to new proposed subpart F. 

FRA received no substantive comments 

in response to this specific proposal. 

Accordingly, with the slight 

modifications to the proposed language 

discussed below, FRA is adopting its 

proposed revisions to this section 

substantially as proposed. 

We are changing references to 

‘‘public, private, and pathway 

crossings’’ in § 234.1 and throughout 

subpart F to ‘‘highway-rail and pathway 

crossings,’’ to accurately reflect the 

proper classification of crossings in the 

Crossing Inventory. Pathway crossings 

are not included in the definition of the 

term ‘‘highway-rail crossing.’’ Thus, 

pathway crossings (like highway-rail 

crossings) can be classified as either 

‘‘public’’ or ‘‘private’’, depending on the 

nature of the pathway. 

Subpart F—Highway-Rail and Pathway 

Crossing Inventory Reporting 

Section 234.401 Definitions 

This section contains definitions of 

terms used in this subpart, listed 

alphabetically. We provide additional 

explanation for some of these 

definitions below. 

FRA received comments from the 

Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) 

recommending that the definitions of all 

terms used in the Inventory Guide 

should be included in the Definitions 

section of the final rule. However, this 

section is intended to define terms that 

are used in the text of the final rule. 

Therefore, while FRA has reviewed the 

definitions provided in the Inventory 

Guide to ensure consistency with the 

definitions provided in this section, we 

have not added the definitions of terms 

used exclusively in the Inventory Guide 

to this section. 

Class I 

In the NPRM, FRA proposed to define 

the term ‘‘Class I’’, the same as Surface 


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Transportation Board (STB) regulations. 

(See 49 CFR part 1201, General 

Instructions 1–1, Classification of 

carriers). As explained in the NPRM, 

this definition would include any 

revision to the definition the STB makes 

after the publication of this subpart, 

including any modifications in the class 

threshold based on revenue deflator 

adjustments. FRA received one 

comment in response to this proposed 

definition. Denver Regional 

Transportation District (Denver RTD), a 

transit agency that provides passenger 

rail service, asserted that it seems 

inappropriate to classify rail transit 

agencies as Class I, II, or III railroads 

since rail transit agencies are essentially 

subsidized public transportation 

operations. In response to Denver RTD’s 

comment, FRA notes that it does not 

consider urban rapid transit operators as 

Class I rail carriers for purposes of this 

subpart. While the electronic 

submission requirement set forth in 

§ 234.403(c) applies to Class I railroads, 

urban rapid transit operators may 

submit hard copy Inventory Forms to 

the Crossing Inventory or submit their 

crossing data electronically. 

Closed Crossing 

Although not proposed in the NPRM, 

we added a definition of the term 

‘‘closed crossing’’ in this final rule. As 

discussed below in the Section-bySection Analysis of § 234.409(a), we 

added an exception to the requirement 

to submit periodic updates to the 

Crossing Inventory for closed crossings. 

To clarify the crossings to which this 

exception applies, we defined the term 

‘‘closed crossing’’ as a location where a 

previous crossing no longer exists 

because either the railroad tracks have 

been physically removed, or each 

pathway or roadway approach to the 

crossing has been physically removed, 

leaving behind no intersection of 

railroad tracks with either a pathway or 

roadway. A grade-separated highwayrail or pathway crossing that has been 

physically removed is also considered a 

closed crossing. 

Highway-Rail Crossing 

In the NPRM, FRA proposed to define 

‘‘highway-rail crossing’’ as ‘‘the location 

where one or more railroad tracks 

intersect with a public highway, road, 

street, or private roadway, including 

associated sidewalks and pathways, 

either at-grade or grade-separated.’’ In 

response to this proposed definition, in 

its comments, Denver RTD asked 

whether a pathway crossing is 

essentially a type of highway-rail 

crossing. A pathway crossing is not a 

type of highway-rail crossing. As 

reflected in the current version of 

FHWA’s Manual on Uniform Traffic 

Control Devices (MUTCD), pathways are 

public ways that are physically 

separated from the roadway by an open 

space or barrier. Therefore, in order to 

draw a clear distinction between 

highway-rail and pathway crossings in 

this final rule, FRA has revised the 

proposed definition of ‘‘highway-rail 

crossing’’ by removing the reference to 

pathways. For purposes of this subpart, 

the term ‘‘highway-rail crossing’’ is 

defined as ‘‘the location where one or 

more railroad tracks intersect with a 

public highway, road, street, or private 

roadway, either at grade or gradeseparated, including associated 

sidewalks.’’ This revised definition of 

‘‘highway-rail crossing’’ is consistent 

with generally accepted use of this term. 

As explained in the NPRM, for 

purposes of the Crossing Inventory, 

railroad tracks that lie within the same 

pair of crossing warning devices are 

considered a single highway-rail or 

pathway crossing. For example, an 

intersection of a roadway with three 

tracks (e.g., two mainline and one spur) 

where the mainline tracks are equipped 

with flashing lights and the spur track 

is equipped with crossbucks would be 

considered two crossings with two 

separate Inventory Numbers for 

purposes of the Crossing Inventory. One 

highway-rail crossing would consist of 

the mainline tracks that lie between the 

flashing lights, while the other highwayrail crossing would consist of the spur 

track which is equipped with 

crossbucks. 

Operating Railroad 

In the NPRM, FRA proposed to define 

the term ‘‘operating railroad’’ as any 

railroad that operates one or more trains 

through a highway-rail crossing or 

pathway crossing. FRA received three 

comments about this proposed 

definition. First, noting that the 

Inventory Form contemplates the 

submission of information related to 

‘‘transit operations,’’ AAR asserted that 

it would be inconsistent with FRA’s 

existing statement of agency policy on 

its safety jurisdiction to require 

submission of information related to 

transit operations to the Crossing 

Inventory. See 49 CFR part 209, 

appendix A (Appendix A). Despite this 

assertion, AAR suggested that if FRA 

were to require rail transit operations to 

be reported on the Crossing Inventory 

Form, transit operators, as opposed to 

general system railroads, should be 

required to submit the relevant 

information about those operations. The 

California Public Utilities Commission 

(CPUC) and Denver RTD, submitted 

comments seeking clearer guidance as to 

the applicability of the reporting and 

updating requirements contained in this 

subpart to transit agencies. In its 

comments, Denver RTD noted that rapid 

transit operations within an urban area 

that are not connected to the general 

railroad system of transportation are 

generally not considered to be 

‘‘railroads’’ subject to FRA regulation. 

The CPUC submitted comments 

questioning whether transit agencies 

may submit crossing data for crossings 

which are not subject to train 

movements by railroads that are part of 

the general railroad system of 

transportation. 

In response to these comments, FRA 

first notes that AAR’s assertion that 

FRA’s policy on jurisdiction over 

passenger operations ‘‘categorically 

excludes rapid transit operations from 

[the agency’s safety] jurisdiction’’ is 

incorrect. Instead, FRA’s policy 

statement (published at 49 CFR part 

209, appendix A and titled ‘‘FRA’s 

Policy on Jurisdiction Over Passenger 

Operations’’), specifically notes that the 

agency’s statutory authority extends to 

all railroads except ‘‘rapid transit 

operations in an urban area that are not 

connected to the general system of 

transportation.’’ 49 U.S.C. 20102. 

As explained in more detail in 

Appendix A, the ‘‘general railroad 

system of transportation’’ is generally 

defined as the network of standard gage 

track over which goods may be 

transported throughout the nation and 

passengers may travel between cities 

and within metropolitan and suburban 

areas. Further, as explained in 

Appendix A, FRA can exercise its 

jurisdiction over a rapid transit 

operation if it is connected to the 

general railroad system and the agency 

does so depending upon the nature of 

the connection(s). For example, as noted 

in Appendix A, a connection that 

involves operation of transit equipment 

as part of, or over the lines of, the 

general system will trigger FRA’s 

exercise of jurisdiction. Similarly, as 

also noted in Appendix A, another 

connection to the general system 

sufficient to warrant FRA’s exercise of 

jurisdiction is a railroad crossing at 

grade where the rapid transit operation 

and other railroad cross each other’s 

tracks. Further, Appendix A notes that 

FRA will also exercise jurisdiction to a 

limited extent over a rapid transit 

operation that, while not operated on 

the same tracks as a conventional 

railroad, is connected to the general 

system by virtue of operating in a shared 

right-of-way involving joint control of 

trains and in situations where transit 


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operations share highway-rail grade 

crossings with conventional railroads. 

Thus, consistent with Appendix A 

and after careful consideration of the 

comments received, in this final rule 

FRA is revising the definition of 

‘‘operating railroad’’ to include urban 

rapid transit operators that operate ‘‘one 

or more trains through a highway-rail or 

pathway crossing on, or connected to, 

the general railroad system of 

transportation.’’ 

In other words, the term ‘‘operating 

railroad’’ as defined in this final rule 

includes urban rapid transit operators 

that operate trains through highway-rail 

and pathway crossings which are 

located on the same track used by 

railroads that are part of the general 

railroad system of transportation. 

Examples of these types of operations 

include (1) urban rapid transit 

operations that, even though conducted 

on the same track used by a general 

system railroad, are temporally separate 

from those general system operations, 

and (2) urban rapid transit operations 

that constitute simultaneous joint use 

with train movements by general system 

railroads. Please see FRA’s policy 

statement (published at 49 CFR part 

211, appendix A and titled ‘‘Statement 

of Agency Policy Concerning Waivers 

Related to Shared Use of Trackage or 

Rights-of-Way by Light Rail and 

Conventional Operations’’) for a 

definition of the term, ‘‘simultaneous 

joint use.’’ 

The term ‘‘operating railroad’’ also 

includes urban rapid transit operators 

that operate trains through highway-rail 

and pathway crossings located within a 

common corridor or right-of-way with 

railroads that are part of the general 

railroad system of transportation. For 

example, an urban rapid transit operator 

that operates trains on separate tracks 

through highway-rail and pathway 

crossings, which are located within a 

common corridor or right-of-way with 

railroads that are part of the general 

railroad system of transportation and are 

served by the same set of crossing 

warning devices, is considered an 

operating railroad. 

However, this final rule does not 

require urban rapid transit operators 

that operate through highway-rail and 

pathway crossings which are not on, or 

connected to, the general system of 

railroad transportation to submit 

crossing data to the Crossing Inventory 

for those crossings. Nevertheless, we 

encourage urban rapid transit operators 

to voluntarily submit (and update) 

crossing data to the Crossing Inventory 

for highway-rail and pathway crossings 

that are not on, or connected to, the 

general system of railroad 

transportation, in order to improve the 

accuracy of crossing data reflected in 

the Crossing Inventory. 

It should be noted that urban rapid 

transit operators are distinguished from 

commuter railroads that serve an urban 

area, its suburbs, and more distant 

outlying communities in the greater 

metropolitan area. FRA considers 

commuter railroads, whose primary 

function is moving passengers back and 

forth between their places of 

employment in the city and their homes 

within the greater metropolitan area, to 

be part of the general railroad system of 

transportation and are therefore 

required to comply with the 

requirements of this subpart. 

In its comments, Denver RTD also 

requested guidance on whether FRA 

would consider an entity that has a 

long-term contract with a public transit 

agency to operate and maintain that 

agency’s rail network the operating 

railroad, independent of the transit 

agency. CPUC submitted similar 

comments requesting guidance on 

whether a railroad that contracts out its 

train operations, such as commuter 

railroads, should identify itself as the 

primary operating railroad. The CPUC 

recommended that, in this instance, the 

commuter railroad should be identified 

as the primary operating railroad on the 

Inventory Form, as opposed to the shortterm contracted railroad operator. FRA 

agrees. In situations where a railroad or 

public transit agency contracts with a 

third-party to conduct train operations 

or maintain the track that runs through 

the highway-rail or pathway crossing at 

issue, FRA will consider the railroad or 

public transit agency (not the thirdparty contractor) to be the operating 

railroad for purposes of this subpart to 

ensure long-term continuity in reporting 

to the Crossing Inventory. 

Pathway Crossing 

Denver RTD submitted comments 

seeking clarification as to whether FRA 

considers pedestrian station crossings to 

be pathway crossings and whether 

pathway crossings are considered to be 

a type of highway-rail crossing. 

As discussed above, a pathway 

crossing is separate and distinct from a 

highway-rail crossing. While highwayrail crossings may include associated 

sidewalks, pathway crossings are 

physically separated from a nearby 

roadway by an open space or barrier. As 

explained in the preamble to the NPRM, 

consistent with Section 20160, for 

purposes of the Crossing Inventory, a 

pathway crossing must have all of the 

following characteristics: (1) Explicit 

authorization by a public authority or an 

operating railroad; (2) dedicated use by 

non-vehicular traffic, including 

pedestrians, bicyclists, and others; (3) 

no association with a public highway, 

road, or street, or a private roadway; and 

(4) cross one or more railroad tracks 

either at grade or grade-separated. Since 

pedestrian station crossings generally 

have all of these characteristics, we 

consider them pathway crossings. 

However, as also noted in the NPRM, 

we do not consider an area where 

pedestrians trespass, even routinely, a 

pathway crossing. 

Denver RTD also submitted comments 

recommending that we revise the 

definition of ‘‘pathway crossing’’ to 

require explicit authorization by both 

the relevant public authority and the 

railroad that owns or operates over the 

crossing rather than one or the other. In 

this final rule, FRA is not adopting this 

recommendation because it would be 

inconsistent with the specific criteria for 

a pathway crossing paragraph (d)(1) of 

Section 20160 establishes. 

Primary Operating Railroad 

In the NPRM, FRA proposed to define 

the term ‘‘primary operating railroad’’ as 

‘‘the operating railroad responsible for 

submitting and/or updating data in the 

Crossing Inventory for a highway-rail 

crossing or pathway crossing.’’ Denver 

RTD objected to this proposed 

definition and asserted that the 

proposed criterion for determining what 

entity is a primary operating railroad 

over a particular grade crossing was 

confusing and conflicting, especially 

with respect to rail transit operators. 

Therefore, in this final rule, FRA is 

revising the definition of ‘‘primary 

operating railroad’’ to include specific 

criteria that will determine primary 

operating railroad status. Under this 

definition, an operating railroad will 

qualify for primary operating railroad 

status if the operating railroad either 

owns or maintains the track through the 

highway-rail or pathway crossing, 

unless the crossing is located within a 

private company, port or dock area. If 

there is more than one operating 

railroad that qualifies for primary 

operating railroad status on the basis of 

this criterion, then the operating 

railroad that operates the most trains 

over the crossing is the primary 

operating railroad. If there is only one 

operating railroad that operates one or 

more trains through a highway-rail or 

pathway crossing, that operating 

railroad is the primary operating 

railroad. 

A different method is used to 

determine primary operating railroad 

status for crossings located within a 

private company, port, or dock area. In 

recognition of the existing practice of 


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general system railroads to assign 

Inventory Numbers to these crossings, 

the definition of ‘‘primary operating 

railroad’’ provides that each railroad 

that owns track leading to the private 

company, port, or dock area is 

considered a primary operating railroad 

for the crossings within the private 

company, port, or dock area—even if the 

operating railroad does not own or 

maintain track through the crossings. 

Private Crossing 

In the NPRM, FRA proposed to define 

the term ‘‘private crossing’’ as ‘‘a 

highway-rail crossing that is not a 

public crossing.’’ In the interest of 

clarity, in this final rule FRA is revising 

this proposed definition to include a 

specific reference to pathway crossings 

in addition to highway-rail crossings. As 

explained in the NPRM, the term 

‘‘private crossing’’ includes 

intersections of railroad tracks and 

roadways that are not open to public 

travel or maintained by a public 

authority. This explanation in the 

NPRM, however, failed to recognize that 

just as railroad tracks may cross 

roadways that are not open to the public 

or maintained by a public authority, 

railroad tracks also may cross private 

pathways that are not open to the public 

or maintained by a public authority. 

Typical types of private crossings 

include farm crossings, industrial plant 

crossings, and residential access 

crossings. 

Public Crossing 

In the NPRM, FRA proposed to define 

the term ‘‘public crossing’’ as follows: 

‘‘a highway-rail crossing where the 

roadway is under the jurisdiction of and 

maintained by a public authority and 

open to public travel. All roadway 

approaches must be under the 

jurisdiction of the public roadway 

authority and no roadway approach may 

be on private property.’’ FRA received 

several comments in response to this 

proposed definition. In response to 

those comments, which are discussed 

below, FRA is revising the definition of 

the term ‘‘public crossing’’ in this final 

rule to include a specific reference to 

pathway crossings (in addition to 

highway-rail crossings) and to replace 

references to ‘‘roadway approaches’’ in 

the proposed definition with the more 

generic term ‘‘approaches’’ because 

pathway crossings generally do not have 

roadway approaches. FRA also revised 

the definition to specify that all 

approaches to a public crossing must be 

under the jurisdiction of the public 

authority and no approach may be on 

private property, ‘‘unless State law or 

regulation provides otherwise.’’ Further, 

FRA notes that for purposes of this 

definition, ‘‘open to public travel’’ 

means that the road or pathway section 

is available (except during scheduled 

periods, extreme weather, or emergency 

conditions) and open to the general 

public for use without restrictive gates, 

prohibitive signs, or regulation. 

As noted in the NPRM, FRA 

recognizes this definition of ‘‘public 

crossing’’ contains different criteria for 

determining the public nature of a 

highway-rail crossing than the existing 

definition of ‘‘public highway-rail grade 

crossing’’, contained in 49 CFR 222.9 

related to the use of locomotive horns 

and quiet zones. However, as also noted 

in the NPRM, these criteria are intended 

to make the definition of the term 

‘‘public crossing’’ in this final rule more 

consistent with the definition of the 

term ‘‘public grade crossing’’ contained 

in 23 CFR 924.3, which is widely used 

by States for Highway Safety 

Improvement Program planning and 

funding purposes. 

FRA received comments on the 

definition of ‘‘public crossing’’ from the 

ICC, which asserted the definition in the 

proposed rule failed to address 

situations in which a public authority, 

such as a forest preserve, owns and 

maintains the roadway or pathway 

approaches on both sides of the 

crossing. In addition, the Louisiana 

Department of Transportation and 

Development (LaDOTD) submitted 

comments recommending that pathway 

crossings should be classified as public 

or private, based upon the entity that 

maintains the approaches to the 

crossing. 

As explained above, if the highwayrail or pathway crossing is open to 

public travel and each approach to the 

crossing is under the jurisdiction of and 

maintained by a public authority, we 

will generally consider the highway-rail 

or pathway crossing to be a public 

crossing for purposes of this subpart. 

Therefore, a highway-rail or pathway 

crossing is considered a public crossing 

for purposes of this subpart, if each 

approach to the crossing is under the 

jurisdiction of and maintained by a 

governmental entity and the crossing is 

open to the general public for use 

without restrictive gates, prohibitive 

signs, or regulation. If only one 

approach is under the jurisdiction of 

and maintained by a governmental 

entity, the crossing will be considered a 

private crossing unless otherwise 

provided by State law. 

Denver RTD also submitted comments 

requesting guidance on how to 

determine the proper classification of a 

highway-rail or pathway crossing. In its 

comments, Denver RTD noted that, in 

many instances, the railroad owns the 

land on which the highway-rail or 

pathway crossing is located. While FRA 

acknowledges that highway-rail and 

pathway crossings are generally located 

on privately-owned railroad rights-ofway, the public/private nature of a 

highway-rail or pathway crossing has 

traditionally been determined by 

ownership of the approaches that lead 

up to the railroad’s right-of-way. FRA 

intends its definition of the term 

‘‘public crossing’’ in this final rule to be 

consistent with this practice. 

As noted in the NPRM, with respect 

to crossings in States where a State 

agency (such as a State department of 

transportation, State highway 

department, public utility commission, 

or State commerce commission) has 

been empowered to make 

determinations as to whether individual 

crossings are public or private, the 

determinations of that State agency will 

govern the public/private classification 

of highway-rail and pathway crossings 

in the State for purposes of the Crossing 

Inventory. To clarify this point in the 

final rule and in response to comments 

received from LaDOTD and Tavla 

Solutions noting that some States have 

classified high-way rail grade crossings 

as public crossings despite the fact that 

there is only one roadway approach to 

the crossing on public property, in this 

final rule, we revised the definition of 

‘‘public crossing’’ to include an 

exception to the requirement that all 

approaches to the crossing must be on 

public property ‘‘unless State law or 

regulation provides otherwise.’’ 

Temporary Crossing 

In the NPRM, FRA proposed to define 

‘‘temporary crossing’’ to mean ‘‘a 

highway-rail crossing created to serve a 

specific activity for a temporary time 

period not to exceed six months.’’ We 

revised this definition in the final rule 

to include a specific reference to 

pathway crossings, which we 

inadvertently omitted from the 

definition proposed in the NPRM. 

As explained in the NPRM, given the 

short-term nature of temporary 

crossings, Inventory Numbers have not 

historically been assigned to such 

crossings. FRA intends to maintain this 

practice and therefore, the reporting and 

updating requirements contained in this 

final rule do not apply to any crossing 

that meets the definition of ‘‘temporary 

crossing.’’ 

AAR’s comments recommend that the 

definition of ‘‘temporary crossing’’ be 

revised to include crossings that are in 

existence for a period ‘‘not to exceed 12 

months.’’ In support of this 

recommendation, the AAR asserted that 


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railroads are often faced with 

circumstances, such as construction, 

that necessitate use of a crossing on a 

temporary basis, but for periods 

exceeding six months. In its comments, 

Denver RTD concurred with AAR’s 

recommendation. 

Although FRA recognizes the 

potential for certain non-permanent 

circumstances, including construction 

activities, to take longer than sixmonths, FRA does not believe that it is 

appropriate for purposes of this rule to 

define a ‘‘temporary crossing’’ as a 

crossing that exists more than six 

months. Moreover, FRA notes that the 

Crossing Inventory procedure in place 

for at least 18 years uses a six-month 

period for classifying highway-rail and 

pathway crossings as temporary 

crossings. Consistent with this existing 

practice, FRA is not revising the 

proposed definition to increase the 

temporary time from six months to 12 

months. Therefore, if a highway-rail or 

pathway crossing is reasonably expected 

to be in use for more than six months, 

or if it becomes apparent that the 

highway-rail or pathway crossing will 

need to remain in use for longer than a 

six-month period, the primary operating 

railroad must assign an Inventory 

Number to the crossing and report the 

crossing to the Crossing Inventory. 

When the crossing is no longer needed, 

the primary operating railroad is 

required to close the crossing and, 

under § 234.411(b), provide notification 

of the crossing closure to the Crossing 

Inventory. 

Section 234.403 Submission of Data to 

the Crossing Inventory, Generally 

As proposed in the NPRM, paragraph 

(a) of this section requires use of the 

Inventory Form, or its electronic 

equivalent, to submit highway-rail and 

pathway crossing data to the Crossing 

Inventory. Although we are adopting 

this paragraph substantially as 

proposed, in the final rule FRA 

modified the language slightly to 

include specific references to both 

highway-rail and pathway crossings to 

reflect the two basic categories of grade 

crossings for which data will be 

collected. As also proposed in the 

NPRM, paragraph (a) generally allows 

submission of the Inventory Form in 

both hard copy format or electronically. 

Consistent with the proposal in the 

NPRM, paragraph (b) requires 

completion of the Inventory Form in 

accordance with the Inventory Guide. In 

this final rule, FRA is adopting 

paragraph (b) substantially as proposed, 

but adding a reference to the ‘‘electronic 

equivalent’’ of the Inventory Form to 

make it clear the rule allows for 

submission of the Inventory Form 

electronically. As noted in the NPRM 

and explained in the Inventory Guide, 

with the exception of highway-rail and 

pathway crossings that are located in a 

railroad yard, a passenger station, or an 

area belonging to a private company, 

port, or dock, one Inventory Form (or its 

electronic equivalent) must be 

submitted to the Crossing Inventory for 

each highway-rail or pathway crossing. 

Where there is more than one crossing 

in a railroad yard, a passenger station, 

or an area belonging to a private 

company, port, or dock area, the 

primary operating railroad may choose 

to either submit an Inventory Form (or 

its electronic equivalent) to the Crossing 

Inventory for each individual crossing 

or to submit an Inventory Form (or its 

electronic equivalent) for all (or a group) 

of the crossings within the railroad yard, 

passenger station, or area belonging to a 

private company, port, or dock. 

In the NPRM, FRA requested 

comments on whether it should retain 

its current practice of allowing railroads 

to assign a single Inventory Number to 

a group of crossings in a railroad yard, 

passenger station, or an area belonging 

to a private company, port, or a dock 

area should be retained. FRA received 

comments on this issue from a private 

citizen, the AAR, the CPUC, the ICC, 

Denver RTD, and BRS. 

AAR recommended that FRA retain 

the current practice of allowing 

railroads to assign a single Inventory 

Number to a group of crossings in a 

railroad yard or an area belonging to a 

private company, a port, or a dock. 

While noting there are a number of 

private restricted access facilities that 

have railroad crossings, the AAR 

asserted that railroads are often granted 

limited access into these facilities due to 

security concerns. Therefore, the AAR 

argued that there continues to be a need 

for a flexible approach allowing the 

assignment of a single Inventory 

Number to multiple crossings located 

within such facilities. In addition, the 

AAR noted that assigning a single 

Inventory Number to a group of 

crossings in a railroad yard or area 

belonging to a private company, a port, 

or a dock would be consistent with FRA 

requirements to place and maintain only 

one Emergency Notification System sign 

at each vehicular entrance to a railroad 

yard or port or dock facility. 

FRA also received comments from the 

CPUC, ICC, and the BRS asserting that 

the practice of assigning a single 

Inventory Number to a group of 

crossings should cease. The BRS 

expressed concern that the practice of 

assigning a single Inventory Number to 

multiple crossings could hinder 

accurate reporting of crossing 

malfunctions, stalled vehicles at 

crossing locations, and grade crossing 

accidents. While noting that large ports 

may have hundreds of crossings, the 

CPUC asserted that assigning a single 

DOT Inventory number to an entire port 

area would make it nearly impossible to 

identify the location of accidents and 

safety issues at a particular crossing 

within the facility. The CPUC 

recommended that each crossing should 

be assigned an individual DOT 

identification number because each 

crossing may have independent 

characteristics and accident history. In 

the alternative, the CPUC recommended 

that FRA should consider limiting the 

assignment of a single Inventory 

Number to multiple crossings located 

within a very small area, which is 

privately owned and subject to strictly 

limited access. The ICC recommended 

that each unique pathway crossing 

within a passenger station should be 

assigned an individual DOT 

identification number. 

After careful consideration of these 

comments and because the commenters 

did not provide any specific safety data 

to support their concerns, FRA has 

decided to retain the current practice of 

allowing railroads to assign one 

Inventory Number to multiple crossings 

that are located within an area 

belonging to a private company, a port 

or a dock area. FRA notes that crossing 

malfunctions and other crossing 

incidents are often reported directly to 

the facility or to an authorized facility 

representative who has knowledge of, or 

is otherwise familiar with, the location 

of crossings on the property. Section 

204(a) of the RSIA directs the Secretary 

of Transportation to issue regulations 

that require railroads to submit crossing 

data to the Crossing Inventory. 

Consistent with that authority, while it 

might otherwise be reasonable and 

appropriate to require private property 

owners to obtain an individual 

Inventory Number for each highway-rail 

and pathway crossing on their property, 

we have determined that the 

responsibility for obtaining an Inventory 

Number for crossings located on private 

property or in a port or dock area should 

continue to be placed on the railroads 

who operate through the crossings. 

Therefore, FRA is retaining the current 

practice of assigning a single Inventory 

Number to a group of crossings located 

on private property, or in a dock or port 

area, which does not appear to have a 

negative impact on emergency response 

to crossing malfunctions or other types 

of crossing incidents. 

As for crossings within passenger 

stations, Denver RTD recommended that 


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the Inventory Guide be revised to 

specifically state that one Inventory 

Number can be assigned to multiple 

crossings within a passenger station. As 

noted above, in these types of locations 

crossing malfunctions and other 

crossing incidents are typically reported 

directly to the facility or to an 

authorized representative of the facility 

who has knowledge of, or is otherwise 

familiar with, the location of the 

crossings on the property. In addition, 

the current practice of assigning a single 

Inventory Number to a group of 

crossings located in a railroad yard or 

passenger station does not appear to 

have a negative impact on emergency 

response to crossing malfunctions or 

other types of crossing incidents. 

Therefore, FRA also has decided to 

retain the current practice of allowing 

railroads to assign one Inventory 

Number to multiple crossings that are 

located in a railroad yard or passenger 

station. 

Paragraph (c) of this section requires 

Class I railroads to submit all crossing 

data to the Crossing Inventory 

electronically. The net effect of this 

provision is that Class II and Class III 

railroads, as well as urban rapid transit 

operators and State agencies, may 

submit their crossing data to the 

Crossing Inventory on a hard-copy 

Inventory Form or its electronic 

equivalent, while Class I railroads must 

submit the data electronically. 

In the proposed rule, FRA requested 

comments on whether it should require 

additional railroads to submit crossing 

data electronically to the Crossing 

Inventory. FRA received comments from 

the BRS recommending that all parties 

who are required to submit data to the 

Crossing Inventory should be required 

to submit their data electronically. By 

applying this requirement to all parties, 

the BRS asserted that FRA would be 

better able to track crossing data and 

there would be no issues with the 

legibility of the data entered on the hard 

copy Inventory Form. FRA also received 

comments from the ICC recommending 

that the scope of the electronic 

submission requirement should be 

expanded to require all primary 

operating railroads and States with more 

than 5,000 crossings to submit their 

crossing data electronically to the 

Crossing Inventory. Denver RTD 

submitted comments recommending 

that all crossing data be electronically 

submitted to the Crossing Inventory, 

whether submitted by a State agency or 

an operating railroad. On the other 

hand, the North Carolina Department of 

Transportation (NCDOT) submitted 

comments asserting it would be 

impractical and cost burdensome to 

require all railroads to submit crossing 

data electronically to the Crossing 

Inventory because some Class III 

railroads do not have electronic 

databases for their crossing records. 

FRA encourages Class II and Class III 

railroads, as well as urban rapid transit 

operators and State agencies, to submit 

their data electronically to the Crossing 

Inventory. However, in order to 

minimize the burdens associated with 

the reporting and updating of this 

subpart, the final rule does not require 

Class II or Class III railroads or urban 

rapid transit operators to submit 

crossing data electronically to the 

Crossing Inventory (unless they are a 

parent corporation submitting crossing 

data to the Crossing Inventory on behalf 

of a subsidiary railroad under paragraph 

(e) of this section). As for voluntary 

reporting by State agencies, State 

agencies may elect to either submit 

crossing data electronically to the 

Crossing Inventory or through 

submission of hard-copy Inventory 

Forms. 

Currently, some States and railroads 

use a PC-based software product (GX 32) 

to update the existing Grade Crossing 

Inventory System (GCIS) that contains 

the Crossing Inventory database. 

However, GX 32 will be replaced with 

a new secure Web-based application on 

the final rule effective date. This new 

Web-based application will allow 

railroads and States to either upload 

their crossing data to the Crossing 

Inventory as an electronic file or to 

complete an online version of the 

Inventory Form. The new Web-based 

application will also have the capability 

to support bulk crossing data 

submissions. Railroads and States that 

previously used the GX 32 software 

product to update the Crossing 

Inventory will need to adjust their 

existing electronic data systems to 

ensure their systems work with the new 

Web-based application. Please refer to 

the Electronic Submission Instructions 

that have been placed in the public 

docket for more information. FRA also 

intends to conduct outreach and 

training on the new Web-based 

application. More information about 

these upcoming FRA outreach and 

training sessions will be provided on 

FRA’s Web site. 

Paragraph (d) of this section 

specifically addresses reporting by State 

agencies on behalf of operating 

railroads. In the proposed rule, FRA 

noted that it intended to allow State 

agencies with jurisdiction over 

highway-rail and pathway crossings to 

submit crossing data to the Crossing 

Inventory on behalf of primary 

operating railroads. These provisions 

were proposed in §§ 234.405(a)(3), 

234.405(b)(4), and 234.405(c)(4). 

However, as proposed, the rule might 

have allowed a wide range of third 

parties to submit crossing data to the 

Crossing Inventory on behalf of the 

primary operating railroad, which 

would have inadvertently expanded the 

intended scope of this provision. 

Therefore, in this final rule, FRA has 

redrafted these provisions and included 

them in paragraph (d) of this section, to 

specifically address the submission of 

data to the Crossing Inventory by a State 

agency on behalf of an operating 

railroad. 

Paragraph (d) is intended to minimize 

any potential burden the requirements 

of this subpart may impose on Class III 

railroads and to accommodate existing 

arrangements between shortline 

railroads and State agencies, where 

State agencies have agreed to submit 

crossing data to the Crossing Inventory 

on the railroads’ behalf. To take 

advantage of this provision, the State 

agency and the operating railroad are 

required to provide written notice to the 

FRA Associate Administrator that the 

State agency has agreed to report and 

update crossing data in the Crossing 

Inventory on behalf of the operating 

railroad for all of the operating 

railroad’s highway-rail and pathway 

crossings within the state. Unlike FRA’s 

proposal in the NPRM, the operating 

railroad and State agency are not 

required to provide positive 

identification of each individual 

crossing for which the State agency has 

agreed to submit and update crossing 

data in the Crossing Inventory. 

NCDOT submitted comments seeking 

clarification as to the types of sanctions 

and/or consequences FRA might use to 

enforce the reporting and updating 

requirements contained in this subpart 

against State agencies that have agreed 

to report and update crossing data in the 

Crossing Inventory for operating 

railroads, yet fail to do so. FRA expects 

State agencies that agree to report and 

update crossing data on behalf of 

operating railroads will share FRA’s 

interest in ensuring that Crossing 

Inventory records for highway-rail and 

pathway crossings within the State are 

kept up-to-date and accurate to the 

extent possible. FRA anticipates there 

will be few instances in which State 

agencies fail to timely report and/or 

update crossing data in the Crossing 

Inventory, per their agreement with the 

operating railroad. Nevertheless, FRA 

does reserve the right to take 

enforcement action (e.g., in the form of 

civil penalties or otherwise) against the 

operating railroad, when appropriate, if 

a State does not timely comply with the 


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reporting and updating requirements 

contained in this subpart on behalf of 

the operating railroad. 

The ICC also submitted comments 

recommending that the primary 

operating railroad be allowed to assign 

responsibility for updating crossing data 

to a contractor, but not be allowed to 

assign responsibility for updating 

crossing data to the appropriate State 

agency. FRA is not adopting this 

recommendation with respect to State 

agency reporting. Operating railroads 

(including the primary operating 

railroad) may choose to enter into 

separate contractual arrangements with 

third-party contractors for the 

submission of crossing data to the 

Crossing Inventory on their behalf 

without regulatory authority. However, 

the operating railroad will remain fully 

responsible to FRA for any errors or 

omissions in crossing data the thirdparty contractor submits on its behalf. 

We added a new paragraph (e) to this 

section of the final rule to provide an 

option for reporting and updating of 

crossing data to the Crossing Inventory 

by the parent corporation of certain 

integrated railroad systems. Specifically, 

paragraph (e) provides that a parent 

corporation, and one or more subsidiary 

railroads, may provide written 

notification to the FRA Associate 

Administrator that the parent 

corporation will assume the reporting 

and updating responsibilities of its 

subsidiary railroad for purposes of 

complying with this subpart. Any 

written notification provided under 

paragraph (e) of this section must 

contain a list of all subsidiary railroads 

for which the parent corporation will 

assume reporting and updating 

responsibility and an explanation of 

how the parent corporation and the 

subsidiary railroads operate as a single, 

seamless, integrated United States 

railroad system. In addition, any written 

notification provided under paragraph 

(e) of this section must include a 

statement signed by the chief executive 

officer of the parent corporation, that 

the parent corporation consents to 

guarantee any monetary penalty 

assessments or other liabilities owed to 

the United States government the 

named subsidiaries incur for violating 

the reporting and updating requirements 

of this subpart. The parent corporation 

also must agree to provide immediate 

written notification to the FRA 

Associate Administrator of any change 

in the list of subsidiary railroads for 

which the parent corporation has 

assumed reporting and updating 

responsibility. Finally, the parent 

corporation must agree to submit 

crossing data for all of the subsidiary 

railroad’s highway-rail and pathway 

crossings to the Crossing Inventory 

electronically. 

Section 234.405 Submission of Initial 

Data to the Crossing Inventory for 

Previously Unreported Crossings 

As proposed, this section would have 

included requirements that primary 

operating railroads submit data to the 

Crossing Inventory for previously 

unreported crossings (proposed 

paragraph (a)) and new crossings (i.e., 

crossings not in existence as of effective 

date of final rule) (proposed paragraph 

(b)), as well as periodic update 

requirements (proposed paragraph (c)), 

and update requirements related to 

crossing sales, closures and changes in 

crossing characteristics (proposed 

paragraph (d)). In this final rule, FRA is 

revising this section by moving the 

provisions that address the reporting of 

new crossings and the periodic updating 

of existing crossing data, and the 

provisions that address the reporting of 

crossing sales, crossing closures, and 

changes in crossing characteristics, to 

separate sections. The reporting of new 

highway-rail and pathway crossings is 

now under § 234.407, while the periodic 

updating of existing crossing data is 

under § 234.409. In addition, the 

reporting of a crossing sale, crossing 

closure, or change in crossing 

characteristics is now under § 234.411. 

As proposed in the NPRM, this 

section made primary operating 

railroads responsible for submitting 

completed Inventory Forms or their 

electronic equivalents, to the Crossing 

Inventory for previously unreported 

crossings through which the railroads 

operate. FRA received a number of 

comments relating to FRA’s proposal to 

make railroads responsible for 

submitting completed Inventory Forms, 

as opposed to limiting railroads’ duty to 

report to only railroad-maintained 

crossing data. In its comments, AAR 

recommended that the final rule require 

railroads to report only railroadmaintained crossing data (e.g., the total 

number of daily train movements and 

the speed of the train at the crossing) to 

the Crossing Inventory and should leave 

State agencies responsible for reporting 

State-maintained crossing data (such as 

highway system class, highway speed 

limit, estimated percent of truck traffic, 

and the average number of school buses 

per day). NCDOT submitted similar 

comments. In its comments, the Virginia 

Department of Transportation (VDOT) 

recommended that State agencies be 

responsible for updating crossing data 

because railroads do not have staff in 

every state. The Florida Department of 

Transportation (FDOT) recommended 

that primary operating railroads be 

required to coordinate with State 

agencies to obtain State-maintained 

crossing data before they submit this 

data to the Crossing Inventory for 

previously unreported highway-rail and 

pathway crossings. The ICC submitted 

comments recommending that State 

agencies be permitted to submit crossing 

data to the Crossing Inventory for 

previously unreported crossings, if the 

primary operating railroad fails to do so 

in a timely fashion. 

After careful consideration of all 

comments submitted on this issue, FRA 

has retained the requirement that 

primary operating railroads must submit 

completed Inventory Forms (or the 

electronic equivalent) to the Crossing 

Inventory for previously unreported 

highway-rail and pathway crossings in 

the final rule. This final rule 

implements the statutory mandate in 

Section 20160 to issue regulations 

requiring railroads to submit crossing 

data to the Crossing Inventory for 

previously unreported crossings. While 

DOT may issue regulations in the future 

that would address State reporting of 

public highway-rail and pathway 

crossings to the Crossing Inventory, this 

final rule does not require State agencies 

to report or update the Crossing 

Inventory. However, FRA strongly 

encourages primary operating railroads 

to work with State agencies to obtain 

crossing data the State maintains. 

In response to commenters expressed 

concerns, and in recognition of the fact 

that even a primary operating railroad 

may not have access to all the data 

necessary to complete an Inventory 

Form, FRA added a new paragraph (d) 

to this section. This paragraph 

establishes a procedure for primary 

operating railroads to provide official 

notification to FRA if the primary 

operating railroad is unable to timely 

submit a complete Inventory Form (or 

its electronic equivalent) to the Crossing 

Inventory because it requested Statemaintained crossing data from the State 

agency that has not yet been received. 

This section implements the statutory 

mandate contained in paragraph (a)(1) 

of Section 20160, which requires 

railroad carriers to report current 

information to the Secretary about 

warning devices and signs at each 

previously unreported crossing through 

which they operate. With respect to the 

reporting to the Crossing Inventory of 

previously unreported highway-rail and 

pathway crossings (which, for purposes 

of this subpart, are highway-rail and 

pathway crossings (both at-grade and 

grade-separated) that were not reported 

to the Crossing Inventory as of the 

effective date of this final rule), we 


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revised paragraph (a) of this section. 

Paragraph (a) has been revised to 

include a provision, in paragraph 

(a)(1)(i), requiring the primary operating 

railroad to assign an Inventory Number 

to each previously unreported highwayrail and pathway crossing through 

which it operates, unless the crossing is 

located in a railroad yard, passenger 

station, or within a private company, 

port, or dock area. If the previously 

unreported crossings are located in a 

railroad yard, passenger station, or 

within a private company, port, or dock 

area, paragraph (a)(1)(ii) requires the 

primary operating railroad(s) to assign 

one or more Inventory Numbers to the 

previously unreported crossings. In 

these instances, each railroad that owns 

track leading to the private company, 

port, or dock area is considered the 

primary operating railroad for the 

crossings within the facility (see 

definition of ‘‘primary operating 

railroad’’ in § 234.401). Thus, if more 

than one railroad owns track leading 

into a private company, port, or dock 

area, it is possible that a single crossing 

could have more than one unique 

Inventory Number assigned to it. If a 

primary operating railroad does not 

already have an Inventory Number it 

can assign to the previously unreported 

highway-rail or pathway crossing, then 

the railroad must obtain an Inventory 

Number. Instructions for obtaining an 

Inventory Number are found in the 

Inventory Guide. 

As proposed in the NPRM, paragraph 

(a)(1)(iii) specifically provides that the 

requirements to assign Inventory 

Numbers to crossings and to submit 

Inventory Forms to the Crossing 

Inventory do not apply to any crossing 

meeting the definition of a ‘‘temporary 

crossing.’’ 

We also revised paragraph (a)(2) in 

the final rule to require the primary 

operating railroad to provide the 

assigned Inventory Number to each 

operating railroad that operates through 

the previously unreported highway-rail 

or pathway crossing within ten months 

of the final rule’s effective date. FRA 

added this requirement because each 

operating railroad will need to know the 

Inventory Number assigned to the 

previously unreported crossing. (For 

example, the operating railroad will 

need to be able to verify whether the 

primary operating railroad has timely 

reported the previously unreported 

crossing to the Crossing Inventory.) 

However, this requirement does not 

apply to the Inventory Numbers 

assigned to highway-rail and pathway 

crossings that are located within a 

private company, port, or dock area. As 

stated above, if more than one railroad 

owns track that leads into a private 

company, port, or dock area, each 

railroad that owns track leading to the 

private company, port, or dock area 

must assign its own Inventory Number 

to the highway-rail and pathway 

crossings that are located within the 

facility. 

As proposed in the NPRM, primary 

operating railroads would have had six 

months after the effective date of a final 

rule to report any previously unreported 

highway-rail and/or pathway crossings 

to the Crossing Inventory. NCDOT 

submitted comments recommending 

that the reporting requirements 

contained in the final rule should allow 

for a 12-month transition period to 

accommodate changes to database code 

and validation rules, while FDOT 

submitted comments recommending 

that the final rule should allow for a sixto 12-month transition period. On the 

other hand, the ICC submitted 

comments recommending that the final 

rule should allow for a 24-month period 

after the final rule’s effective date before 

the electronic submission of crossing 

data to the Crossing Inventory is 

required, in order to provide sufficient 

time within which to modify existing 

crossing database systems or to develop 

new systems to retain crossing data. 

After consideration of these 

comments, we revised paragraph (a)(3) 

of this section to extend the proposed 

six month initial reporting period to 

allow primary operating railroads to 

submit completed Inventory Forms (or 

their electronic equivalent) to the 

Crossing Inventory for the previously 

unreported highway-rail and pathway 

crossings through which they operate 

within 12 months of the final rule 

effective date. This will provide 

additional time for railroads, as well as 

State agencies, to modify existing 

systems or to develop new systems. FRA 

believes 12 months is ample time for 

railroads to modify their existing 

systems of reporting or to develop new 

systems. This 12-month reporting 

period is applicable, regardless of 

whether the crossing data is submitted 

electronically or by hard-copy. FRA 

recognizes that some Class II and Class 

III railroads may elect to retain their 

crossing data on an electronic database, 

yet submit their crossing data to the 

Crossing Inventory on hard-copy 

Inventory Forms. FRA has no objection 

to this non-Class I railroad practice. 

FRA added paragraph (b) of this 

section to the final rule to address the 

situation when multiple operating 

railroads operate trains on separate 

tracks through the same highway-rail or 

pathway crossing. As discussed in the 

Section-by-Section Analysis of the 

definition of the term ‘‘highway-rail 

crossing,’’ railroad tracks that lie within 

the same pair of crossing warning 

devices are considered a single 

highway-rail or pathway crossing for 

purposes of the Crossing Inventory. 

AAR’s comments expressed 

agreement with FRA’s proposal that 

when two or more railroads operate on 

the same track and through the same 

highway-rail or pathway crossing, the 

primary operating railroad should 

provide crossing data to the Crossing 

Inventory. However, when multiple 

railroads operate on separate tracks 

through the same crossing, AAR 

recommended that each operating 

railroad should submit separate reports 

to the Crossing Inventory for crossing 

data that is unique to its tracks. Denver 

RTD also submitted comments 

questioning whether any one railroad 

should be designated the primary 

operating railroad in the case of a shared 

crossing where each operating railroad 

owns, operates, and maintains its 

portion of the crossing. 

On the other hand, FRA received 

comments from the ICC recommending 

that only two entities—the primary 

operating railroad and the State—be 

authorized to edit or update crossing 

data in the Crossing Inventory. In 

situations involving multiple operating 

railroads, the ICC recommended that 

FRA require other operating railroads to 

provide crossing data to the primary 

operating railroad for submission to the 

Crossing Inventory. The Minnesota 

Department of Transportation submitted 

similar comments recommending that 

the railroad responsible for the 

maintenance of the track at the crossing 

be the reporting railroad with the 

obligation to collect the required data, if 

any, from the other railroads that 

operate on its line. FDOT also submitted 

comments recommending that the 

primary operating railroad should not 

submit train count data to the Crossing 

Inventory until after it obtains a total 

count from all other railroads that 

operate through the crossing. 

As reflected in paragraph (a) of this 

section, the primary operating railroad 

is required to submit an accurate and 

complete Inventory Form, or its 

electronic equivalent, to the Crossing 

Inventory for previously unreported 

highway-rail and pathway crossings. 

However, in situations involving 

multiple railroads that operate on 

separate tracks through the same 

crossing, it may not be practicable for 

the primary operating railroad to submit 

train count and train speed data to the 

Crossing Inventory on behalf of all of 

the operating railroads that operate 

trains through the crossing. The primary 


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operating railroad may not have 

sufficient information related to train 

movements for tracks over which it does 

not operate or dispatch trains. 

Therefore, paragraph (b) of this section 

requires multiple operating railroads 

that operate on separate tracks through 

the same highway-rail or pathway 

crossing to assume responsibility for 

reporting certain crossing data directly 

to the Crossing Inventory consistent 

with the Inventory Guide. This crossing 

data includes railroad-specific train 

count and train speed data, as well as 

railroad-specific location data such as 

the milepost location, railroad 

subdivision, and railroad division data. 

However, the primary operating railroad 

is still required to submit an accurate 

and complete Inventory Form, or its 

electronic equivalent, to the Crossing 

Inventory for the crossing, which 

includes train count and train speed 

data that is specifically related to the 

primary operating railroad’s train 

operations. 

We intend for paragraph (c) of this 

section to address the situation when 

the primary operating railroad has not 

submitted a completed Inventory Form 

(or its electronic equivalent) to the 

Crossing Inventory for a previously 

unreported highway-rail or pathway 

crossing, under paragraph (a) of this 

section. Unless the primary operating 

railroad has provided a written 

certification statement to the FRA 

Associate Administrator under 

paragraph (d) of this section that it 

requested certain crossing data from the 

appropriate State agency which the 

State agency has not yet provided, other 

operating railroads that operate through 

the previously unreported crossing will 

need to monitor the Crossing Inventory 

to confirm that the primary operating 

railroad has timely submitted a 

completed Inventory Form (or its 

electronic equivalent) to the Crossing 

Inventory for the crossing. If an 

operating railroad discovers that the 

primary operating railroad has not 

submitted a completed Inventory Form 

(or its electronic equivalent) to the 

Crossing Inventory for a previously 

unreported highway-rail or pathway 

crossing (which is not a temporary 

crossing) by March 7, 2016, the 

operating railroad must provide written 

notification of this oversight to the FRA 

Associate Administrator. Otherwise, 

each operating railroad (including the 

primary operating railroad) that operates 

through the unreported highway-rail or 

pathway crossing may be subject to civil 

penalties for failure to timely report the 

crossing to the Crossing Inventory. 

FRA received a number of comments 

that were critical of the requirement 

contained in paragraph (c) of this 

section that each operating railroad 

must notify the FRA Associate 

Administrator when the primary 

operating railroad has not submitted a 

completed Inventory Form, or its 

electronic equivalent, to the Crossing 

Inventory. The AAR and the ICC 

submitted comments asserting that this 

requirement is burdensome. The AAR 

further asserted that FRA could 

implement the statutory mandate in 

Section 20160, without imposing 

reporting requirements on secondary 

railroads, by giving entities other than 

the primary operating railroad the 

ability to submit crossing data to the 

Crossing Inventory. For example, the 

AAR noted that the proposed rule 

already contained provisions that would 

allow reporting by other entities on 

behalf of the primary operating railroad, 

which appear to be consistent with 

other assignment provisions that appear 

in the rail safety regulations. 

Section 20160 contains specific 

language requiring that each railroad 

carrier ensure crossing data for 

previously unreported crossings has 

been reported to the Crossing Inventory 

by another railroad carrier that operates 

through the crossing. As discussed 

earlier, paragraph (a) of this section 

requires the primary operating railroad 

to submit an accurate and complete 

Inventory Form, or its electronic 

equivalent, for previously unreported 

highway-rail and pathway crossings. 

However, if the primary operating 

railroad fails to submit a completed 

Inventory Form in a timely manner, 

paragraph (c) of this section implements 

Section 20160’s mandate to require each 

operating railroad to provide written 

notification to the FRA Associate 

Administrator that a previously 

unreported highway-rail or pathway 

crossing has not been timely reported to 

the Crossing Inventory. Therefore, we 

did not change this requirement in the 

final rule. 

The AAR also submitted comments 

asserting that requiring operating 

railroads to notify the FRA Associate 

Administrator when the primary 

operating railroad has not timely 

submitted crossing data to the Crossing 

Inventory would require operating 

railroads to differentiate between 

crossings through which they operate 

trains and crossings through which they 

simply have trackage rights (but do not 

operate trains), in order to determine 

whether they must follow up on a 

primary railroad’s reporting 

responsibility. FRA acknowledges that 

the final rule will require railroads to 

differentiate between crossings through 

which they operate trains and crossings 

for which they simply have trackage 

rights to determine the extent of their 

reporting and updating responsibilities 

under this final rule. If a railroad or 

urban rapid transit operator simply has 

trackage rights (but does not operate 

trains) over a highway-rail or pathway 

crossing that is on, or connected to, the 

general railroad system of 

transportation, the railroad or rail transit 

operator will not be considered an 

‘‘operating railroad’’ with respect to that 

crossing. Therefore, the railroad or rail 

transit operator will not be required by 

this subpart to submit or update 

crossing data to the Crossing Inventory 

for the highway-rail or pathway crossing 

for which it simply has trackage rights 

but does not operate trains. 

FRA added paragraph (d) of this 

section to the final rule to allow the 

primary operating railroad to provide 

written notification that it has 

requested, but not received, certain 

crossing data, from the appropriate State 

agency responsible for maintaining 

highway-rail and pathway crossing data. 

We added this paragraph to the final 

rule in response to comments noting 

that under the proposed rule, the 

primary operating railroad and all other 

operating railroads could be held 

responsible for the timely submission of 

crossing data, which may only be 

obtainable from the State agency that 

maintains highway-rail and pathway 

crossing data. As noted earlier, the AAR 

submitted comments asserting that 

railroads should only be required to 

report railroad-maintained crossing data 

to the Crossing Inventory, thus leaving 

the responsibility for reporting Statemaintained crossing data to State 

agencies. Denver RTD also submitted 

comments recommending that railroads 

only be responsible for failing to submit 

or update crossing information in the 

Crossing Inventory if the State timely 

provided the information requested and 

the railroad nevertheless failed to timely 

update the Crossing Inventory. The ICC 

submitted comments recommending 

that the final rule contain a mechanism 

for any party to inform the FRA 

Associate Administrator of the failure of 

the State agency (or the primary 

operating railroad) to submit data in a 

timely manner. 

Paragraph (d) will allow the primary 

operating railroad to submit a written 

statement to the FRA Associate 

Administrator, by certified mail, return 

receipt requested, certifying it requested 

certain crossing data from the 

appropriate State agency responsible for 

maintaining highway-rail and pathway 

crossing data at least 60 days earlier, 

which the State has not yet provided. If 

the primary operating railroad provides 


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this written statement to the FRA 

Associated Administrator, FRA will not 

hold the primary operating railroad 

responsible for failing to submit an 

accurate and complete Inventory Form 

(or its electronic equivalent) to the 

Crossing Inventory. In addition, the rule 

will not require other operating 

railroads that operate through the 

crossing to notify the FRA Associate 

Administrator that a completed 

Inventory Form (or its electronic 

equivalent) has not been submitted for 

the previously unreported crossing. 

To take advantage of this provision, 

the primary operating railroad must 

limit the crossing data requested to one 

or more of the data fields that contain 

State-maintained crossing data, which 

the States are being asked to voluntarily 

update in the Crossing Inventory. We 

have identified these data fields in 

Appendix B in the Inventory Guide. The 

primary operating railroad must mail a 

written statement to the FRA Associate 

Administrator by certified mail, return 

receipt requested, which includes a list 

of each data field for which the primary 

operating railroad requested crossing 

information from the appropriate State 

agency and the date the crossing data 

was requested. The primary operating 

railroad also must mail copies of the 

written certification statement to each 

operating railroad that operates through 

the highway-rail or pathway crossing 

and to the State agency responsible for 

maintaining highway-rail and pathway 

crossing data. In addition, the primary 

operating railroad must submit the 

requested crossing data to the Crossing 

Inventory within 60 days of receipt from 

the appropriate State agency. 

Section 234.407 Submission of Initial 

Data to the Crossing Inventory for New 

Crossings 

Proposed § 234.407 set forth the 

recordkeeping requirements for this 

subpart that would apply to each 

railroad subject to this subpart. In this 

final rule, we moved these 

recordkeeping requirements to 

§§ 234.413 and 234.407 now addresses 

the reporting of new highway-rail and 

pathway crossings to the Crossing 

Inventory. This section implements 

paragraph (a)(1) of Section 20160, which 

requires railroad carriers to report 

current information to the Secretary 

about warning devices and signs at each 

new crossing through which they 

operate. Specifically, paragraph (a)(1)(i) 

of this section requires the primary 

operating railroad to assign an Inventory 

Number to each new highway-rail and 

pathway crossings through which it 

operates. Consistent with the reporting 

requirements in § 234.405 regarding 

previously unreported crossings, this 

requirement does not apply to new 

highway-rail and pathway crossings 

located in a railroad yard, passenger 

station, or within a private company, 

port, or dock area or to temporary 

crossings. 

If new crossings are located in a 

railroad yard, passenger station, or 

within a private company, port or dock 

area, paragraph (a)(1)(ii) requires the 

primary operating railroad(s) to assign 

one or more Inventory Numbers to the 

crossings. The primary operating 

railroad(s) may assign an Inventory 

Number to a specific highway-rail or 

pathway crossing or to a group of 

highway-rail and pathway crossings 

located in a railroad yard, passenger 

station, or within a private company, 

port, or dock area. 

For new highway-rail and pathway 

crossings located within a private 

company, port, or dock area, we will 

consider each railroad that owns track 

leading to the private company, port, or 

dock area the primary operating railroad 

for the crossings within the facility (see 

definition of ‘‘primary operating 

railroad’’ in § 234.401). Thus, if more 

than one railroad owns track leading 

into a private company, port or dock 

area, it is possible that a single crossing 

could have more than one unique 

Inventory Number assigned to it. If a 

primary operating railroad does not 

already have an Inventory Number that 

it can assign to the new highway-rail or 

pathway crossing, the railroad must 

obtain an Inventory Number. 

Instructions for obtaining an Inventory 

Number can be found in the Inventory 

Guide. 

Paragraph (a)(1)(iii) of this section 

provides that the requirement to assign 

Inventory Numbers to crossings and 

report those crossings to the Crossing 

Inventory does not apply to any crossing 

meeting the definition of a ‘‘temporary’’ 

crossing. However, the primary 

operating railroad must report a 

highway-rail or pathway crossing that 

was deemed to be a ‘‘temporary’’ 

crossing to the Crossing Inventory as a 

new crossing if it becomes apparent the 

highway-rail or pathway crossing will 

remain in place for more than six 

months. 

We also revised paragraph (a)(2) in 

the final rule to require the primary 

operating railroad to provide the 

assigned Inventory Number to each 

operating railroad that operates through 

the new highway-rail or pathway 

crossing no later than four months after 

the date the crossing becomes 

operational or ten months after the 

effective date of this rule, whichever 

occurs later. FRA added this 

requirement to the final rule because 

each operating railroad will need to 

know the Inventory Number assigned to 

the new highway-rail or pathway 

crossing. (For example, the operating 

railroad will need to verify whether the 

primary operating railroad timely 

reported the new crossing to the 

Crossing Inventory.) However, this 

requirement does not apply to the 

Inventory Numbers assigned to 

highway-rail and pathway crossings 

located within a private company, port, 

or dock area. As stated above, if more 

than one railroad owns track that leads 

into a private company, port, or area, 

each railroad that owns track leading to 

the private company, port, or dock area 

must assign its own Inventory Numbers 

to the highway-rail and pathway 

crossings that are located within the 

facility. 

As proposed in the NPRM, primary 

operating railroads would have had six 

months after the effective date of the 

final rule to report any new highwayrail and/or pathway crossings to the 

Crossing Inventory. In this final rule, 

FRA is providing additional flexibility 

in the timeframe for reporting of new 

crossings to the Crossing Inventory. 

Specifically, paragraph (a)(3) of this 

section requires primary operating 

railroads to submit accurate and 

complete Inventory Forms (or their 

electronic equivalent) to the Crossing 

Inventory for new highway-rail and 

pathway crossings through which they 

operate no later than six months after 

the crossing becomes operational or 

within twelve months of the final rule’s 

effective date, whichever occurs later. 

FRA received comments from the ICC 

and the Brotherhood of Railroad 

Signalmen recommending that the 

timeframe for reporting new crossings to 

the Crossing Inventory should be 

changed to 90 days from the date on 

which a new crossing is established. In 

its comments, the ICC explained that 

this recommended change would 

standardize the time period for 

reporting new crossings and changes in 

crossing characteristics. However, we 

retained the requirement to report new 

crossings within six months of the date 

on which the crossing becomes 

operational in this final rule consistent 

with the mandate of Section 20160. We 

also extended the deadline for 

submitting crossing data for new 

highway-rail and pathway crossings to 

the Crossing Inventory in the final rule 

to provide additional time for railroads 

and State agencies to modify existing 

reporting systems or to develop new 

systems. This initial extended reporting 

period applies to the submission of all 

new crossing data to the Crossing 


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Inventory, regardless of whether the 

crossing data is submitted electronically 

or by hard-copy. 

FRA also received comments from the 

Iowa Department of Transportation 

recommending not adding new 

crossings to the Crossing Inventory 

unless railroads and State agencies have 

submitted crossing data. However, this 

final rule implements the statutory 

mandate in Section 20160 to issue 

regulations requiring railroads to report 

current information about new crossings 

through which they operate. While DOT 

may issue regulations in the future that 

address State reporting of public 

highway-rail and pathway crossing data 

to the Crossing Inventory, this final rule 

does not require State agencies to 

submit crossing data to the Crossing 

Inventory for new crossings. Therefore, 

paragraph (a)(3) requires primary 

operating railroads to submit accurate 

and complete Inventory Forms (or their 

electronic equivalent) to the Crossing 

Inventory for new crossings through 

which they operate. However, FRA 

strongly encourages primary operating 

railroads to work with State agencies to 

obtain crossing data the State maintains. 

Consistent with the addition of 

paragraph (b) to § 234.405 as applied to 

previously unreported crossings 

(discussed above), FRA added a new 

paragraph (b) to this section in the final 

rule to address the situation in which 

multiple operating railroads operate 

trains on separate tracks through the 

same highway-rail or pathway crossing. 

Paragraph (b) requires multiple 

operating railroads that operate on 

separate tracks through the same 

highway-rail or pathway crossing to 

assume responsibility for reporting 

certain crossing data directly to the 

Crossing Inventory consistent with the 

Inventory Guide. This crossing data 

includes railroad-specific train count 

and train speed data, as well as railroadspecific location data such as the 

milepost location, railroad subdivision, 

and railroad division data. However, the 

primary operating railroad is still 

required to submit an accurate and 

complete Inventory Form, or its 

electronic equivalent, to the Crossing 

Inventory for the crossing, which 

includes train count and train speed 

data that is specifically related to the 

primary operating railroad’s train 

operations. 

Consistent with paragraph (c) of 

§ 234.405 as applied to previously 

unreported crossings, paragraph (c) of 

this section establishes a requirement 

that each operating railroad must 

provide written notification to the FRA 

Associate Administrator, if the primary 

operating railroad has not submitted a 

completed Inventory Form (or its 

electronic equivalent) to the Crossing 

Inventory for a new highway-rail or 

pathway crossing. Again, this provision 

is intended to implement paragraph 

(a)(2) of Section 20160, which states that 

each railroad carrier must ensure 

another railroad carrier that operates 

through the crossing submits crossing 

data for new highway-rail and pathway 

crossings to the Crossing Inventory. 

Unless the primary operating railroad 

has provided a written statement to the 

FRA Associate Administrator, in 

accordance with paragraph (d) of this 

section, certifying that it requested 

State-maintained crossing data from the 

appropriate State agency responsible for 

maintaining highway-rail and pathway 

crossing data which the State agency 

has not yet provided, other operating 

railroads that operate through the new 

crossing will need to monitor the 

Crossing Inventory to confirm that the 

primary operating railroad has timely 

submitted a completed Inventory Form 

(or its electronic equivalent) to the 

Crossing Inventory for the crossing. If an 

operating railroad discovers that the 

primary operating railroad has not 

submitted a completed Inventory Form 

(or its electronic equivalent) to the 

Crossing Inventory for a new highwayrail or pathway crossing (which is not 

a temporary crossing) within six months 

of the date on which the crossing 

became operational or March 7, 2016, 

whichever occurs later, the operating 

railroad must provide written 

notification of this oversight to the FRA 

Associate Administrator. This written 

notification must include, at a 

minimum, the latitudinal and 

longitudinal coordinates of the new 

highway-rail or pathway crossing. If the 

operating railroad fails to provide 

written notification of this oversight to 

the FRA Associate Administrator, FRA 

may assess civil penalties against each 

operating railroad (including the 

primary operating railroad) that operates 

through a new crossing, which was not 

timely reported to the Crossing 

Inventory. 

The AAR submitted comments 

expressing concern that the written 

notification requirement in paragraph 

(c) of this section would create 

confusion. In its comments, the AAR 

further asserted that a secondary 

railroad would have no way of knowing 

when a primary operating railroad 

opens a crossing because the primary 

operating railroad is not required to 

share this information. However, the 

installation of new highway-rail and 

pathway crossings necessarily involves 

coordination between the primary 

operating railroad and all other 

operating railroads that operate trains 

through the crossing. At the very least, 

train crews for each operating railroad 

must be notified of changes in railroad 

operations that are necessary to 

accommodate construction work, such 

as slow orders. When the highway-rail 

or pathway crossing is complete, train 

crews will also need to be notified of 

required actions they must take upon 

approach to the crossing, such as 

sounding the locomotive horn to 

provide an audible warning for highway 

users. Therefore, it is reasonable to 

expect that each operating railroad will 

receive notification from the crossing 

owner whenever a new highway-rail or 

pathway crossing becomes operational. 

Upon receiving notification that a new 

highway-rail or pathway crossing has 

become operational, each operating 

railroad will need to monitor the 

Crossing Inventory to ensure that the 

new crossing is timely reported by the 

primary operating railroad. 

Consistent with the addition of 

paragraph (d) to § 234.405 regarding the 

reporting of previously unreported 

crossings to the Crossing Inventory, FRA 

added a new paragraph (d) to this 

section allowing primary operating 

railroads to provide written notification 

that they have requested, and have not 

received, certain crossing data from the 

appropriate State agency responsible for 

maintaining highway-rail and pathway 

crossing data. If written notification is 

provided under this provision, we will 

not hold the primary operating railroad 

responsible for failing to submit the 

crossing data it has requested from the 

appropriate State agency and not 

received. In addition, we will not 

require the other operating railroads that 

operate through the crossing to notify 

FRA that a completed Inventory Form 

(or its electronic equivalent) has not 

been submitted for the new crossing. 

However, the primary operating railroad 

must submit the requested crossing data 

to the Crossing Inventory within 60 days 

of receipt from the appropriate State 

agency. 

Section 234.409 Submission of 

Periodic Updates to the Crossing 

Inventory 

As proposed, provisions related to the 

periodic updating of information 

submitted to the Crossing Inventory 

were contained in paragraph (c) of 

proposed § 234.405. FRA moved these 

provisions to § 234.409 in this final rule 

and revised them to reflect 

consideration of comments received. We 

also made minor revisions to this 

section to include specific references to 

highway-rail and pathway crossings to 

reflect the two basic categories of 


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crossings for which data will be 

collected in the Crossing Inventory. This 

section is intended to implement 

paragraph (b)(1) of Section 20160, 

which requires railroad carriers to 

periodically report current information, 

including information about warning 

devices and signage as specified by the 

Secretary, to the Crossing Inventory 

concerning crossings through which 

they operate. 

As proposed in § 234.405(c)(1), 

§ 234.409(a) of this final rule requires 

each primary operating railroad to 

periodically update existing crossing 

data in the Crossing Inventory for each 

highway-rail and pathway crossing 

through which it operates consistent 

with the Inventory Guide. However, we 

do not require submission of these 

periodic updates for closed or gradeseparated highway-rail and pathway 

crossings. FRA has determined that 

changes in crossing characteristics do 

not appear to have a significant impact 

on existing risk levels at closed or gradeseparated crossings. Once the highwayrail or pathway crossing has been closed 

or grade-separated, there will not be any 

changes at the crossing (other than reopening the crossing) that have a 

significant impact on crossing safety. 

Paragraph (a) requires each primary 

operating railroad to submit up-to-date 

and accurate crossing data on a periodic 

basis to the Crossing Inventory for each 

highway-rail and pathway crossing 

(except grade-separated or closed 

crossings) through which it operates 

consistent with the Inventory Guide. 

The primary operating railroad must 

submit updated crossing data at least 

every three years from the date of the 

most recent submission of data by the 

primary operating railroad (or on behalf 

of the primary operating railroad) for the 

crossing or March 7, 2016, whichever 

occurs later. For hard-copy submissions 

to the Crossing Inventory, this threeyear period is measured from the date 

on which the most recent submission of 

data for the crossing was mailed to the 

Crossing Inventory by the primary 

operating railroad (or on behalf of the 

primary operating railroad). However, 

FRA recommends that the primary 

operating railroad submit an update to 

the Crossing Inventory as soon as 

practicable, if there is any significant 

change in train count or train speed 

data, as opposed to waiting for the next 

required three-year periodic update to 

report the change. 

FRA extended the deadline for 

submitting initial periodic updates for 

existing highway-rail and pathway 

crossings to the Crossing Inventory in 

this final rule to three years from the 

last submittal or 12 months after the 

final rule effective date, whichever is 

later (the NPRM provided for updates 

within three years from the last 

submittal or six months after effective 

date of final rule) to provide additional 

time for primary operating railroads to 

implement necessary changes to their 

crossing databases to ensure 

compatibility with FRA’s new Webbased application for the Grade Crossing 

Inventory System (GCIS) system. We 

made this revision in response to 

comments requesting additional time 

within which to comply with the final 

rule. FDOT submitted comments 

recommending that the final rule should 

allow for at least a six-month period for 

State agencies and railroads to address 

issues that will result from subjecting 

existing records to new validation rules. 

On the other hand, the AAR submitted 

comments recommending that the final 

rule effective date should be at least 

three years from the date on which the 

final rule is published to accommodate 

modifications that railroads and State 

agencies will need to make to crossing 

databases they maintain to comply with 

the reporting and updating requirements 

of this rule. 

FRA notes that primary operating 

railroads will have at least 14 months 

from the publication date of this final 

rule to prepare for the submission of 

their initial required periodic updates to 

the Crossing Inventory. Moreover, the 

deadline for submitting required 

periodic updates is directly related to 

the date on which the primary operating 

railroad last submitted data for the 

crossing to the Crossing Inventory. 

Therefore, railroads that have recently 

submitted updates to their crossing data 

in the Crossing Inventory will have 

close to three years to prepare for the 

submission of their initial required 

periodic updates. 

FRA received comments from 

LaDOTD recommending that the final 

rule require submission of periodic 

updates on a five-year cycle, as opposed 

to every three years. However, LaDOTD 

did not submit any evidence to support 

the longer reporting period. On the 

other hand, the CPUC submitted 

comments recommending that we 

should encourage railroads to provide 

updates to train counts and train speed 

when they make significant operational 

changes. In making this 

recommendation, the CPUC noted that 

errors in the average count or maximum 

speed of trains can result in significant 

inaccuracies, especially when used in 

conjunction with the DOT Accident 

Prediction Formula. 

In the absence of evidence that a 

three-year cycle for the submission of 

periodic updates to the Crossing 

Inventory will pose an undue burden on 

primary operating railroads, FRA 

retained the requirement to submit 

periodic updates at least every three 

years. Section 20160 directs the 

Secretary to establish requirements for 

the periodic updating of the Crossing 

Inventory on either an annual basis or 

as otherwise specified by the Secretary. 

The three-year cycle for submitting 

periodic updates to the Crossing 

Inventory, which paragraph (a) of this 

section established, is intended to 

balance the updating burden imposed 

on primary operating railroads with the 

benefits derived from having up-to-date 

and accurate crossing data in the 

Crossing Inventory, such as improved 

grade crossing safety analyses. 

FRA also received comments from 

NCDOT recommending that the final 

rule be revised to require submission of 

periodic updates to the Crossing 

Inventory for grade-separated crossings 

at least every six years (or possibly 

every 12 years) to coincide with the 

three-year periodic updates that must be 

submitted for highway-rail and pathway 

grade crossings. Because FRA has found 

that changes in crossing characteristics 

do not appear to have a significant 

impact on existing risk levels at gradeseparated crossings, we did not adopt 

this recommendation. 

FRA received a number of comments 

recommending who FRA should 

consider the appropriate party required 

to submit periodic updates of crossing 

data to the Crossing Inventory. The BRS 

submitted comments expressing strong 

support for requiring the primary 

operating railroad to submit updated 

crossing data to the Crossing Inventory, 

especially because FRA has noted its 

lack of oversight authority with regard 

to the reporting of crossing data by State 

agencies. FDOT submitted comments 

recommending that railroads be 

required to coordinate with State 

agencies to obtain State-maintained 

crossing information for data fields that 

States are being asked to update on a 

voluntary basis, as reflected in 

Appendix B to the Inventory Guide. 

NCDOT submitted comments 

recommending that FRA ask State 

agencies to voluntarily submit crossing 

data to the Crossing Inventory for data 

fields on the Inventory Form historically 

completed by State agencies within 

three to six months after the primary 

operating railroad submits crossing data 

to the Crossing Inventory. Tavla 

Solutions submitted comments 

recommending that the GCIS system be 

designed to facilitate electronic 

communication with State agencies, 

especially with respect to data fields on 

the Inventory Form that have 


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traditionally completed by State 

agencies. 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that FRA require 

railroads to continue to provide crossing 

data updates to the appropriate State 

agencies for incorporation into the 

Crossing Inventory. In the alternative, 

the ICC noted that a mechanism could 

be developed to provide notice to the 

appropriate State agency that the 

primary operating railroad has 

submitted an update to the Crossing 

Inventory. While noting that a similar 

mechanism could be developed to 

notify the primary operating railroad 

whenever State agencies submit 

updated crossing data to the Crossing 

Inventory, the ICC asserted that this 

process would be preferable to that 

outlined in the proposed rule because 

the appropriate State agency will know 

whenever a new crossing is added to the 

Crossing Inventory. 

FRA also received comments from the 

CPUC recommending sending 

notifications to the appropriate State 

agency with jurisdiction over grade 

crossing safety and the operating 

railroad(s) responsible for submitting 

crossing data to the Crossing Inventory 

whenever updated data is posted to the 

Crossing Inventory. In the alternative, 

the CPUC recommended that the GCIS 

system should allow Crossing Inventory 

users to generate reports that show all 

changes made during a specified time 

period, such as the last month, quarter, 

or year. 

After consideration of these 

comments, FRA has decided to retain 

the process in the proposed rule 

wherein the primary operating railroad 

(and, as further discussed below, other 

operating railroads) submit updated 

crossing data directly to the Crossing 

Inventory. In response to comments the 

BRS submitted, although FRA 

previously stated it did not have 

authority to require States to report, 

upon further consideration FRA 

believes that Section 20160 does give 

the Secretary authority to require States 

to report and update highway-rail and 

pathway crossing information in the 

Crossing Inventory. Therefore, DOT may 

issue regulations in the future that 

address State reporting to the Crossing 

Inventory, which are based upon this 

existing statutory mandate. However, in 

the interim, FRA encourages primary 

operating railroads to send copies of 

their crossing data to the appropriate 

State agency responsible for grade 

crossing safety when they submit 

crossing data to the Crossing Inventory. 

As reflected in Appendix B to the 

Inventory Guide, data fields on the 

Inventory Form that State agencies have 

historically completed have generally 

been assigned to State agencies for 

updating on a voluntary basis. 

Therefore, State agencies are encouraged 

to submit updates to these data fields at 

least every three years. 

We have not designed the current 

version of the GCIS system to provide 

email notification or to facilitate 

electronic communication between 

State agencies and the primary 

operating railroad whenever crossing 

data related to a highway-rail or 

pathway crossing is submitted to the 

Crossing Inventory. However, we have 

configured the GCIS system to allow 

Crossing Inventory users to download 

crossing data for multiple crossings or 

individual crossings. This functionality 

will allow State agencies and operating 

railroads to verify that new or 

previously unreported crossings have 

been reported to the Crossing Inventory 

and that required updates have been 

submitted by the primary operating 

railroad. In addition, the GCIS system 

has been designed to allow Crossing 

Inventory users to generate reports 

showing all changes that have been 

made in the Crossing Inventory during 

a specified time period. 

The CPUC submitted comments 

recommending that there be a process 

for resolving conflicts that may arise 

due to State agencies and railroads 

providing conflicting data for the same 

data field. To address this potential 

concern, a private citizen submitted 

comments proposing that the Crossing 

Inventory be designed to reflect two 

entries for data fields for which 

conflicting data was submitted—one 

entry for data the primary operating 

railroad submits and the other entry for 

data the State submits. The commenter 

believes that by adopting this approach, 

the Crossing Inventory could flag 

conflicting data and record the date on 

which the data was submitted to the 

Crossing Inventory, but not allow the 

crossing data to be overridden by 

another entity. 

The AAR submitted comments 

recommending that FRA address the 

possibility that one entity could 

incorrectly modify or nullify a data field 

assigned to another entity for updating 

purposes. FRA also received comments 

from a private citizen, the Iowa 

Department of Transportation, the 

Minnesota Department of 

Transportation, and NCDOT 

recommending that railroads be 

prohibited from overwriting existing 

highway data and State agencies be 

prohibited from overwriting existing 

railroad data in the Crossing Inventory. 

In addition, LaDOTD recommended that 

there be a process in place for resolving 

discrepancies between States and 

railroads. 

In response to these comments, we 

revised Appendix B to the Inventory 

Guide to identify which data fields on 

the Inventory Form must be updated by 

the primary operating railroad for 

purposes of the three-year periodic 

update and which data fields State 

agencies are being asked to update on a 

voluntary basis. As a result, there 

should be fewer potential conflicts 

between the State agency and the 

primary operating railroad regarding the 

appropriate data for a specific data field 

since the entity responsible for updating 

the data field is ultimately responsible 

for ensuring the accuracy of the data 

submitted for that field. While the 

historical records associated with each 

highway-rail and pathway crossing will 

reflect changes in data that are 

submitted to the Crossing Inventory by 

the State agency and the primary 

operating railroad (and, in some cases, 

each operating railroad), the GCIS 

system has not been designed to reflect 

separate entries for an individual data 

field on the Inventory Form. Nor has the 

GCIS system been designed to prohibit 

entities that are authorized to submit 

crossing data to the Crossing Inventory 

from submitting revised data for existing 

crossing records. However, in the event 

that disputes arise over the accuracy of 

crossing data submitted to the Crossing 

Inventory, FRA will provide assistance 

upon request. 

Consistent with FRA’s addition of 

paragraph (b) to §§ 234.405 and 234.407, 

we added paragraph (b) to this section 

to address submission of periodic 

updates by multiple operating railroads 

that operate trains on separate tracks 

through the same highway-rail or 

pathway crossing. For highway-rail and 

pathway crossings where multiple 

operating railroads operate trains on 

separate tracks through the crossing, 

paragraph (b) requires each operating 

railroad to periodically submit up-todate and accurate crossing data for 

certain specified data fields on the 

Inventory Form to the Crossing 

Inventory consistent with the Inventory 

Guide. These data fields include 

railroad-specific train count and train 

speed data fields, as well as the 

milepost location, railroad subdivision, 

and railroad division data fields. Each 

operating railroad must submit these 

periodic updates at least every three 

years from the date of the most recent 

submission of data for the crossing by 

that operating railroad, or by March 7, 

2016, whichever occurs later. For hardcopy submissions to Crossing Inventory, 

this three-year period will be measured 

from mailing date of the most recent 


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submission of data by the operating 

railroad (or on behalf of the operating 

railroad). However, if there is a 

significant change in train count or train 

speed data, FRA recommends that the 

operating railroad submit an update to 

the Crossing Inventory, as opposed to 

waiting for the next required three-year 

periodic update. 

Consistent with paragraph (c) of 

§§ 234.405 and 234.407, paragraph (c) of 

this section establishes a requirement 

that each operating railroad must 

provide written notification to the FRA 

Associate Administrator if the primary 

operating railroad fails to timely submit 

up-to-date crossing data to the Crossing 

Inventory for a highway-rail or pathway 

crossing (other than a grade-separated 

crossing) through which it operates. 

This provision is intended to implement 

paragraph (b)(1)(B) of Section 20160, 

which states that each railroad carrier 

must ensure updated crossing 

information is periodically submitted to 

the Crossing Inventory by another 

railroad carrier that operates through the 

crossing. 

If the primary operating railroad fails 

to submit up-to-date crossing data to the 

Crossing Inventory for a highway-rail 

grade crossing or pathway grade 

crossing within three years from the 

date of its last submission of crossing 

data to the Crossing Inventory for that 

crossing or March 7, 2016, whichever 

occurs later, each operating railroad that 

operates through the crossing must 

provide written notification of this 

oversight to the FRA Associate 

Administrator. This written notification 

must include, at a minimum, the 

Inventory Number for each highway-rail 

and pathway crossing through which it 

operates that was not timely updated by 

the primary operating railroad. 

Section 234.411 Changes Requiring 

Submission of Updated Information to 

the Crossing Inventory 

Paragraph (d) of proposed § 234.405 

addressed changes requiring submission 

of updated information to the Crossing 

Inventory. In this final rule, FRA moved 

those provisions to § 234.411. 

Specifically, proposed § 234.405(d) is 

now § 234.411(a) and proposed 

§ 234.405(e) is now paragraphs (b) and 

(c) of this section. 

Paragraph (a) contains updating 

requirements for the sale of a highwayrail or pathway crossing. This provision 

implements paragraph (b)(2) of Section 

20160, which requires each railroad 

carrier that sells a crossing or any part 

of a crossing to report to the Secretary 

current information concerning the 

change in ownership of the crossing 

within three months of the date of sale, 

or as otherwise specified in regulations. 

Paragraph (a) requires any railroad 

that sells all, or part, of a highway-rail 

or pathway crossing to submit updated 

ownership data to the Crossing 

Inventory within three months of the 

date of sale or March 7, 2016, whichever 

occurs later, in accordance with 

§ 234.403. In this final rule, FRA has 

provided additional flexibility in the 

reporting of crossing sales by extending 

the reporting deadline to the latter of 

three months after the date of sale or 12 

months after the final rule effective date. 

This will provide additional time for 

operating railroads to implement 

necessary changes to their crossing 

databases prior to the submission of 

updated crossing ownership data to the 

Crossing Inventory. 

FRA received comments from Denver 

RTD recommending that the final rule 

confirm that the ‘‘date of sale’’ 

referenced in paragraph (a) of this 

section refers to the date title passes, not 

the date a purchase and sale agreement 

has been executed. In response to this 

comment, FRA confirms that the ‘‘date 

of sale’’ in paragraph (a) of this section 

means the date title is transferred. 

A railroad that sells all, or part, of a 

highway-rail or pathway crossing 

should consult the Inventory Guide for 

guidance on reporting the crossing sale 

to the Crossing Inventory. In addition, 

FRA strongly recommends that the 

primary operating railroad submit 

updated crossing data for all of the data 

fields Appendix B to the Inventory 

Guide assigns to railroads within six 

months of the date on which the 

crossing was sold. 

The rule requires the primary 

operating railroad to submit a periodic 

update to the Crossing Inventory for the 

recently acquired highway-rail or 

pathway crossing to the Crossing 

Inventory under § 234.409 within three 

years of the date on which the last 

periodic update for the crossing was 

submitted to the Crossing Inventory. 

The report of crossing sale by the 

previous owner does not constitute a 

periodic update and therefore cannot be 

used for purposes of determining the 

date on which the next periodic update 

required by § 234.409 will become due 

for the recently acquired highway-rail or 

pathway crossing. 

Paragraph (b) of this section contains 

the reporting requirements applicable to 

the closure of a crossing (these 

requirements were included in 

proposed § 234.405(e) of the NPRM). 

When a highway-rail or pathway 

crossing is closed, the primary operating 

railroad is required to submit an 

Inventory Form (or its electronic 

equivalent) to the Crossing Inventory 

that reflects the closure of the crossing 

within three months of the date on 

which the crossing is closed or March 

7, 2016, whichever occurs later. We 

extended this deadline from the NPRM 

proposed three month deadline to allow 

reporting up to 12 months after the final 

rule’s effective date. This will provide 

additional time for primary operating 

railroads to implement necessary 

changes to their crossings databases 

prior to the submission of updated 

crossing data to the Crossing Inventory. 

The primary operating railroad should 

consult the Inventory Guide for 

guidance on reporting the closure of a 

highway-rail or pathway crossing to the 

Crossing Inventory. 

Paragraph (c) in the final rule requires 

the primary operating railroad to submit 

an Inventory Form (or its electronic 

equivalent) to the Crossing Inventory 

which reflects updated crossing 

information consistent with the 

Inventory Guide and § 234.403, when 

there is a change in crossing surface or 

a change in warning device at a public 

highway-rail grade crossing within three 

months of the date the change was 

implemented. This is a change from the 

NPRM proposed requirement which 

would have required the reporting of a 

change in crossing surface or change in 

warning device at any public or private 

highway-rail or pathway crossing to the 

Crossing Inventory. The scope of this 

proposed requirement has been limited 

in the final rule because railroads are 

not required to submit data on crossing 

surface or crossing warning devices for 

private highway-rail grade crossings, 

pathway crossings, or grade-separated 

crossings. However, FRA strongly 

encourages railroads to voluntarily 

report data on train-activated warning 

devices, crossing signs, and crossing 

surface at private highway-rail grade 

crossings and pathway crossings to the 

Crossing Inventory. The National 

Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) 

recently issued Safety Recommendation 

R–14–48 that FRA should require 

equivalent levels of reporting for both 

public and private highway-rail grade 

crossings. FRA also received comments 

in support of requiring railroads to 

complete the entire Inventory Form for 

private highway-rail grade and pathway 

crossings. Therefore, FRA may issue 

regulations in the future that would 

require railroads to provide additional 

data on private highway-rail and 

pathway crossings to the Crossing 

Inventory. 

Paragraph (c)(2) defines a ‘‘change in 

warning device’’ as ‘‘the addition or 

removal of a crossbuck, yield or stop 

sign, flashing lights, or gates at a public 


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highway-rail grade crossing.’’ Consistent 

with the NPRM, a ‘‘change in warning 

device’’ means a change in the type of 

warning device installed at the crossing 

as opposed to a modification of an 

existing crossing device or replacement 

of a damaged or missing warning 

device. For example, the addition of 

cantilevered lights to a crossing that is 

already equipped with post-mounted 

flashing lights would be considered a 

‘‘change in warning device’’ for the 

purpose of this provision. The 

installation of two-quadrant, threequadrant, or four-quadrant gate systems 

where none were previously installed, 

or where existing warning systems are 

upgraded, would also be considered a 

‘‘change in warning device’’ for the 

purpose of this provision. However, a 

change from incandescent to LED 

flashing lights would not be considered 

a ‘‘change in warning device’’ for the 

purpose of this provision. 

Prior to the submission of updated 

information concerning a change in 

crossing surface or change in warning 

device, the primary operating railroad 

should consult the Inventory Guide for 

guidance. FRA revised the Inventory 

Guide to clarify that, when there has 

been a change in crossing surface (such 

as replacing an asphalt crossing surface 

with a concrete crossing surface) or a 

change in warning device at a public 

highway-rail grade crossing, the primary 

operating railroad must update all data 

fields in Parts II and III of the Inventory 

Form. However, as stated in paragraph 

(c)(2), primary operating railroads are 

not required to report changes in 

warning devices to the Crossing 

Inventory that will be in place for a 

period not to exceed six months. 

In the preamble to the proposed rule, 

FRA solicited comments on the 

proposed requirement to report changes 

in crossing surface and changes in 

warning devices to the Crossing 

Inventory. The AAR submitted 

comments in support of the proposed 

requirement to report changes in 

crossing surface and changes in warning 

devices, as well as crossing closures, to 

the Crossing Inventory within three 

months of the date on which either the 

change is made or the crossing is closed. 

The CPUC submitted comments 

recommending that the proposed 

requirement to report changes in 

crossing surface and changes in warning 

devices be revised to require the 

primary operating railroad to report 

these changes to the appropriate State 

agency within 30 days. The CPUC then 

recommended that the State agency 

should be given 60 days within which 

to report the change to the Crossing 

Inventory. FRA also received comments 

from the ICC recommending that the 

reporting of changes to crossing 

characteristics be expanded to include 

changes to any data field element that 

feeds into the national risk assessment 

tool (PCAPS) utilized by FRA. 

On the other hand, FRA received 

comments from NCDOT recommending 

that the final rule be revised to provide 

a six-month timeframe for the reporting 

of crossing closures, changes in crossing 

surface, and changes in warning device 

at highway-rail and pathway crossings. 

In making this recommendation, 

NCDOT asserted that the proposed 

three-month timeframe will not provide 

sufficient time to generate the required 

reports for the Crossing Inventory and 

may result in an undue financial 

burden, especially for State agencies 

that agree to submit crossing data to the 

Crossing Inventory on behalf of 

operating railroads. In addition, Denver 

RTD submitted comments 

recommending that the final rule be 

revised so that FRA will not hold the 

primary operating railroad responsible 

for failing to timely report changes in 

crossing characteristics if the 

appropriate State agency fails to notify 

the primary operating railroad of a 

change that has been made to the 

crossing. 

After considering these comments, 

FRA decided to retain the requirement 

that the primary operating railroad must 

report changes in crossing surface and 

changes in warning devices directly to 

the Crossing Inventory within three 

months. We retained the three-month 

period for reporting changes in crossing 

surface and changes in warning devices 

by the primary operating railroad in the 

final rule to be consistent with the 

requirement in paragraph (a) of this 

section to report the sale of all, or part, 

of a highway-rail or pathway crossing to 

the Crossing Inventory within three 

months. FRA notes that changes in 

crossing surface and changes in warning 

devices are generally planned well in 

advance and require coordination 

between the crossing owner and the 

State agency during the planning 

process. Therefore, we recommend that 

State agencies which agree to submit 

crossing data on behalf of operating 

railroads include an additional step in 

their planning processes for the 

reporting of changes in crossing surface 

and changes in warning devices to the 

Crossing Inventory to ensure the timely 

reporting of these changes. 

With regard to the concern expressed 

by Denver RTD related to FRA 

enforcement activity in situations in 

which a State or local government has 

installed or removed a yield or stop sign 

at a public highway-rail grade crossing 

without notifying the primary operating 

railroad, FRA has prosecutorial 

discretion to forgo enforcement if the 

primary operating railroad fails to 

submit updated crossing data to the 

Crossing Inventory within three months 

of the installation or removal of a yield 

or stop sign because the State or local 

entity installed or removed the sign 

without notifying the primary operating 

railroad. However, the primary 

operating railroad must submit up-todate and accurate crossing data to the 

Crossing Inventory for each data field 

Appendix B to the Inventory Guide 

assigns to railroads for updating within 

three months of the date on which the 

primary operating railroad becomes 

aware that the State or local government 

has installed (or removed) a yield or 

stop sign at the crossing. 

Section 234.413 Recordkeeping 

Denver RTD submitted comments on 

the provisions contained within this 

section in the proposed rule 

recommending that FRA defer to State 

laws governing the public’s right of 

inspection of public records, with 

respect to the accessibility, format, and 

timeframes for retaining railroad records 

of compliance with the requirements of 

this subpart. However, the 

recordkeeping requirements contained 

in this section reflect the exercise of 

FRA’s longstanding statutory authority 

to require railroads to produce, and 

make available for FRA inspection, 

relevant records of compliance with 

Federal safety regulations. Therefore, 

because we intend this section to 

require operating railroads to make their 

records of compliance reasonably 

available to FRA inspectors for 

inspection and enforcement purposes, 

we did not revise this section in the 

final rule. 

Section 234.415 Electronic 

Recordkeeping 

We did not revise this section in the 

final rule. FRA received comments on 

the electronic recordkeeping provision 

in the proposed rule from Denver RTD 

recommending that electronic records 

be retained solely in non-native format 

so crossing data submitted to FRA 

cannot be changed. FRA agrees that 

electronic records of crossing data 

submitted to the Crossing Inventory 

must be retained in a manner that will 

not allow subsequent changes to be 

made to the original electronic record. 

However, FRA believes that paragraph 

(a) of this section, requiring the railroad 

to adequately limit and control 

accessibility to electronic records of 

crossing data they have submitted to the 

Crossing Inventory adequately addresses 


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this concern. In addition, FRA notes 

that the GCIS system will maintain 

independent records of crossing data 

that was submitted electronically to the 

Crossing Inventory, which FRA can use 

for verification purposes if necessary. 

Denver RTD also submitted comments 

asserting that the requirements 

contained in paragraph (a) of this 

section may discourage electronic 

recordkeeping by requiring access, 

safety, and other control provisions that 

are not required for paper recordkeeping 

and do not appear to be consistent with 

current technology. For example, 

Denver RTD stated it did not understand 

the purpose of the dedicated terminal 

paragraph (a)(2) of this section requires. 

In addition, Denver RTD suggested that 

FRA consider email capability as 

relevant as fax and printer connections 

for purposes of paragraph (a)(3) of this 

section. FRA acknowledges that the 

electronic recordkeeping requirements 

in this section are not identical to the 

recordkeeping requirements in 

§ 234.413, which generally apply to the 

retention of hard-copy records. 

However, the electronic recordkeeping 

requirements in this section are 

consistent with requirements in other 

FRA regulations that also permit 

electronic recordkeeping, such as 

§ 234.315 of this part. 

With respect to Denver RTD’s specific 

comment asking about the purpose of 

the dedicated terminal required by 

paragraph (a)(2) of this section, we 

retained the requirement in the 

proposed rule that requires railroads to 

make a computer available at the office 

where the railroad reporting officer 

conducts his/her official business and at 

each location the railroad designates as 

having a copy of any required crossing 

records to ensure FRA inspectors are 

granted access the electronic records 

stored at these locations. FRA agrees 

that it would be helpful if the computer 

made available to FRA inspectors also 

has email capability so the operating 

railroad could also email any requested 

documents to FRA inspectors upon 

request. However, to reduce the burden 

on operating railroads that may wish to 

retain electronic records under this 

section, we did not revise the final rule 

to include an additional regulatory 

provision requiring an operating 

railroad to provide a computer with 

email capability. The operating railroad 

can provide its electronic records to 

FRA inspectors by email without the 

need for an additional regulatory 

provision/requirement. 

Appendix A to Part 234—Schedule of 

Civil Penalties 

FRA revised this appendix by adding 

recommended civil penalties for 

specific violations of the reporting and 

updating requirements contained in 

subpart F of this part. For example, we 

added recommended civil penalties for 

failure of a Class I railroad to submit 

crossing data to the Crossing Inventory 

electronically, as well as failure by the 

primary operating railroad to timely 

submit accurate and complete Inventory 

Forms (or their electronic equivalent) to 

the Crossing Inventory for new and 

previously unreported crossings. 

Denver RTD responded to FRA’s 

invitation to submit recommendations 

on appropriate civil penalty amounts it 

should issue for non-compliance with 

the requirements of this subpart. In its 

comments, Denver RTD stated the civil 

penalties established for noncompliance with the reporting and 

updating requirements contained in this 

subpart should not be excessive since 

they will be applied equally to Class I 

railroads and publicly operated transit 

agencies. Thus, Denver RTD 

recommended that failure to timely 

submit Inventory Forms (or their 

electronic equivalent) to the Crossing 

Inventory be treated as recordkeeping 

violations with associated civil 

penalties in the range of $1,000–$2,000. 

While FRA agrees that we should not 

establish excessive civil penalty 

amounts for violations of the reporting 

and updating requirements in this 

subpart, we believe it is reasonable to 

establish standard civil penalties for 

violations of this subpart which are 

consistent with civil penalties FRA 

established for failure to comply with 

the reporting requirements in 49 CFR 

parts 225 and 234. Therefore, primary 

operating railroads and other operating 

railroads that fail to timely submit 

Inventory Forms (or their electronic 

equivalent) to the Crossing Inventory 

may be subject to a $2,500 standard civil 

penalty per crossing per day. However, 

after FRA issues a civil penalty, FRA 

may adjust or compromise the initial 

penalty claim(s) based on a wide variety 

of mitigating factors, which include the 

severity of the safety or health risk 

presented, the entity’s compliance 

history, the entity’s ability to pay the 

assessed civil penalty, and evidence that 

the entity acted in good faith. 

FRA Guide for Preparing U.S. DOT 

Crossing Inventory Forms 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that the Inventory Form 

should be submitted to an independent 

third party that specializes in data and 

asset management inventory systems so 

that current best practices may be 

incorporated. Then, once the desired 

data elements have been identified, 

defined, and responsibility assigned, 

several alternative versions of a new and 

improved inventory form which is 

consistent with modern asset 

management information systems could 

be created for approval. In the 

alternative, the ICC recommended that 

FRA delete all data fields on the 

Inventory Form it proposed as 

‘‘optional,’’ unless it can make a 

business case justifying the time and 

expense to retain the data field. 

FRA appreciates the recommendation 

to recreate the Inventory Form by 

evaluating each proposed data field for 

its continued usefulness and 

incorporating current best practices. 

However, FRA has decided to instead 

make revisions to the Inventory Form 

consistent with other comments the 

general public and all affected parties 

who have reviewed and evaluated it 

submitted. FRA notes that the Inventory 

Form was extensively vetted with State 

agencies and railroads prior to the 

issuance of the NPRM in this 

rulemaking. 

We retained most of the optional data 

fields on the Inventory Form. Railroads 

and States are not required to submit 

data for these data fields. Therefore, 

railroads and States are free to 

determine whether the safety benefits 

associated with the collection and 

evaluation of additional crossing 

information railroads and States 

voluntarily provide is justified by the 

time and expense associated with the 

collection and retention of this data. 

Instructions for Completing the U.S. 

DOT Crossing Inventory Form 

In the proposed rule, FRA requested 

comments on whether we should retain 

the proposed Instructions in the Header 

of the Inventory Form. While the 

majority of commenters generally 

supported retaining Instructions in the 

Header of the Inventory Form, several 

commenters stated the proposed 

Instructions in the Header of the 

Inventory Form conflicted with the 

instructions in the Inventory Guide for 

submission of the Inventory Form. 

FRA agrees the proposed Instructions 

at the top of the Inventory Form were 

inconsistent with the guidance the 

Inventory Guide provided on the 

submission of Crossing Inventory 

Forms. Therefore, we revised the 

Instructions at the top of the Inventory 

Form to be consistent with the guidance 

in the Inventory Guide. 

The CPUC submitted comments 

recommending that FRA also revise the 


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Instructions at the top of the Inventory 

Form to direct Crossing Inventory users 

to complete the Submission Information 

section at the end of the form. However, 

NCDOT recommended that FRA remove 

the Submission Information section 

from the Inventory Form and require 

Crossing Inventory users to submit hardcopy Inventory Forms with a cover 

letter that provides the identity and 

contact information for the Crossing 

Inventory user. 

While FRA agrees that revising the 

Instructions at the top of the Inventory 

Form would be beneficial, we decline to 

require Crossing Inventory users to 

submit cover letters with their hardcopy Inventory Forms in this final rule. 

We believe it is more burdensome to 

require Crossing Inventory users to 

prepare and submit a cover letter than 

to require Crossing Inventory users to 

complete four data fields at the bottom 

of the hard-copy Inventory Form. 

Therefore, we revised the Instructions to 

direct Crossing Inventory users to 

complete the Submission Information 

section at the end of the Inventory Form 

when submitting crossing data by hard 

copy. However, Crossing Inventory 

users will not be required to complete 

the Submission Information section 

when they submit crossing data 

electronically to the Crossing Inventory. 

The GCIS system has been designed to 

retain a record of the identity of the 

Crossing Inventory user, along with the 

date on which data is electronically 

submitted to the Crossing Inventory. 

AAR also submitted comments 

recommending that FRA explain which 

data fields on the Inventory Form 

railroads must complete and which data 

fields State agencies must complete. In 

response to this recommendation, the 

Introduction to the Inventory Guide 

explains which Parts of the Inventory 

Form need to be completed for the 

initial reporting of crossing data for new 

and previously unreported highway-rail 

and pathway crossings. Appendix B to 

the Inventory Guide also contains a 

Responsibility Table which shows the 

data fields that primary operating 

railroads must update, as well as the 

data fields that State agencies are 

assigned for voluntary updating in the 

Crossing Inventory. 

Header Information 

Revision Date 

We retained the Revision Date data 

field (Item A in the Header of the 

Inventory Form) as proposed. Since the 

date the Inventory Form is submitted to 

the Crossing Inventory will often differ 

from the date changes took effect at the 

crossing, NCDOT and the ICC submitted 

comments recommending that we revise 

the Revision Date data field to show the 

date the changes in the Inventory Form 

took effect. However, the Revision Date 

data field is intended to show the date 

the Crossing Inventory was updated to 

reflect changes at the crossing. By 

requesting that reporting entities 

provide the date on which the Crossing 

Inventory Form was mailed or 

electronically submitted, the Crossing 

Inventory should contain a reasonably 

accurate record of the dates on which 

the Crossing Inventory was updated. 

This will assist operating railroads in 

determining when future periodic 

updates will become due. 

NCDOT also recommended that the 

Crossing Inventory should reflect 

separate submission dates for crossing 

data railroads supply and crossing data 

State agencies supply. As explained 

above, we designed the GCIS system to 

record the date crossing updates are 

electronically submitted to the Crossing 

Inventory, as well as the identity of the 

reporting entity who submitted the 

update. With respect to hard copy 

submissions, the Crossing Inventory 

will reflect the date contained provided 

in the Revision Date data field for each 

update. 

Reporting Agency 

FRA retained the Reporting Agency 

data field (Item B in the Header of the 

Inventory Form) as proposed. 

The CPUC submitted comments 

recommending that we eliminate the 

‘‘Other’’ box from the ‘‘Reporting 

Agency’’ data field on the Inventory 

Form. Instead of allowing local agencies 

to submit crossing data directly to FRA, 

the CPUC stated that the local agency 

should be instructed to provide updated 

crossing data to the State agency and/or 

the railroad for submission to the DOT 

Crossing Inventory. 

FRA regulations in 49 CFR part 222 

(49 CFR 222.49(a)), allow local 

governments that meet the definition of 

a ‘‘public authority’’ to file Inventory 

Forms with FRA if the State agency and 

railroad fail to timely do so. Therefore, 

we retained the ‘‘Other’’ box in the 

Reporting Agency data field to reflect 

FRA entry of updated crossing data for 

quiet zone-related purposes. The 

‘‘Other’’ box is only intended for FRA 

use. Accordingly, to avoid improper use 

of the ‘‘Other’’ box, the GCIS system 

will not permit non-FRA users to check 

the ‘‘Other’’ box when submitting 

crossing data electronically. 

The CPUC expressed strong support 

for retaining the ‘‘Transit’’ box in the 

‘‘Reporting Agency’’ data field due to 

the large number of crossings in 

California that also have urban rapid 

transit tracks and/or urban rapid transit 

operations through the same crossing. 

However, the CPUC and Denver RTD 

encouraged FRA to include a discussion 

in the Inventory Guide on whether (and 

how) transit agencies are required to 

submit data for crossings subject to 

urban rail transit operations. NCDOT 

also requested clarification on the 

application of the proposed crossing 

reporting requirements to transit 

agencies. 

We retained the ‘‘Transit’’ box in the 

‘‘Reporting Agency’’ data field. 

However, we added a discussion in the 

Inventory Guide on urban rapid transit 

operators who are subject to the 

reporting and updating requirements in 

the Crossing Inventory final rule. (The 

Section-by-Section Analysis of the 

definition of ‘‘operating railroad’’ in 

§ 234.401 also contains a detailed 

discussion on the application of the 

reporting and updating requirements of 

this subpart to urban rapid transit 

operators.) Urban rapid transit operators 

who submit crossing data to the 

Crossing Inventory (whether voluntarily 

or otherwise) should therefore check the 

‘‘Transit’’ box in the ‘‘Reporting 

Agency’’ data field. 

Reason for Update 

In the proposed rule, FRA requested 

comments on whether the rule should 

give railroads and States the option to 

select more than one reason for 

submitting data to the Crossing 

Inventory. FRA received comments from 

four State transportation agencies and 

the AAR expressing support for 

allowing railroads and States to select 

more than one reason for submitting 

crossing data to the DOT Crossing 

Inventory. The AAR reasoned that 

allowing States and railroads to select 

more than one reason for submitting 

crossing data to the DOT Crossing 

Inventory would allow them to capture 

more than one change in a single 

submittal. 

However, FRA also received 

comments from the ICC and FDOT 

recommending that FRA limit railroad 

and State users to selection of one 

reason for update. After considering the 

comments submitted, FRA decided to 

continue to require railroad and State 

users to select only one reason for 

update per submission. This will ensure 

historical records in the Crossing 

Inventory continue to reflect the 

primary reason for each data 

submission. 

FRA also received comments from 

LaDOTD and Tavla Solutions 

recommending that the Inventory Guide 

should indicate which entities have 

authority to submit the various types of 


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updates in the ‘‘Reason for Update’’ data 

field. In response to this 

recommendation, we revised the 

Inventory Guide to state that only 

operating railroads should check the 

‘‘New Crossing’’, ‘‘No Train Traffic’’, 

‘‘Re-Open’’, and ‘‘Change in Primary 

Operating RR’’ boxes. However, all 

reporting entities may check the 

‘‘Change in Data’’, ‘‘Date Change Only’’, 

‘‘Closed’’, and ‘‘Admin. Correction’’ 

boxes. 

New Crossing: The CPUC submitted 

comments recommending that the 

Inventory Guide description of the 

‘‘New Crossing’’ box in the ‘‘Reason for 

Update’’ data field reference ‘‘open’’ 

crossings as opposed to ‘‘active’’ 

crossings. The CPUC noted that the term 

‘‘active crossing’’ is often used to refer 

to crossings equipped with automatic 

warning devices such as flashing light 

signals and gates. Thus, use of this term 

could limit the intended scope of the 

‘‘New Crossing’’ box in the ‘‘Reason for 

Update’’ data field. FRA agrees and 

adopted this recommendation. 

Closed: LaDOTD and Tavla Solutions 

submitted comments stating that the 

removal of track, or otherwise 

disconnecting crossings from the main 

line, should cause all crossings on that 

segment of rail line to be classified as 

closed crossings. NCDOT submitted 

comments stating removal of the 

crossing surface or other situations that 

make it impossible to use the crossing 

(such as fencing) should qualify as 

closing the crossing. For purposes of the 

‘‘Reason for Update’’ data field, the 

‘‘Closed Crossing’’ box should be 

checked when the railroad tracks have 

been physically removed or each 

pathway or roadway approach to the 

crossing have been physically removed. 

However, the ‘‘Closed Crossing’’ box 

only should be checked in situations 

involving the permanent closure of a 

highway-rail or pathway crossing. The 

use of fencing to deter or otherwise 

prevent access to the crossing does not 

constitute closure of a crossing for 

purposes of the Crossing Inventory. 

No Train Traffic: The CPUC 

submitted comments recommending 

that the ‘‘Abandoned’’ box be 

eliminated from the ‘‘Reason for 

Update’’ data field. In support of this 

recommendation, the CPUC stated that 

abandonment of the segment of track on 

which a crossing is located under the 

authority of the Surface Transportation 

Board, merely means the railroad is no 

longer required to provide railroad 

service on that track segment. It does 

not necessarily indicate that the 

crossing is no longer used or 

maintained. 

However, FRA also received 

comments in support of retaining the 

‘‘Abandoned’’ box in the ‘‘Reason for 

Update’’ data field. NCDOT submitted 

comments recommending that the 

‘‘Abandoned’’ box be retained to capture 

data on highway-rail and pathway 

crossings that are located on abandoned 

track yet are still used by hi-rail and 

other authorized vehicles that access the 

railroad right-of-way. 

FRA also received comments 

recommending that the ‘‘Out-of-Service/ 

Inactive’’ box be removed from the 

‘‘Reason for Update’’ data field. The 

AAR stated that FRA should remove the 

‘‘Out-of-Service/Inactive’’ box because 

there are no fixed definitions of ‘‘out-ofservice’’ or ‘‘inactive.’’ The CPUC stated 

that the data collected would be 

unlikely to accurately reflect the 

physical or operational status of the 

crossing since rail lines are often placed 

back into service with little or no 

notification to authorities. 

After considering the comments 

received, we removed the Abandoned 

and Out-of-Service/Inactive boxes from 

the ‘‘Reason for Update’’ data field on 

the final Inventory Form. However, FRA 

intends to continue to collect data 

regarding the operational status of 

crossings, as it may be useful to filter 

out crossings that are not subject to train 

traffic when conducting statistical 

analyses. Therefore, we added a new 

box titled, ‘‘No Train Traffic’’ to the 

‘‘Reason for Update’’ data field on the 

Inventory Form to continue FRA’s 

efforts to identify crossings that no 

longer have train traffic. 

We strongly encourage railroads to 

update the Crossing Inventory to reflect 

changes to ‘‘No Train Traffic’’ status as 

soon as possible. However, it is 

important to note the ‘‘No Train Traffic’’ 

box/category is separate and distinct 

from the ‘‘Closed’’ box/category. The 

‘‘Closed’’ box/category applies to 

crossings where the roadway 

approaches or railroad tracks have been 

physically removed, leaving behind no 

intersection of railroad tracks with 

either a pathway or roadway. Also, as 

discussed in more detail in the Sectionby-Section Analysis of § 234.411(b), the 

primary operating railroad must report 

the closure of a highway-rail or pathway 

crossing to the Crossing Inventory 

within three months. 

Re-Open: The ICC submitted 

comments recommending that the ‘‘ReOpen’’ box be removed from the 

‘‘Reason for Update’’ data field because 

the re-opening of crossings can be 

reported by checking the ‘‘Change in 

Data’’ box. However, FRA has decided 

to retain the ‘‘Re-Open’’ box in the 

‘‘Reason for Update’’ data field to 

continue FRA’s efforts to capture 

accurate data on the status of formerly 

closed crossings or crossings that are 

placed back into active service. 

The ICC also recommended that the 

final rule only allow State agencies to 

submit updates to the Crossing 

Inventory that reflect the re-opening of 

a formerly closed public crossing or a 

public crossing that was previously not 

subject to train traffic. However, as the 

Inventory Guide states, the primary 

operating railroad is responsible for 

providing updates to the Crossing 

Inventory showing the re-opening of a 

highway-rail or pathway crossing and 

that railroad should have ready access 

to up-to-date train traffic data for the 

crossing. While the primary operating 

railroad must report this change in 

operating status in the periodic update 

§ 234.409(a) requires, we also strongly 

encourage the primary operating 

railroad to update the Crossing 

Inventory as soon as possible after a 

highway-rail or pathway crossing is 

placed back in service. 

Date Change Only: While expressing 

concern that FRA should consider 

renaming the ‘‘Date Change Only’’ box 

in the ‘‘Reason for Update’’ data field, 

LaDOTD and Tavla Solutions stated the 

Inventory Guide fails to provide 

sufficient guidance for when this box 

should be checked. While we retained 

the title of this box as proposed, we 

changed the Inventory Guide to state the 

‘‘Date Change Only’’ box should be 

checked to indicate the crossing data 

has not changed since the last update to 

the Crossing Inventory. 

Change in Primary Operating RR: The 

CPUC submitted comments 

recommending that the ‘‘Operating RR 

Transfer’’ box in the ‘‘Reason for 

Update’’ data field be removed because 

the new primary operating railroad can 

check the ‘‘Change in Data’’ box and 

provide updated information. While we 

removed the ‘‘Operating RR Transfer’’ 

box from the Inventory Form in the final 

rule, we added a new box titled, 

‘‘Change in Primary Operating RR’’. We 

added the ‘‘Change in Primary 

Operating RR’’ box to the Inventory 

Form to facilitate official notification of 

a change in primary operating railroad 

status that may result from the sale of 

a highway-rail or pathway crossing. The 

‘‘Change in Primary Operating RR’’ box 

should also be checked as part of the 

periodic updating process, if there has 

been a change in the primary operating 

railroad since the last railroad 

submission to the Crossing Inventory. 

Admin. Correction: FRA has decided 

to retain the ‘‘Admin. Correction’’ box 

in the ‘‘Reason for Update’’ data field 

despite comments from the ICC and 


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CPUC recommending that the ‘‘Admin. 

Correction’’ box either be eliminated or 

combined with the ‘‘Change in Data’’ 

box. The ‘‘Admin. Correction’’ and 

‘‘Change in Data’’ boxes have separate 

and distinct purposes. The ‘‘Admin. 

Correction’’ box should be checked 

when a railroad or State user intends to 

correct crossing data that was 

previously submitted in error. However, 

a railroad or State user should check the 

‘‘Change in Data’’ box when it intends 

to submit crossing data associated with 

an actual change in crossing 

characteristics that is not reflected by 

any other box in the ‘‘Reason for 

Update’’ data field. 

LaDOTD and Tavla Solutions also 

submitted comments recommending 

that FRA allow railroads to check the 

‘‘Admin Correction’’ box when 

reporting previously unreported 

crossings. However, previously 

unreported crossings are ‘‘new’’ to the 

Crossing Inventory. Therefore, the ‘‘New 

Crossing’’ box must be checked when 

reporting previously unreported 

crossings to the Crossing Inventory. 

Quiet Zone Update: The ICC 

submitted comments recommending 

that the ‘‘Quiet Zone Update’’ box be 

removed from the ‘‘Reason for Update’’ 

data field because the ‘‘Change in Data’’ 

box could be checked when submitting 

quiet zone updates. However, FRA 

retained the ‘‘Quiet Zone Update’’ box 

to reflect FRA entry of Crossing 

Inventory data that has been submitted 

for quiet zone-related purposes. The 

‘‘Quiet Zone Update’’ box is only 

intended for FRA use. Accordingly, the 

GCIS system will not allow users to 

check the ‘‘Quiet Zone Update’’ box 

when crossing data is submitted or 

updated electronically. 

Part I, Location and Classification 

Information 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that the maximum 

character limits reflected in various 

boxes on the Inventory Form be 

increased. In response to these 

comments, FRA designed the GCIS 

database to contain generally accepted 

database standards for maximum 

character limitations. In addition, we 

revised the Inventory Form by removing 

most of the maximum character limits 

that were specified for individual data 

fields. 

City/Municipality 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that the Inventory Guide 

advise Crossing Inventory users that 

they should provide the name of the city 

or municipality that is located closest to 

the crossing on the railroad line segment 

in the ‘‘City/Municipality’’ data field for 

crossings that are not located within a 

city or municipality. We agree and have 

revised the Inventory Guide to instruct 

Crossing Inventory users to enter the 

name of the city or municipality along 

the rail line that is closest to the 

crossing if the crossing is not located 

within the boundaries of a city or 

municipality. 

Street/Road Name & Block Number 

A private citizen submitted comments 

recommending that Crossing Inventory 

users be allowed to provide a specific 

address for the ‘‘Street/Road Name & 

Block Number’’ data field, especially for 

private crossings, as opposed to a block 

number. The commenter stated that 

because first responders are generally 

dispatched to an address, the private 

citizen believes retention of specific 

addresses in the Crossing Inventory 

could improve response time to 

problems at grade crossing locations 

until dispatchers have access to the 

latitude and longitude coordinates that 

will be submitted in the next required 

periodic update. While we designed the 

GCIS system designed to accept a 

specific street address in this data field, 

we did not revise the Inventory Guide 

to advise Crossing Inventory users to 

provide a specific street address in this 

data field because highway-rail and 

pathway crossings do not have specific 

street addresses. 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that the Street/Road 

Name data field be revised to include a 

subfield for the street name alias, such 

as the common name used locally or the 

name used by 911 system operators. 

Although we did not adopt this 

recommendation, State agencies may 

use the State Use data fields to record 

street name aliases associated with 

individual highway-rail crossings. 

NCDOT submitted comments 

recommending that the Block Number 

subfield in the Street/Road Name data 

field be classified as optional. We agree 

and revised the Inventory Form based 

on this recommendation. 

Highway Type & No. 

NCDOT and the CPUC submitted 

comments recommending that FRA 

revise the Inventory Guide to include a 

reference to highways and roadways 

that are classified as ‘‘SR’’ in the list of 

highway types. FRA agrees that this 

revision would be beneficial and revised 

the Inventory Guide accordingly. In 

addition, since States generally 

determine highway type by using 

established criteria, we revised the 

Inventory Guide discussion of this data 

field to defer to methods States use to 

designate highway type. 

Do other railroads operate a separate 

track at crossing? 

The CPUC submitted comments 

recommending that the Inventory Guide 

address submission of crossing data by 

operating railroads other than the 

primary operating railroad. Therefore, 

we have revised the final rule to 

specifically address this issue. Unless 

the ‘‘Yes’’ box has been checked in the 

‘‘Do Other Railroads Operate a Separate 

Track at Crossing’’ data field, the 

primary operating railroad is the only 

operating railroad that is required to 

submit initial and updated crossing data 

for highway-rail and pathway crossings 

to the Crossing Inventory. 

If the ‘‘Yes’’ box is checked in the ‘‘Do 

Other Railroads Operate a Separate 

Track at Crossing’’ data field and the 

primary operating railroad has 

submitted one or more railroad codes to 

identify the operating railroads that 

operate over separate tracks at the 

crossing, each operating railroad that 

operates through the highway-rail or 

pathway crossing must submit certain 

crossing data directly to the Crossing 

Inventory and then submit updates to 

that data every three years. (However, 

the primary operating railroad is still 

required to submit an accurate and 

complete Inventory Form, or its 

electronic equivalent, to the Crossing 

Inventory for the crossing, which 

includes train count and train speed 

data that is specifically related to the 

primary operating railroad’s train 

operations.) Please refer to the Inventory 

Guide for an explanation of the 

individual data fields that each 

operating railroad must complete. 

RR Milepost 

The CPUC submitted comments 

recommending that the Inventory Guide 

advise Crossing Inventory users to 

measure the milepost location from the 

center of the highway-rail crossing. We 

did not adopt this recommendation. As 

long as the operating railroad adopts a 

consistent method for designating 

milepost locations, the milepost 

location the operating railroad submits 

should be sufficient. 

The CPUC also recommended that 

FRA eliminate the ‘‘prefix’’ and ‘‘suffix’’ 

data subfields because this information 

appears to be intended for railroad use. 

In the alternative, the CPUC 

recommended that the ‘‘prefix’’ and 

‘‘suffix’’ data subfields be put in a 

separate data field and not combined 

with milepost information. We decline 

to adopt this recommendation and 

retained the RR Milepost data field as 


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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 3 / Tuesday, January 6, 2015 / Rules and Regulations 767 

proposed. The prefix or suffix an 

operating railroad uses is relevant and 

useful information that can be used to 

distinguish between milepost locations 

on different territories or lines. 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that the Inventory Form 

only capture milepost data to the 

hundredths of a mile, as opposed to the 

thousandths of a mile on the Inventory 

Form. Although we retained the RR 

Milepost data field as proposed, we 

modified the Inventory Guide to state 

that milepost data provided to the 

hundredths of a mile will be accepted. 

Line Segment 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that the Line Segment 

data field be a required data field rather 

than an optional data field. In addition, 

the ICC recommended that FRA add a 

Line Segment data field for State use. 

Although we retained the Line Segment 

data field as an optional data field, we 

revised the Inventory Guide to advise 

railroads to provide line segment 

information, if applicable. Railroads and 

States are also encouraged to use the 

Railroad Use and State Use data fields 

on the Inventory Form to record 

additional line segment data for 

individual highway-rail and pathway 

crossings. 

Crossing Type 

In the proposed rule, FRA requested 

comments on the proposed revision to 

the Inventory Form that would remove 

pedestrian crossings from the list of 

crossing types, yet allow railroads to 

select ‘‘Pathway, Ped.’’ or ‘‘Station, 

Ped.’’ as the crossing purpose. FRA 

received comments in support of these 

revisions from a number of State 

agencies, such as the CPUC, the 

Delaware Department of Transportation 

(DelDOT), and the Nevada Department 

of Transportation (NDOT). However, 

FRA also received comments from 

Denver RTD and the AAR expressing 

concern that the Inventory Guide failed 

to provide sufficient guidance on the 

appropriate classification of crossings 

previously classified as pedestrian 

crossings. 

In its comments, the AAR stated the 

Inventory Guide fails to explain how 

crossings currently designated as 

‘‘pedestrian’’ should be classified, for 

purposes of determining crossing type. 

Denver RTD requested guidance on 

whether FRA intended to collect data on 

the public/private status of pathway 

crossings. In response to these 

comments, we revised the Inventory 

Guide to provide definitions of public 

and private pathway crossings and 

public pedestrian station crossings to 

provide assistance to railroads and State 

agencies on the proper classification of 

crossings that were formerly classified 

as ‘‘pedestrian crossings’’ for the 

Crossing Inventory. 

FRA also received comments on the 

appropriate entity (State agency or 

railroad) it should hold responsible for 

submitting updates to the ‘‘Crossing 

Type’’ data field. LaDOTD 

recommended that FRA hold State 

agencies responsible for submitting 

crossing data for this data field because 

railroads are unable to determine 

crossing type for crossings are located 

on the State/county/municipal system. 

Similarly, the AAR submitted comments 

recommending that State agencies have 

the exclusive authority to determine 

whether a highway-rail or pathway 

crossing should be classified as a public 

or private crossing. However, the ICC 

submitted comments recommending 

that State agencies have exclusive 

responsibility for submitting crossing 

type and crossing purpose updates for 

public crossings and the primary 

operating railroad have the exclusive 

responsibility to submit crossing type 

updates for private crossings. 

As stated in the preamble to the 

proposed rule, FRA will defer to the 

determination of the relevant State 

agency for the public/private 

classification of highway-rail (and 

pathway) crossings. Accordingly, we are 

asking State agencies to submit 

voluntary updates to the Crossing Type 

data field in Part I of the Inventory 

Form, as stated in Appendix B to the 

Inventory Guide. In addition, as the 

Inventory Guide states, when Crossing 

Type is changed from Private to Public 

for a highway-rail grade crossing, we are 

asking the State agency to complete the 

remainder of the Inventory Form (or its 

electronic equivalent) for the affected 

crossing. The remainder of the 

Inventory Form reflects Statemaintained public crossing information, 

including highway or pathway traffic 

control device data and public highway 

information. 

Crossing Purpose 

In the proposed rule, FRA requested 

comments on the newly added 

‘‘Crossing Purpose’’ data field on the 

Inventory Form, which is intended to 

allow railroads and States to identify 

highway-rail crossings, pedestrian 

crossings located within railway 

stations, and other pedestrian/pathway 

crossings. Denver RTD submitted 

comments recommending that FRA 

change the title of the ‘‘Highway 

Vehicle’’ box in the ‘‘Crossing Purpose’’ 

data field to ‘‘Highway’’ since highwayrail crossings are, by definition, subject 

to vehicular use. The CPUC submitted 

comments recommending that the 

Inventory Guide advise Crossing 

Inventory users to check the ‘‘Highway 

Vehicle’’ box if the highway-rail 

crossing is equipped with both 

vehicular and pedestrian warning 

devices. 

In the final rule we changed the title 

of the ‘‘Highway Vehicle’’ box in the 

‘‘Crossing Purpose’’ data field to 

‘‘Highway’’ on the Inventory Form. In 

addition, we added a description of the 

crossings that should be classified as 

having a ‘‘Highway’’ crossing purpose to 

the Inventory Guide. (While crossings 

classified as having a ‘‘Highway’’ 

crossing purpose may be equipped with 

vehicular and pedestrian warning 

devices, a crossing that is dedicated for 

the use of non-vehicular traffic should 

not be classified as having a ‘‘Highway’’ 

crossing purpose). 

As for the ‘‘Pathway, Ped., Other’’ box 

in the ‘‘Crossing Purpose’’ data field, 

Denver RTD submitted comments 

recommending that the title of the box 

be changed to ‘‘Pathway’’ since pathway 

crossings are, by definition, subject to 

pedestrian use. Denver RTD also 

asserted that use of the term ‘‘Other’’ in 

the title was confusing. We agree and 

changed the title of the ‘‘Pathway, Ped., 

Other’’ box to ‘‘Pathway, Ped.’’ on the 

Inventory Form to assist Crossing 

Inventory users seeking guidance on the 

appropriate classification of crossings 

that were formerly classified as 

pedestrian crossings and are not located 

within a railway station. 

While stating there is no need to 

distinguish between pedestrian 

crossings located within a station versus 

pedestrian crossings located outside of a 

station, the ICC submitted comments 

recommending that FRA eliminate the 

‘‘Station, Ped.’’ box from the ‘‘Crossing 

Purpose’’ data field. However, Denver 

RTD submitted comments 

recommending the ‘‘station crossing’’ 

box be retained, yet defined, so that it 

can be used to collect passenger transit 

data. (For example, Denver RTD 

requested guidance on whether FRA 

would classify a station crossing that is 

to be utilized only by fare-paying 

passengers and thus not otherwise open 

to or available for general public use as 

a private or public crossing). 

FRA retained the ‘‘Station, Ped.’’ box 

on the Inventory Form to capture 

crossing data related to passenger 

stations. However, we revised the 

Inventory Guide to include a definition 

of the type of pathway crossing that 

should be classified as ‘‘Station, Ped.’’ 

on the Inventory Form. We also revised 

the Inventory Guide to advise Crossing 

Users to classify pedestrian station 


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crossings as public crossings on the 

Crossing Type data field discussed 

above. 

Public Access 

NCDOT and the AAR submitted 

comments requesting additional 

guidance on what would constitute a 

private crossing with public access for 

purposes of the Crossing Inventory. 

NCDOT recommended that the 

Inventory Guide include a privately 

maintained road that serves a housing 

development of multiple property 

owners as an example of a private 

crossing with public access. Otherwise, 

NCDOT believes there may be 

inconsistent classification of these 

private crossings by reporting entities. 

FRA agrees that additional guidance 

would be helpful, so we revised the 

definition of public access in the 

Inventory Guide and added a privatelyowned road that serves a residential 

housing development (of at least five 

dwellings) as another example of a 

private crossing with public access. 

The AAR stated that access for 

expected guests, including utilities and 

public services on private property, 

should not constitute public access for 

purposes of this data field. Instead, the 

AAR recommended that ‘‘public access’’ 

designations be restricted to situations 

where the public has an easement across 

a private crossing. However, the Public 

Access data field is intended to capture 

data for private highway-rail and 

pathway crossings where the railroad 

tracks intersect with a private road open 

to public travel. If we limited the 

definition of ‘‘public access’’ to 

situations involving public access 

easements, this data field would fail to 

capture private crossings where the 

public has a reasonable expectation of 

being able to travel through the private 

crossing without restrictions. 

Tavla Solutions also submitted 

comments asserting that the Inventory 

Guide has a different definition for the 

term ‘‘public access’’ than the standard 

definition of this term used in the real 

estate context. Tavla Solutions further 

asserted that the definition in the 

Inventory Guide may differ from State 

law definitions of this term. After 

considering these comments, FRA 

revised the Inventory Guide to make the 

definition of ‘‘public access’’ consistent 

with the definition in the Federal 

Highway Administration’s MUTCD. 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that the Inventory Guide 

require completion of Parts I through V 

of the Inventory Form if the ‘‘Yes’’ box 

in the Public Access data field is 

checked. While we did not adopt this 

recommendation in this final rule, FRA 

strongly encourages railroads to 

voluntarily report data on trainactivated warning devices, crossing 

signs, and crossing surface at private 

highway-rail grade crossings and 

pathway crossings to the Crossing 

Inventory. The NTSB recently issued 

Safety Recommendation R–14–48 that 

FRA should require equivalent levels of 

reporting for both public and private 

highway-rail grade crossings. Therefore, 

FRA may issue regulations in the future 

that would require railroads to provide 

additional data on private highway-rail 

and pathway crossings to the Crossing 

Inventory. 

Type of Train 

The AAR recommended that urban 

rapid transit operations should not be 

reported in the ‘‘Type of Train’’ data 

field because FRA’s statement of 

jurisdiction published at appendix A to 

49 CFR part 209 excludes rapid transit 

operations within an urban area that are 

not connected to the general railroad 

system of transportation. 

However, the ‘‘Transit’’ subfield has 

been retained in the ‘‘Type of Train’’ 

data field in Part I of the Inventory 

Form. As explained in the Section-bySection Analysis of § 234.401, urban 

rapid transit operators that operate one 

or more trains through highway-rail and 

pathway crossings that are on or 

connected to the general railroad system 

of transportation are considered to be 

operating railroads subject to the 

reporting and updating requirements in 

the final rule. 

Average Passenger Train Count Per Day 

The CPUC submitted comments 

recommending that we add an 

additional line to the ‘‘Average 

Passenger Train Count Per Day’’ data 

field in Part I of the Inventory Form to 

capture data on the number of daily 

urban rapid transit movements through 

the highway-rail or pathway crossing. 

The CPUC believes the number of urban 

rapid transit movements should not be 

combined with the number of 

passenger/commuter rail train 

movements with significantly different 

safety concerns. 

Even though we retained this data 

field as proposed, FRA agrees that it 

will be useful to capture data on the 

number of rail transit movements 

through highway-rail and pathway 

crossings. Therefore, as explained in 

more detail in the discussion of Part II 

of the Inventory Form, we revised Part 

II of the Inventory Form by adding a 

data field dedicated to the total number 

of transit train movements per day. 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that we change the title 

of the ‘‘Average Passenger Train Count 

Per Day’’ data field to ‘‘Average 

Passenger Train Count Per Weekday’’ 

and instruct the primary operating 

railroad to submit data on the total 

number of trains operated Monday 

through Friday, divided by five. We 

decided to retain the title of this data 

field as proposed in the Inventory Form. 

While many commuter railroads operate 

a higher number of trains during the 

workweek as compared to week-end 

operations, other passenger railroads 

(such as Amtrak) may have a more 

consistent number of train movements 

throughout the week. Since the primary 

purpose of this data field is to collect 

data on passenger train movements on 

a typical operating day, the Inventory 

Guide gives operating railroads the 

flexibility to determine which day of the 

week best represents a typical operating 

day for their passenger train operations. 

Type of Land Use 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that FRA change the title 

of the ‘‘Type of Development—Primary 

Purpose of Crossing’’ data field in Part 

I of the Inventory Form to ‘‘Type of 

Land Use’’ since this data field will 

capture data on the type of land use 

around the highway-rail or pathway 

crossing. To more accurately reflect the 

intended use of this data field, we 

changed the title to ‘‘Type of Land Use’’. 

The ICC also recommended that we 

change the title of the ‘‘Farm (Field to 

Field)’’ box in the ‘‘Type of 

Development—Primary Purpose of 

Crossing’’ data field to ‘‘Farm’’ since 

there are some Farm crossings that are 

not Field to Field crossings. The ICC 

also submitted comments 

recommending that the Inventory Guide 

discussion of the ‘‘Farm (Field to 

Field)’’ box refer to wineries and other 

types of non-traditional agricultural 

enterprises. We agree and revised the 

Inventory Guide based on these 

recommendations. 

DelDOT submitted comments 

recommending that the primary 

operating railroad be assigned the 

responsibility for submitting three-year 

periodic updates to this data field under 

§ 234.409(a). However, LaDOTD 

submitted comments recommending 

that State agencies be responsible for 

submitting crossing data for this data 

field since States routinely use 

demographic information for analysis 

purposes and, therefore, should have 

the requisite information. 

After considering these comments, 

FRA is asking State agencies to 

voluntarily submit updates for this data 

field for public highway-rail and 

pathway crossings, as reflected in 


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Appendix B of the Inventory Guide. As 

noted by LaDOTD, the State agency with 

jurisdiction over public highway-rail 

and pathway crossings will likely have 

information related to the type of land 

use in the vicinity of the crossing. 

However, primary operating railroads 

are required to submit three-year 

periodic updates for this data field for 

private highway-rail grade crossings and 

private pathway grade crossings. 

Is there an adjacent crossing with a 

separate number? 

NCDOT submitted comments 

recommending that we revise the 

Inventory Guide to define the term 

‘‘adjacent crossing’’ as another set of 

tracks crossing the same highway with 

25 feet or less between centerlines of 

tracks and where the tracks have 

different crossing numbers. However, 

we are defining adjacent crossings as 

having a distance of 100 feet or less 

between the centerlines of the tracks 

because queuing issues can occur at 100 

feet. Therefore, FRA did not adopt this 

recommendation. 

Quiet Zone 

The ICC, LaDOTD, and Tavla 

Solutions submitted comments 

recommending that we remove the 

‘‘Quiet Zone’’ data field from the 

Inventory Form because FRA is the only 

entity that will have permission to 

submit data for this data field. However, 

FRA retained the Quiet Zone data field 

as proposed in the Inventory Form. To 

avoid confusion about whether this data 

field should be completed, we revised 

the Inventory Guide to add specific 

instructions to leave this data field 

blank. 

HSR Corridor ID 

We revised the Inventory Guide to 

make this data field a required data field 

and to correct a typographical error in 

the reference to Appendix F, which 

contains a list of the High-Speed Rail 

Corridor Designations and Codes. 

Latitude in Decimal Degrees/Longitude 

in Decimal Degrees 

FRA made technical corrections to the 

title of the Latitude and Longitude data 

fields to reflect the correct decimal 

format required for this data. 

Lat/Long Source 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that we should define 

the ‘‘Actual’’ box in the ‘‘Lat/Long 

Source’’ data field in the Inventory 

Guide to mean coordinates taken in the 

field centerline of the roadway or 

pathway to the centerline of the railroad 

tracks with a horizontal accuracy of one 

meter or better. The ICC recommended 

that coordinates which fail to meet this 

standard should be classified as 

estimates. However, Tavla Solutions 

submitted comments asserting that a 

requirement to conduct field 

measurements from the center of a 

highway-rail grade crossing to meet the 

criteria for ‘‘Actual’’ latitude and 

longitude coordinates would create a 

safety hazard for the data collection 

team. 

We revised the Inventory Guide to 

advise Crossing Inventory users that 

they should measure latitude and 

longitude coordinates taken in the field 

at the intersection of the centerline of 

the roadway or pathway with the 

centerline of the railroad track, with a 

horizontal accuracy of one meter or 

better. However, the Crossing Inventory 

will continue to classify latitude and 

longitude coordinates taken using global 

positioning system equipment as 

‘‘Actual’’ latitude and longitude 

coordinates. The Crossing Inventory 

also will continue to classify latitude 

and longitude coordinates obtained 

using free online technology as 

‘‘Actual’’ latitude and longitude 

coordinates for purposes of the Crossing 

Inventory. The ‘‘Estimated’’ box in the 

‘‘Lat/Long Source’’ data field will 

therefore be largely populated by 

existing latitude and longitude 

coordinates that generated by early 

computer models that may have been 

somewhat inaccurate. 

Railroad Use/State Use 

The AAR submitted comments 

recommending that the Railroad Use 

boxes be expanded to allow for 

crossings that have more than four 

operators. However, the number of 

Railroad Use boxes is not intended to 

directly correlate with the number of 

railroads that may operate through a 

highway-rail or pathway crossing 

because the Railroad Use boxes are 

optional. After reviewing current usage 

patterns associated with the Railroad 

Use boxes, we did not change the 

number of Railroad Use boxes on the 

Inventory Form. 

Narrative 

We revised the Narrative box on the 

Inventory Form by dividing it into two 

separate boxes, with one Narrative box 

for railroad use and another Narrative 

box for State use. FRA made this change 

in response to ICC comments 

recommending this change to the 

Inventory Form. This change also 

should alleviate concerns expressed in 

comments NCDOT submitted that a 

Narrative box shared by Railroads and 

State agencies may lead to over-writing 

of data in the event of inconsistent 

information. 

Emergency Notification Telephone No. 

FRA revised the Inventory Guide to 

provide clarification that ‘‘911’’ cannot 

be used as an emergency notification 

telephone number in the Crossing 

Inventory. As stated in the Inventory 

Guide, the Emergency Notification 

System (ENS) telephone number the 

railroad publicized for use in reporting 

emergencies, malfunctions, and 

problems at the highway-rail or pathway 

crossing under subpart E to 49 CFR part 

234, must be reported in this data field. 

Part II, Railroad Information 

Estimated Number of Daily Train 

Movements 

We changed the title of Item One in 

Part II of the Inventory Form from 

‘‘Estimated Average Number of Daily 

Train Movements’’ to ‘‘Estimated 

Number of Daily Train Movements’’ to 

clarify that this data field is intended to 

collect data on the estimated number of 

daily train movements not the average 

number of daily train movements. 

The CPUC submitted comments 

seeking clarification on whether local 

freight train movements, as well as 

passenger, commuter rail, and urban 

rapid transit train movements, should 

be included in the train counts reflected 

in the ‘‘Estimated Number of Daily 

Train Movements’’ data field. The CPUC 

recommended that urban rapid transit 

train movements not be reported in the 

‘‘Total Day Thru Trains’’ data field, if 

the data captured in this data field is 

used for the DOT Accident Prediction 

Formula. 

In response to these comments, FRA 

revised the Inventory Guide to state that 

local freight through train movements, 

as well as passenger and commuter rail 

train movements, should be reported as 

‘‘Thru Train’’ movements for purposes 

of the Crossing Inventory. We also 

revised the Inventory Form to include a 

separate subfield titled ‘‘Total Transit 

Trains’’ to capture data on urban rapid 

transit train movements through 

highway-rail and pathway crossings. 

FRA also provided additional 

guidance in the Inventory Guide on the 

train movement data the primary 

operating railroad must report. The 

primary operating railroad is 

responsible for reporting train 

movement data for all railroads that 

operate through the crossing, unless 

Item Seven in Part I of the Inventory 

Form (‘‘Do Other Railroads Operate a 

Separate Track at Crossing?’’) shows 

there are other operating railroads that 

operate over a separate track at the 


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crossing. (If Item Seven in Part I of the 

Inventory Form shows there are other 

operating railroads that operate over a 

separate track at the crossing, each 

operating railroad is responsible for 

submitting their own train count and 

train speed data directly to the Crossing 

Inventory.) We provided this guidance 

in response to CPUC comments 

requesting clarification as to whether 

the primary operating railroad is 

responsible for reporting the number of 

train movements by other railroads 

through the crossing. 

FRA received comments 

recommending that the five proposed 

data fields dedicated to train counts be 

consolidated into fewer data fields. The 

ICC submitted comments 

recommending that four of the proposed 

data fields be consolidated into two data 

fields—one data field for all daytime 

train movements and another for all 

nighttime train movements. Under this 

scenario, the Crossing Inventory would 

not differentiate between train counts 

for through trains and switching train 

movements. We did not adopt this 

recommendation because the DOT 

Accident Prediction Formula relies 

upon the number of through train 

movements shown in the Crossing 

Inventory. (Many States use the DOT 

Accident Prediction Formula to 

determine the appropriate allocation of 

funding for needed crossing safety 

improvements.) Since the number of 

daily switching movements is not used 

in the DOT Accident Prediction 

Formula, we retained separate data 

fields on the Inventory Form for train 

counts of through train movements and 

switching train movements. 

The AAR recommended that the 

Inventory Form be revised to reflect the 

train count data fields contained in the 

1999 version of the Inventory Form. In 

the 1999 version of the Inventory Form, 

there was one data field for total 

through train movements and another 

data field for total switching train 

movements. In support of this 

recommendation, the AAR noted that a 

previously published FRA guidance 

document related to data file structure 

and field input specifications contained 

language stating that distinctions 

between daytime train movements and 

nighttime train movements are no 

longer maintained in the Crossing 

Inventory. While asserting that train 

counts are not constant throughout the 

year for many reasons, including 

changes in operating plans and changes 

in shipping/delivery requests from local 

industries, the AAR stated that it will be 

difficult for railroads to break down 

their train counts into the requested 12- 

hour blocks. 

FRA agrees that train counts for 

daytime and nighttime switching 

movements should remain combined. 

However, we note that the 1999 version 

of the Inventory Form also contained a 

third data field for total daylight 

through train movements during the 12- 

hour period between 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. As 

discussed above, a distinction was 

drawn between daytime through train 

movements and nighttime through train 

movements so daily through train 

movements could be used in the DOT 

Accident Prediction Formula. Therefore, 

while FRA understands it may be 

difficult to provide an accurate count of 

daily through train movements due to 

variations in operating plans and 

business arrangements, railroads should 

be accustomed to submitting data on 

estimated ‘‘daylight’’ through train 

counts to the Crossing Inventory. 

Accordingly, we retained the separate 

data fields for daytime and nighttime 

through train movements on the 

Inventory Form as proposed. 

Year of Train Count Data 

FRA did not revise the ‘‘Year of Train 

Count Data’’ data field in Part II of the 

Inventory Form. The CPUC submitted 

comments recommending expansion of 

this data field to collect data on the 

month, as well as the year, of the train 

count data submitted to the Crossing 

Inventory. However, we designed the 

GCIS system to capture the date on 

which any update to the Crossing 

Inventory is submitted, which includes 

any update to the train count data fields. 

Therefore, we retained this data field as 

proposed. 

Speed of Train at Crossing 

FRA provided additional guidance in 

the Inventory Guide to clarify that the 

highest maximum timetable speed for 

any type of train movement through the 

crossing should be entered in the 

‘‘Speed of Train at Crossing’’ data field 

in Part II of the Inventory Form. 

Therefore, if a highway-rail or pathway 

crossing is subject to freight and 

passenger train movements, the highest 

maximum authorized speed (which will 

generally apply to passenger train 

movements) should be entered in this 

data field. We provided this guidance in 

response to ICC comments 

recommending that the ‘‘Speed of Train 

at Crossing’’ data field should show the 

highest maximum authorized timetable 

speed for any type of train movement 

through the crossing. 

Type and Count of Tracks 

In the proposed rule, FRA solicited 

comments on the definitions we 

provided in the Inventory Guide for the 

various types of track listed in the 

‘‘Type and Count of Tracks’’ data field. 

FRA received comments from the AAR 

and the CPUC recommending that FRA 

reduce the proposed list of track types 

and define each track type consistent 

with definitions FRA and the Surface 

Transportation Board currently use. 

NCDOT submitted comments noting 

that the ‘‘Spur/Lead’’ and the ‘‘Storage’’ 

track types appear to be repetitive. The 

ICC also submitted comments 

recommending that the ‘‘Type and 

Count of Tracks’’ data field be revised 

to capture data on the number of each 

type of track at the crossing. FRA 

generally agrees with these 

recommendations and has therefore 

reduced the number of track types. For 

example, we merged the ‘‘Spur/Lead’’ 

and the ‘‘Storage’’ track types into the 

‘‘Yard’’ track type. In addition, we 

removed the proposed ‘‘Wye’’ track type 

from the Inventory Form because there 

does not appear to be sufficient need to 

capture this data. 

In addition, we revised the definitions 

of the ‘‘Main’’, ‘‘Industry’’, ‘‘Siding’’, 

and ‘‘Yard’’ track types in the Inventory 

Guide to make them consistent with the 

FRA Guide for Preparing Accident/

Incident Reports. We also revised the 

‘‘Type and Count of Tracks’’ data field 

to collect data on the number of each 

type of track at the crossing. 

Train Detection 

In the NPRM, FRA solicited 

comments on whether we should collect 

data on the number of tracks at a 

crossing equipped with train detection 

technology. Noting the absence of 

information explaining FRA’s purpose 

in collecting this data, AAR submitted 

comments asserting it could not support 

the proposed collection of data. 

However, if FRA decides to collect this 

data, AAR recommended elimination of 

the ‘‘PTC’’ category because the 

Inventory Guide failed to identify which 

Positive Train Control characteristics 

must be present in the crossing circuitry 

to qualify as ‘‘PTC’’ for purposes of the 

Crossing Inventory. 

The CPUC, Denver RTD, and the ICC 

submitted comments in support of 

collecting data on the tracks at a 

crossing equipped with train detection 

technology. However, the CPUC and ICC 

believe FRA should only collect data on 

the train detection technology installed 

on mainline tracks through the crossing. 

The BRS submitted comments in 

support of reporting the various types of 

train detection equipment installed at a 

crossing so that FRA and railroad 

personnel can confirm the presence (or 

absence) of such equipment when 

performing inspections. The BRS also 


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stated that collection of data on the 

various types or brands of train 

detection equipment installed at a 

crossing will make it easier for FRA and 

railroad personnel to confirm that 

proper prints are available at each 

crossing location. Similarly, Denver 

RTD stated that reporting the types of 

train detection equipment installed at a 

crossing will create a more accurate 

record for determining the root cause of 

accidents and ensure proper inspection 

and repairs of train detection 

equipment. 

We retained the ‘‘Train Detection’’ 

data field in Part II of the Inventory 

Form as proposed. Although FRA agrees 

that collection of data on train detection 

technology installed at highway-rail and 

pathway crossings is beneficial, FRA is 

not requiring the submission of data on 

individual brands of train detection 

equipment installed in the field. 

However, railroads that wish to record 

this information may use the ‘‘Railroad 

Use’’ data fields in Part I of the 

Inventory Form for this purpose. We did 

revise the Inventory Guide discussion of 

the ‘‘PTC’’ box in the ‘‘Train Detection’’ 

data field to include a reference to 

FRA’s Positive Train Control System 

regulations in 49 CFR 236.1005, which 

contains a list of the required 

functionalities for positive train control 

systems. 

Is track signaled? 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that FRA add a subfield 

for PTC to the ‘‘Is Track Signaled?’’ data 

field in Part II of the Inventory Form. In 

support of this recommendation, the 

ICC explained that if the primary 

operating railroad submits data 

indicating that the highway-rail or 

pathway crossing is located on track 

equipped with a block signal, cab signal, 

or train control system to govern train 

operations, the Inventory Guide could 

direct the primary operating railroad to 

specify whether the track is equipped 

with a PTC system by checking an 

additional ‘‘Yes/No’’ box. 

We retained this data field as 

proposed. Since the type of train 

detection technology present on 

mainline tracks through the crossing 

must be reported in the ‘‘Train 

Detection’’ data field discussed above, 

there is not sufficient need to add a PTC 

subfield in this data field. 

Event Recorder/Remote Health 

Monitoring 

NCDOT submitted comments 

asserting that the proposed title of the 

‘‘Event Recorder Monitoring Device’’ 

data field on the Inventory Form was 

too similar to the title of the 

‘‘Monitoring Devices’’ data field in Part 

III of the Inventory Form and should 

therefore be changed. The ICC also 

submitted comments recommending 

that FRA divide the ‘‘Event Recorder 

Monitoring Device’’ data field on the 

Inventory Form into two separate data 

fields, with one data field for Event 

Recorders and another data field for 

Remote Health Monitors. In making this 

recommendation, the ICC noted that 

many crossings have remote health 

monitors, whereas far fewer have event 

recorders. FRA agrees it would be 

beneficial to revise this data field and 

has therefore revised the Inventory 

Form by dividing the former ‘‘Event 

Recorder Monitoring Device’’ data field 

into two separate data fields, with one 

data field for Event Recorders and 

another for Remote Health Monitoring 

devices. 

Part III, Highway or Pathway Traffic 

Control Device Information 

FRA changed the title of Part III of the 

Inventory Form from ‘‘Highway Traffic 

Control Device Information’’ to 

‘‘Highway or Pathway Traffic Control 

Device Information.’’ We made this 

change in response to ICC comments to 

show that Part III of the Inventory Form 

is intended to collect traffic control 

device data for both highway-rail and 

pathway crossings. 

Are there signs or signals? 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that FRA change the title 

of the ‘‘No Signs or Signals’’ data field 

in Part III of the Inventory Form to ‘‘Are 

There Warning Signs or Signals in 

Place?’’ and replace the ‘‘Check if this 

applies’’ box with Yes/No boxes. 

Consistent with this recommendation, 

FRA changed the title of the ‘‘No Signs 

or Signals’’ data field in Part III of the 

Inventory Form to ‘‘Are there Signs or 

Signals?’’ and added Yes/No boxes to 

replace the proposed ‘‘Check if this 

applies’’ box. 

Types of Passive Traffic Control Devices 

Associated With the Crossing 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that we rename the 

heading ‘‘Type of Passive Traffic 

Control Devices at Crossing—Signs’’ for 

item two in Part III of the Inventory 

Form to ‘‘Type of Passive Traffic Control 

Sign at and/or near the Crossing’’ since 

many advance warning signs are not 

actually posted at the crossing, but are 

often located nearby on adjacent or 

intersecting roadways. Consistent with 

this recommendation, we changed the 

title for item two in Part III of the 

Inventory Form to ‘‘Types of Passive 

Traffic Control Devices associated with 

the Crossing’’. 

LaDOTD and Tavla Solutions also 

submitted comments recommending 

that the Inventory Guide include 

pictures or drawings of the MUTCD 

signs referenced in the data fields that 

make up item two of Part III of the 

Inventory Form. FRA agrees and added 

pictures of warning devices and signs to 

the Inventory Guide to provide 

additional clarification. However, FRA 

did not add pictures and drawings of all 

MUTCD-compliant signs referenced in 

the data fields in item two of Part III of 

the Inventory Form because the MUTCD 

is frequently revised. Instead, Crossing 

Inventory users are advised to consult 

the current edition of the MUTCD for 

additional information regarding 

MUTCD-compliant sign and warning 

device specifications. 

Crossbuck Assemblies 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that the Inventory Guide 

advise Crossing Inventory users to 

submit data on the actual number of 

crossbuck signs associated with a 

crossing, rather than the number of 

crossbuck assemblies (which would be 

counted by the proposed method of 

reporting the number of masts or posts 

on which crossbuck signs have been 

installed). The ICC noted that, while 

unusual, there are situations in which 

there may be more than one crossbuck 

sign per assembly. The ICC also 

recommended that the Inventory Guide 

advise Crossing Inventory users to 

submit data on the number of all 

crossbucks signs present at the crossing, 

regardless of the presence of flashing 

lights or gates. 

FRA retained the guidance contained 

in the Inventory Guide to provide data 

on the number of masts or posts with 

mounted crossbucks. By requiring a 

count of the number of masts or posts 

with mounted crossbucks, Crossing 

Inventory users can monitor compliance 

with an FHWA requirement that 

crossbuck assemblies must be installed 

by December 31, 2019, or when 

adjustments are made to the crossing, 

whichever comes first. FRA also 

retained the proposed instruction to 

refrain from reporting the number of 

crossbuck signs installed on trainactivated warning devices, such as 

flashing light structures and gate masts, 

because the ‘‘Crossbuck Assemblies’’ 

data field is primarily intended to 

collect data on the number of crossbuck 

assemblies present at passive crossings. 

Stop Signs/Yield Signs 

Consistent with comments submitted 

on the ‘‘Crossbuck Assemblies’’ data 


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field, the ICC submitted comments 

recommending that the Inventory Guide 

advise Crossing Inventory users to 

report the actual number of MUTCDcompliant Stop signs and Yield signs at 

the crossing, rather than the number of 

posts or masts. The ICC also 

recommended that the Inventory Guide 

advise Crossing Inventory users to 

report the number of all Stop signs and 

Yield signs present at the crossing, 

regardless of the presence of flashing 

lights or gates. In addition, the ICC 

recommended that FRA add a new data 

field to the Inventory Form to capture 

data on crossings equipped with 

crossbucks and yield signs. 

Consistent with the approach taken 

for the ‘‘Crossbuck Assemblies’’ data 

field above, FRA retained the proposed 

guidance contained in the Inventory 

Guide to collect data on the number of 

posts or masts with stop signs and the 

number of posts or masts with yield 

signs (as opposed to the number of stop 

signs and yield signs). However, with 

respect to the ‘‘Stop Signs’’ and ‘‘Yield 

Signs’’ data fields, the Inventory Guide 

advises Crossing Inventory users to 

provide data on the number of posts or 

masts with stop signs and yield signs, 

regardless of the presence of any other 

type of warning device at the crossing. 

FRA notes that Crossing Inventory users 

can identify crossings equipped with 

crossbucks and yield signs by reviewing 

the ‘‘Yield Signs’’ data field, in 

conjunction with the ‘‘Crossbuck 

Assemblies’’ data field. Therefore, there 

is no need to add a separate data field 

exclusively dedicated to capturing data 

on crossings equipped with both 

crossbucks and yield signs. 

Advance Warning Signs 

In the NPRM, FRA solicited 

comments on whether the Crossing 

Inventory should collect data on the 

actual number of advance warning signs 

posted at a crossing, as opposed to the 

number of posts or masts bearing the 

advance warning signs. 

The BRS submitted comments 

asserting that the number of signs at a 

particular crossing is far more important 

than the number of posts or masts 

bearing signs at the crossing. The CPUC, 

FDOT, NDOT, ICC, Denver RTD, and 

NCDOT also submitted comments 

recommending that the Crossing 

Inventory collect data on the number of 

advance warning signs posted at the 

crossing, rather than the number of 

posts or mast assemblies. Since this data 

field, unlike the data fields for Stop 

Signs and Yield Signs, contains boxes 

that should be checked to indicate the 

specific type of advance warning signs 

present at the crossing, the Inventory 

Guide has been revised to instruct 

Crossing Inventory users to submit a 

count of each type of advance warning 

sign present at the crossing. 

The ICC also submitted comments 

recommending that the Advance 

Warning Signs data field on the 

Inventory Form be replaced with a list 

of all warning signs provided in the 

current edition of the MUTCD. 

However, we would have to update the 

list of MUTCD-compliant signs on a 

continual basis to incorporate new signs 

that are added to the MUTCD, which 

would increase the reporting burden on 

railroads and may require railroads to 

continually update their crossing 

databases to keep up with changes that 

are made in future revisions of the 

MUTCD. Therefore, we retained the 

Advance Warning Signs data field as 

proposed. 

Low Ground Clearance Sign 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that the ‘‘Low Ground 

Clearance Sign’’ data field in Part III of 

the Inventory Form show the number of 

MUTCD-compliant signs present at the 

crossing. FRA agrees with this 

recommendation and revised the 

Inventory Form consistent with this 

recommendation. 

Pavement Markings/Channelization 

Devices 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that we add a box for 

Dynamic Envelope Markings to the 

Pavement Markings data field in Part III 

of the Inventory Form, a box for 

‘‘Other,’’ and a text field of at least 40 

characters to record the presence of any 

additional pavement markings. 

Although we did not add an ‘‘Other’’ 

box to the Pavement Markings data 

field, we revised the Pavement Markings 

data field in Part III of the Inventory 

Form to add a box for Dynamic 

Envelope markings. FRA encourages 

States to use the ‘‘State Use’’ data fields 

in Part I of the Inventory Form to record 

any additional pavement markings that 

may be present at the crossing. 

The ICC also recommended that FRA 

change the title of the ‘‘Channelization 

Devices’’ data field in Part III of the 

Inventory Form to ‘‘Medians and 

Channelization Devices.’’ Consistent 

with this recommendation, we changed 

the title of this data field to 

‘‘Channelization Devices/Medians’’. 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that we move the 

Pavement Markings and Channelization 

Devices data fields to a location after the 

‘‘Types of Train-Activated Warning 

Devices at the Grade Crossing’’ section 

in Part III of the Inventory Form, so all 

warning signs and then devices are 

inventoried sequentially. However, we 

retained these data fields in their 

proposed location on the Inventory 

Form. We believe it is appropriate to 

retain these data fields under the 

heading, ‘‘Types of Passive Control 

Devices associated with the Crossing’’ in 

Part III of the Inventory Form since 

pavement markings and channelization 

devices are considered to be passive 

traffic control devices associated with 

crossings. 

Channelization Devices/Medians 

NCDOT submitted comments 

recommending that FRA revise the 

Inventory Guide to clarify the proper 

classification of medians. Therefore, we 

revised the Inventory Guide to provide 

guidance on how to properly complete 

this data field when channelization 

devices or medians are present at the 

crossing. 

EXEMPT Sign/ENS Sign Displayed 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that we add the word 

‘‘Sign’’ to the title of the ‘‘Exempt’’ data 

field in Part III of the Inventory Form to 

clarify that the presence (or absence) of 

Exempt signs at the crossing should be 

reported. FRA agrees and changed the 

title of this data field to ‘‘EXEMPT 

Sign’’. 

The ICC also recommended that we 

revise the ‘‘EXEMPT Sign’’ and ‘‘ENS 

Sign Displayed’’ data fields in Part III of 

the Inventory Form to require 

submission of the number of MUTCDcompliant signs present at the crossing. 

However, we retained these data fields 

as proposed. FRA is primarily interested 

in obtaining data on the presence (or 

absence) of these signs, not the number 

of these signs present at the crossing. 

Other Signs/Private Crossing Signs 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that we revise the 

‘‘Other Signs’’ data field to accept data 

on the presence of non-MUTCD 

compliant signs, including private 

crossing signs, at the crossing. However, 

given the wide variety of non-MUTCD 

compliant signs that may be in use at 

grade crossings, FRA does not perceive 

any significant benefit that would justify 

the additional burden associated with 

obtaining data on every type of nonMUTCD compliant sign currently in 

use. Therefore, we retained the ‘‘Private 

Crossing Signs’’ data field proposed on 

the Inventory Form to collect data on 

private crossing signs at private 

highway-rail and pathway crossings. In 

addition, the Inventory Guide continues 

to advise Crossing Inventory users to 

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compliant signs in the ‘‘Other Signs’’ 

data field in Part III of the Inventory 

Form. 

The ICC also recommended that signs 

and warning devices at private crossings 

be inventoried and recorded in the same 

data fields used for reporting signs and 

warning devices at public highway-rail 

grade crossings. The ICC noted that this 

approach would eliminate the need for 

the ‘‘Private Crossing Signs’’ data field. 

While FRA has not adopted this 

recommendation, we may revisit this 

recommendation in a future rulemaking. 

As noted previously, the NTSB recently 

issued Safety Recommendation R–14–48 

that FRA should require equivalent 

levels of reporting for both public and 

private highway-rail grade crossings. 

Therefore, FRA may issue regulations in 

the future that would require railroads 

to complete the data fields used for 

reporting signs and warning devices in 

Part III of the Inventory Form for private 

highway-rail and pathway crossings as 

well. However, in the meantime, FRA 

strongly encourages primary operating 

railroads to voluntarily report data on 

train-activated warning devices and 

crossing signs at private highway-rail 

grade crossings and pathway crossings 

to the Crossing Inventory. 

The ICC also submitted comments 

recommending that we require 

submission of the number of signs that 

are present at the crossing in the data 

fields for ‘‘Private Crossing Signs’’ and 

‘‘LED Enhanced Signs’’ in Part III of the 

Inventory Form. However, FRA is 

primarily interested in obtaining data on 

the presence (or absence) of these signs, 

as opposed to the number of these signs 

present at a crossing. Therefore, we 

retained the Private Crossing Signs and 

LED Enhanced Signs data fields in Part 

III of the Inventory Form as proposed. 

The ICC recommended that FRA 

revise the ‘‘Other Signs’’ data field in 

Part III of the Inventory Form by adding 

a check box to denote whether any signs 

are ‘‘LED enhanced.’’ The ICC suggested 

that this check box could replace the 

‘‘LED Enhanced Signs’’ data field in Part 

III of the Inventory Form. We retained 

the ‘‘LED Enhanced Signs’’ data field as 

proposed on the Inventory Form. 

However, we revised the Inventory 

Guide to advise Crossing Inventory 

users to include references to the 

applicable MUTCD code when reporting 

various types of LED enhanced signs 

present at a crossing. 

Types of Train-Activated Warning 

Devices at the Crossing 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that FRA change the 

heading for item three in Part III of the 

Inventory Form from ‘‘Type of Active 

Warning Devices at Crossing—Train 

Activated Devices’’ to ‘‘Type of TrainActivated Warning Devices at the 

Crossing.’’ The ICC also recommended 

that we arrange the data fields in item 

three in Part III of the Inventory Form 

covered by this heading in hierarchal 

order to address flashing light 

assemblies before gates. Consistent with 

the ICC’s recommendation, we changed 

the title of the heading for item three in 

Part III of the Inventory Form to ‘‘Types 

of Train Activated Warning Devices at 

the Grade Crossing.’’ However, we 

retained the order of the data fields in 

item three in Part III of the Inventory 

Form as proposed to provide continuity 

between the current version of the 

Inventory Form and previous versions 

of this form. We hope this continuity 

will minimize the burden on entities 

that submit electronic data to the 

Crossing Inventory that may need to 

revise their existing databases to 

conform to changes made to the 

Inventory Form. 

In the NPRM, FRA solicited 

comments on whether we should 

require the primary operating railroad to 

submit updates to the Crossing 

Inventory after implementation of one 

or more train-activated warning devices 

at a crossing. FDOT submitted 

comments recommending that all 

updates to the data fields in item three 

of Part III of the Inventory Form, under 

the heading (‘‘Type of Train Activated 

Warning Devices at Crossing—Train 

Activated Devices’’) be assigned to State 

agencies so any changes railroads make 

to train-activated warning devices at a 

crossing would have to be reported to 

the State agency. The State agency 

would then submit all updates to these 

data fields to the Crossing Inventory. 

As stated in § 234.411(c), the primary 

operating railroad is required to submit 

updated data directly to the Crossing 

Inventory within three months of any 

change in warning device at a public 

highway-rail grade crossing. While we 

also encourage the primary operating 

railroad to submit a copy of this 

updated data to the appropriate State 

agency, it is not required to do so. 

However, as stated in Appendix B to the 

Inventory Guide, the data fields in item 

three of Part III of the Inventory Form 

(‘‘Types of Train Activated Warning 

Devices at the Grade Crossing’’) have 

been assigned to State agencies for 

voluntary updating. 

Gate Arms 

In the proposed rule, FRA solicited 

comments on whether we should assign 

the Gate Arms data field in Part III of the 

Inventory Form to State agencies for 

updating. FRA received comments from 

NCDOT, FDOT and the AAR 

recommending that State agencies be 

assigned the responsibility for updating 

this data field. However, FRA also 

received comments from the CPUC, 

DelDOT, NDOT, and the BRS 

recommending that the primary 

operating railroad be required to update 

this data field since the primary 

operating railroad should have 

information about the warning devices 

they install and maintain. 

After considering these comments, 

FRA decided to retain the assignment of 

responsibility in Appendix B of the 

Inventory Guide. Therefore, it assigned 

the responsibility for submitting 

voluntary updates to the Gate Arms data 

field to State agencies. This assignment 

of responsibility roughly coincides with 

FHWA’s annual reporting requirement 

for States for Highway Safety 

Improvement Plan purposes. However, 

the primary operating railroad must still 

submit updated data on the number of 

gate arms installed at a highway-rail or 

pathway crossing to Crossing Inventory 

within three months of any change, 

consistent with § 234.411(c). 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that FRA revise the 

Inventory Guide to explain that the Gate 

Arms data field in Part III of the 

Inventory Form is only intended to 

collect data on the number of traditional 

red-white gate arms present at the 

crossing. The ICC believes the number 

of pedestrian swing gates or other types 

of pedestrian gates that may be present 

at the crossing should not be reported in 

this data field. FRA agrees the proposed 

revision is beneficial. Therefore, we 

revised the Inventory Guide to include 

a description of pedestrian gate arms, as 

well as specific guidance that this data 

field is not intended to collect data on 

the presence of any pedestrian swing 

gates at the crossing. 

The ICC also recommended that we 

replace the word ‘‘Count’’ with 

‘‘Quantity’’ in the Gate Arms data field. 

FRA notes that the term ‘‘Count’’ has 

been used in multiple places on the 

Inventory Form in order to denote that 

the Crossing Inventory user should 

provide data on the number of devices 

present at the crossing. Therefore, to be 

consistent, we retained the term 

‘‘Count’’ as proposed in this data field. 

Gate Configuration 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that FRA revise the 

Inventory Guide to include illustrations 

of the various types of gate 

configurations that may be present at a 

crossing to help Crossing Inventory 

users identify them. However, the 

attributes associated with individual 


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gate configurations tend to vary greatly. 

Therefore, while the Inventory Guide 

contains detailed descriptions of each 

gate configuration listed on the 

Inventory Form, we did not add gate 

configuration illustrations. 

The ICC also recommended that we 

use the terminology and definitions in 

the MUTCD for the various types of gate 

configurations in the Inventory Guide. 

In addition, the ICC noted that the 

proposed Inventory Guide discussion of 

four-quadrant gate systems included an 

incorrect reference to Section 8.D of the 

MUTCD. We removed the erroneous 

reference to Section 8.D of the MUTCD 

from Appendix D to the Inventory 

Guide. However, FRA notes that the 

MUTCD does not provide an official 

definition for the two-quadrant, threequadrant, or four-quadrant gate systems 

listed on the Inventory Form. Moreover, 

the terms used in the Inventory Guide 

to describe the various types of 

highway-rail grade crossing gate 

configurations constitute standard 

terminology commonly used within the 

railroad industry. Therefore we did not 

change the definitions and terminology. 

Finally, FRA revised the Gate 

Configuration data field by removing the 

‘‘Full Entrance Closure’’ box. After 

further evaluation of the gate 

configuration options listed on the 

Inventory Form, FRA determined that 

the ‘‘Full Entrance Closure’’ box would 

likely result in collection of redundant 

data. 

Cantilevered (or Bridged) Flashing Light 

Structures 

The ICC submitted comments in 

support of the Inventory Guide 

instruction to report the number of posts 

that support the cantilevered flashing 

lights at a crossing, as opposed to the 

number of flashing-light pairs. FRA 

agrees that the number of flashing light 

pairs should not be reported to the 

Crossing Inventory in this data field. 

Therefore, the Inventory Guide 

continues to instruct Crossing Inventory 

users to provide a count of the flashing 

light structures that are present at the 

crossing in this data field. 

NCDOT also submitted comments 

recommending that FRA either remove 

the LED boxes from the ‘‘Cantilevered 

(or Bridged) Flashing Light Structures’’ 

and the ‘‘Post-Mounted Flashing Light 

Assemblies’’ data fields in Part III of the 

Inventory Form or move the LED boxes 

to a new data field which the railroad 

would be responsible for updating. In 

support of this recommendation, 

NCDOT asserted that States will have a 

very difficult time verifying this data 

element since the only way to verify the 

presence of LED lights is to either open 

the lens or obtain access into the signal 

cabinet bungalow. 

FRA notes that upgrades from 

incandescent to LED lights are typically 

financed, at least in part, by Federal 

funding, which requires State DOT 

involvement. In addition, the presence 

of certain LEDs can be detected through 

simple observation of the flashing light 

lens. The primary operating railroad is 

required to complete the ‘‘Cantilevered 

(or Bridged) Flashing Light Structures’’ 

and ‘‘Mast Mounted Flashing Lights’’ 

data fields in Part III of the Inventory 

Form (and check the ‘‘LED’’ boxes, if 

applicable) for previously unreported 

and new public highway-rail grade 

crossings. In addition, FRA strongly 

encourages primary operating railroads 

to complete the ‘‘Cantilevered (or 

Bridged) Flashing Light Structures’’ and 

‘‘Mast Mounted Flashing Lights’’ data 

fields for previously unreported and 

new private highway-rail grade 

crossings. As noted previously, the 

NTSB recently issued Safety 

Recommendation R–14–48 that FRA 

should require equivalent levels of 

reporting for both public and private 

highway-rail grade crossings. Therefore, 

FRA may issue regulations in the future 

that would require railroads to provide 

additional data on private highway-rail 

and pathway crossings to the Crossing 

Inventory. However, the ‘‘Cantilevered 

(or Bridged) Flashing Light Structures’’ 

and ‘‘Mast Mounted Flashing Lights’’ 

data fields in Part III of the Inventory 

Form (and the ‘‘LED’’ boxes contained 

therein) should be voluntarily updated 

by State agencies for public highwayrail grade crossings. In addition, we 

retained the LED boxes as proposed. 

Mast-Mounted Flashing Lights 

In the proposed rule, FRA solicited 

comments on whether we should revise 

the Post-Mounted Flashing Light 

Assemblies data field in Part III of the 

Inventory Form to require reporting of 

side lights installed for the benefit of 

highway users on an approaching 

parallel roadway. 

NCDOT, CPUC, DelDOT, FDOT, 

NDOT and the BRS submitted 

comments recommending that we revise 

the Inventory Form to require reporting 

of side lights installed on mast-mounted 

flashing light assemblies. The BRS 

asserted that side-mounted lights 

provide the same level of safety to 

individuals approaching the crossing 

from a parallel roadway as that provided 

to individuals approaching the crossing 

on the main road. 

NCDOT and CPUC recommended 

adding a check box to this data field to 

indicate side lights have been installed 

on the flashing light structures. In 

making this recommendation, NCDOT 

asserted this information could prove 

helpful when conducting a diagnostic 

analysis of warning devices at a 

crossing. The BRS also believes revising 

the Inventory Form to collect this data 

will facilitate prompt replacement of 

side-mounted lights after a knock down 

or accident, if all parties involved in the 

inspection, testing, and maintenance of 

the crossing know that side lights have 

been installed at the crossing. FRA 

agrees and revised the ‘‘Mast Mounted 

Flashing Lights’’ data field to include a 

check box to indicate that side lights 

have been installed at the crossing. 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that FRA require 

counting all individual posts housing 

flashing-light assemblies whether they 

contain side lights or regular forwardfacing lights. The ICC also 

recommended that we include 

illustrations in the Inventory Guide of 

flashing light pairs and back lights. We 

agree and revised the Inventory Guide to 

advise Crossing Inventory users that 

they should count the total number of 

masts with flashing lights and indicate 

whether they include back lights and 

side lights. We also added illustrations 

of flashing light pairs, back lights, and 

side lights to the Inventory Guide. 

The AAR submitted comments 

recommending that we assign States the 

responsibility for updating the ‘‘Mast 

Mounted Flashing Lights’’ data field 

because this information is maintained 

by the States and it benefits highway 

users. FRA agrees with this 

recommendation and revised Appendix 

B to the Inventory Guide to assign 

responsibility for submitting voluntary 

updates to this data field to State 

agencies. However, the primary 

operating railroad is required to submit 

updated data within three months of 

any change in the number of masts with 

flashing lights at a public highway-rail 

grade crossing under § 234.411(c). In 

addition, FRA strongly encourages 

primary operating railroads to complete 

the ‘‘Mast Mounted Flashing Lights’’ 

data fields for private highway-rail 

grade crossings. As noted previously, 

the NTSB recently issued Safety 

Recommendation R–14–48 that FRA 

should require equivalent levels of 

reporting for both public and private 

highway-rail grade crossings. Therefore, 

FRA may issue regulations in the future 

that would require railroads to provide 

additional data on private highway-rail 

and pathway crossings to the Crossing 

Inventory. 

We also changed the title of this data 

field from ‘‘Post-Mounted Flashing 

Light Assemblies’’ to ‘‘Mast-Mounted 

Flashing Lights’’ to distinguish between 


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flashing-lights and crossbuck 

assemblies. 

Total Count of Flashing Light Pairs 

With respect to the ‘‘Total Count of 

Flashing Light Pairs’’ data field in Part 

III of the Inventory Form, the ICC 

submitted comments recommending 

that the Inventory Guide advise 

Crossing Inventory users to submit data 

on each pair of flashing lights installed 

at the crossing, whether backlight, 

sidelight or regular, forward facing 

flashing-lights. In addition, the ICC 

recommended that FRA add an 

illustration of a pair of flashing-lights to 

the Inventory Guide to eliminate 

confusion between side by side flashing 

lights and two pairs of back to back 

flashing lights. Consistent with this 

recommendation, FRA revised the 

Inventory Guide to advise Crossing 

Inventory users to count each pair of 

flashing lights installed at the crossing, 

including back lights, side lights, and 

flashing light pairs installed on 

cantilever structures and added 

illustrations of flashing light pairs to the 

Inventory Guide. 

Installation Date of Current Active 

Warning Devices 

In the proposed rule, FRA solicited 

comment on whether it should collect 

data on the installation date of active 

warning devices installed after the final 

rule effective date for the Crossing 

Inventory. 

The CPUC submitted comments 

supporting collection of data on the 

original installation date of the active 

warning devices installed at the crossing 

for the Crossing Inventory to facilitate 

data analysis of the types of active 

warning devices at the crossing when 

certain crossing accidents occurred. The 

CPUC also recommended that the 

installation date shown in the Crossing 

Inventory should only be updated when 

there is a change in the configuration of 

warning devices, such as the installation 

of gates at a crossing equipped with 

flashing lights. 

The ICC, Denver RTD, and NDOT 

submitted comments recommending 

that FRA only require submission of 

data on the installation date of active 

warning devices that are installed after 

the final rule effective date. In addition, 

the ICC recommended that FRA only 

require reporting of installation year 

since the specific date of any change in 

warning devices could be found from a 

review of the ‘‘history file’’ for the grade 

crossing. Denver RTD also noted that 

use of the term ‘‘original installation 

date’’ in the proposed title of this data 

field on the Inventory Form (‘‘Original 

Installation Date of Current Active 

Warning Devices’’) could be confusing, 

especially if additional active warning 

devices are installed at a later date. 

In response to the comments, we 

changed the title of this data field on the 

Inventory Form to ‘‘Installation Date of 

Current Active Warning Devices’’ to 

avoid confusion. FRA also agrees it 

would be helpful to record the 

installation date of active warning 

devices installed at a crossing after the 

final rule effective date to facilitate 

grade crossing safety analyses. FRA 

encourages the voluntary submission of 

data on the installation date of active 

warning devices installed at public 

highway-rail grade crossings prior to 

March 9, 2015, as well as the voluntary 

submission of data on the installation 

date of active warning devices installed 

at private highway-rail grade crossings. 

However, the primary operating railroad 

is only required to submit data on the 

installation date of active warning 

devices installed at public highway-rail 

grade crossings after the effective date of 

this final rule. We hope limiting the 

application of this data collection 

requirement to active warning devices 

installed after March 9, 2015 will help 

minimize the reporting burden on the 

primary operating railroad. However, 

the Inventory Guide does require the 

primary operating railroad to report the 

month and year the active warning 

devices are installed or upgraded. This 

will be beneficial if there is more than 

one change in warning devices during 

the calendar year. 

DelDOT submitted comments 

recommending that we not hold State 

agencies responsible for submitting data 

or updates to this data field since 

railroads should have this information 

readily available. The primary operating 

railroad is required to update this data 

field within three months of any change 

in train-activated warning devices at a 

public highway-rail grade crossing 

under § 234.411(c). In addition, FRA 

strongly encourages primary operating 

railroads to complete this data field for 

private highway-rail grade crossings. As 

noted previously, the NTSB recently 

issued Safety Recommendation R–14–48 

that FRA should require equivalent 

levels of reporting for both public and 

private highway-rail grade crossings. 

Therefore, FRA may issue regulations in 

the future that would require railroads 

to provide additional data on private 

highway-rail and pathway crossings to 

the Crossing Inventory. 

However, States generally have some 

involvement in approving the 

installation of train-activated warning 

devices at public highway-rail grade 

crossings. Therefore, we are asking 

States to consider submitting voluntary 

updates to this data field for trainactivated warning devices that have 

already been installed, as well as trainactivated warning devices that are 

installed after the final rule effective 

date. Even though the primary operating 

railroad is required to update this data 

field within three months of any change 

in train-activated warning devices at a 

public highway-rail grade crossing, we 

retained the language in Appendix B to 

the Inventory Guide to invite States to 

voluntarily update this data field if the 

primary operating railroad fails to do so 

in a timely manner. 

Wayside Horn/Highway Traffic Signals 

Controlling Crossing 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that FRA merge the 

‘‘Automated Wayside Horn’’ and 

‘‘Highway Traffic Signals Controlling 

Crossing’’ data fields in Part III of the 

Inventory Form into the ‘‘Special Active 

Warning’’ data field. The ICC states that 

there are not many crossings equipped 

with wayside horn system installations 

or controlled by highway traffic signals. 

However, if we retain a separate data 

field to collect data on wayside horn 

systems, the ICC recommended we 

change the title of the ‘‘Automated 

Wayside Horn’’ data field to ‘‘Wayside 

Horn System’’. In addition, the ICC 

recommended that the Inventory Guide 

discussion of this data field should refer 

to Section 8C.07 of the MUTCD, which 

contains a discussion of wayside horn 

systems. 

We retained a separate data field for 

wayside horn systems on the Inventory 

Form to facilitate collection of data on 

the prevalence of these warning devices 

and the date the wayside horn was 

installed. Consistent with the ICC’s 

recommendation, we changed the title 

of the ‘‘Automated Wayside Horn’’ data 

field to ‘‘Wayside Horn.’’ However, we 

did not add a reference to Section 8C.07 

of the MUTCD in the Inventory Guide 

because the MUTCD is frequently 

revised. 

Non-Train Active Warning 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that we change the title 

of the ‘‘Special Active Warning’’ data 

field in Part III of the Inventory Form to 

remove the reference to FRA’s ‘‘WD–5’’ 

warning device code to avoid confusion 

of individuals who are not familiar with 

this code. FRA agrees and changed the 

title of the ‘‘Special Active Warning’’ 

data field to ‘‘Non-Train Active 

Warning’’ and removed the reference to 

FRA’s warning device code. 

The ICC also recommended that FRA 

remove the boxes for ‘‘Manually 

Operated Signals’’ and ‘‘Watchman’’ 


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from the ‘‘Special Active Warning’’ data 

field on the Inventory Form unless these 

types of warning can be found at more 

than 500 locations nationwide. While 

FRA acknowledges that manually 

operated signals and watchmen are 

being utilized at a diminishing number 

of crossings, we retained the boxes on 

the Inventory Form to indicate the 

presence of manually operated signals 

and watchmen at crossings to allow 

long-term analysis of existing crossing 

data. 

In addition, the ICC recommended 

that the Inventory Guide explain the 

various scenarios that might constitute 

‘‘flagging,’’ such as a flag attached to a 

crossbuck assembly or a fusee/flare left 

to burn on the ground at a crossing. As 

indicated in the Inventory Guide, the 

term ‘‘flagging’’ is generally understood 

to mean an appropriately equipped 

flagger is actively controlling the flow of 

vehicular traffic. Thus, for purposes of 

the Crossing Inventory, merely attaching 

a flag to a crossbuck assembly or 

lighting a fuse/flare and leaving it to 

burn on the ground at a crossing does 

not, in and of itself, constitute flagging. 

Flagging situations are so varied and site 

specific that providing a useful list 

would be impractical. 

Other Flashing Lights or Warning 

Devices 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that we merge the 

‘‘Wigwags’’ data field in Part III of the 

Inventory Form into the ‘‘Other Flashing 

Lights or Warning Devices’’ data field 

since there were only 440 crossings 

equipped with wigwags as of December 

2012. FRA agrees it is no longer 

necessary to retain a separate data field 

for the collection of data on wigwags. 

Therefore, we revised the Inventory 

Guide to advise Crossing Inventory 

users to submit data on the presence of 

wigwags in the ‘‘Other Flashing Lights 

or Warning Devices’’ data field in Part 

III of the Inventory Form. 

Does nearby hwy intersection have 

traffic signals? 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that the Inventory Guide 

define a ‘‘nearby highway intersection’’ 

as a highway intersection located within 

500 feet from the near rail at a crossing. 

FRA agrees and revised the Inventory 

Guide accordingly. 

The ICC also recommended that the 

Crossing Inventory collect data on 

nearby intersections equipped with stop 

signs to identify crossings with potential 

queuing problems. However, potential 

queuing problems can be identified by 

the data collected on intersecting 

roadways located within 500 feet of the 

grade crossing in Part IV of the 

Inventory Form. Therefore, FRA did not 

adopt this recommendation. 

NCDOT submitted comments 

recommending that we assign railroads 

the responsibility for updating the data 

fields which pertain to the presence of 

traffic signals at a nearby highway 

intersection and the presence of 

highway traffic signal interconnection 

and preemption since some 

municipalities do not report this 

information to the State. However, the 

ICC submitted comments 

recommending that we assign the 

responsibility for updating the Highway 

Traffic Signal Interconnection data field 

exclusively to State agencies. After 

considering these comments, Appendix 

B to the Inventory Guide, now assigns 

responsibility for submitting voluntary 

updates for items 4.A., 4.B, and 4.C 

(‘‘Does nearby Hwy Intersection have 

Traffic Signals?’’, ‘‘Hwy Traffic Signal 

Interconnection’’ and ‘‘Hwy Traffic 

Signal Preemption’’) on Part III of the 

Inventory Form to State agencies. 

However, the primary operating railroad 

is required to complete these data fields 

for new and previously unreported 

public highway-rail grade crossings. The 

primary operating railroad also is 

required to update items 4.B and 4.C 

(‘‘Hwy Traffic Signal Interconnection’’ 

and ‘‘Hwy Traffic Signal Preemption’’) 

after a change in crossing characteristics 

at a public highway-rail grade crossing, 

if applicable. 

Highway Traffic Signal Interconnection 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that the Inventory Guide 

use terms and definitions consistent 

with terminology the MUTCD uses and 

refer to the appropriate MUTCD sections 

that address traffic signal 

interconnection and preemption. 

NCDOT and the CPUC submitted 

comments noting that the Inventory 

Guide did not provide guidance on 

when the ‘‘For Warning Signs’’ box in 

the ‘‘Hwy Traffic Signal 

Interconnection’’ data field should be 

checked. FRA has incorporated terms 

and definitions that are consistent with 

the MUTCD in the Inventory Guide, 

where applicable. In addition, we 

revised the Inventory Guide to state the 

meaning of ‘‘Not Interconnected’’, ‘‘For 

Traffic Signals’’, and ‘‘For Warning 

Signs.’’ However, we did not revise the 

Inventory Guide to contain specific 

references to the applicable MUTCD 

section(s) due to frequent updating of 

the MUTCD. 

Highway Traffic Pre-Signals 

NCDOT submitted comments 

recommending that the definition for 

‘‘Stop Line Distance’’ in the Inventory 

Guide should state that stop line 

distance is the distance between the 

highway intersection’s stop line and the 

nearest crossing gate(s). However, after 

evaluating the proposed definition for 

‘‘stop line distance’’ in the Inventory 

Guide, which defines stop line distance 

as the distance between the stop line 

and the crossing gates, we determined 

that the proposed definition 

accomplishes the same purpose. 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that we add illustrations 

demonstrating how the measurements 

for Storage Distance and Stop Line 

Distance should be obtained to the 

Inventory Guide discussion of the 

Highway Traffic Pre-Signals data field. 

We did not adopt this recommendation 

because these terms are widely used in 

highway safety parlance and additional 

guidance on how to obtain these 

measurements can be obtained from a 

variety of sources, including the 

MUTCD. 

The CPUC and ICC submitted 

comments recommending that the 

Inventory Guide should direct Crossing 

Inventory users to complete the 

‘‘Storage Distance’’ subfield in the 

‘‘Highway Traffic Pre-Signals’’ data 

field, if an intersecting roadway is 

located within 500 feet of the grade 

crossing or if a nearby highway 

intersection has traffic signals. We did 

not revise the Inventory Guide to 

require completion of the ‘‘Storage 

Distance’’ subfield. However, storage 

distance can be calculated by using data 

reported in the ‘‘Intersecting Roadway 

within 500 feet?’’ data field in Part IV 

of the Inventory Form, which should 

contain data on the approximate 

distance of any intersecting roadway 

within 500 feet of the crossing. 

Highway Monitoring Devices 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that FRA change the title 

of the ‘‘Monitoring Devices’’ data field 

in Part III of the Inventory Form to 

‘‘Automated Enforcement (of Traffic 

Laws).’’ NCDOT also submitted 

comments recommending that the title 

of this data field be revised to avoid 

confusion with the ‘‘Remote Health 

Monitoring’’ data field in Part II of the 

Inventory Form. FRA agrees and 

changed the title of this data field to 

‘‘Highway Monitoring Devices’’ to 

clarify the intent of this data field is to 

collect data on the presence of device(s) 

at the crossing that monitor highway 

vehicles. 

The ICC recommended that we revise 

the Inventory Guide to provide 

additional explanation of the two types 

of highway monitoring devices featured 


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in this data field. The ICC also 

recommended that the Inventory Guide 

advise Crossing Inventory users that this 

data field is only intended to collect 

data on crossings with train activated 

warning devices. FRA agrees and 

revised the Inventory Guide to provide 

additional explanation of the two types 

of highway monitoring devices in the 

‘‘Highway Monitoring Devices’’ data 

field. We also revised the Inventory 

Guide to advise Crossing Inventory 

users that the ‘‘Highway Monitoring 

Devices’’ data field only applies to 

crossings equipped with train activated 

warning devices. 

NCDOT submitted comments 

recommending that we change the 

‘‘Photo/Video Enforcement’’ box in the 

‘‘Highway Monitoring Devices’’ data 

field to ‘‘Photo/Video Recording’’ since 

efforts to use photo and video data for 

enforcement purposes are being 

challenged in court. We agree and 

changed the title of the ‘‘Photo/Video 

Enforcement’’ box to ‘‘Photo/Video 

Recording.’’ We also revised the 

Inventory Guide to state the temporary 

installation of these devices (e.g., for 

research purposes) should not be 

reported to the Crossing Inventory. 

Crossing Warning Device WD Code 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that FRA remove the 

‘‘Crossing Warning Device WD Code’’ 

data field from the Inventory Form since 

this data field has been reserved for the 

exclusive use of FRA. We adopted this 

recommendation. 

Part IV, Physical Characteristics 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that Parts IV and V of 

the Inventory Form be merged into one 

section titled ‘‘Roadway/Pathway 

Information.’’ We did not adopt this 

recommendation because we want to 

maintain a clear demarcation between 

the physical and operating 

characteristics of highway-rail and 

pathway crossings. 

Traffic Lanes Crossing Railroad 

NCDOT submitted comments 

recommending that we revise the 

Inventory Guide to clarify that only 

dedicated travel lanes should be 

counted in this data field. NCDOT noted 

that some highway-rail crossings have a 

double-yellow solid painted cross-hatch 

island approaching the crossing, yet 

further away (say 100 to 200 feet) from 

the crossing, the painted island may 

change/revert into a center turn lane or 

left turn lane. Therefore, at a crossing 

which may be 60 feet wide and 

physically capable of carrying five 12- 

foot wide lanes across the crossing, only 

four lanes are painted as crossing the 

tracks. In this type of scenario, NCDOT 

recommended that only dedicated travel 

lanes be counted as traffic lanes crossing 

the tracks. We agree and revised the 

Inventory Guide to state this data field 

is intended to capture through traffic 

lanes that cross the railroad tracks. 

NCDOT also recommended that the 

Inventory Guide should clarify that the 

term, ‘‘divided traffic’’, refers to the 

characteristic of the entire roadway 

longitudinally away from the crossing. 

NCDOT believes the mere presence of 

channelization at a crossing should not 

be considered for purposes of 

determining whether there is divided 

highway traffic on the roadway that 

crosses the railroad tracks. We adopted 

this recommendation and revised the 

Inventory Guide to state that the 

Divided Traffic box in the ‘‘Traffic 

Lanes Crossing Railroad’’ data field 

refers to the characteristics of the entire 

roadway (as opposed to the presence of 

channelization devices at the crossing). 

Is roadway/pathway paved? 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that the Inventory Guide 

advise Crossing Inventory users to 

submit data on paved pathways, in 

addition to paved roadways. The ICC 

also recommended that the definition of 

a paved roadway be consistent with the 

FHWA and/or the American Association 

of State Transportation and Highway 

Officials (AASHTO) definition of a 

paved road. We did not change the 

Inventory Guide description of a paved 

roadway because it reflects generally 

accepted use of the term. However, we 

did revise the title of this data field and 

the Inventory Guide discussion of this 

data field to include a reference to 

paved pathways in addition to paved 

roadways, at crossings. 

Does track run down a street? 

NCDOT submitted comments 

recommending that the Inventory Guide 

provide additional clarification for 

completing this data field. FRA agrees 

and revised the Inventory Guide to 

provide additional guidance on the type 

of crossing configuration for which data 

is being collected. 

Is crossing illuminated? 

NCDOT submitted comments 

recommending that we should revise 

the Inventory Guide state that an 

illuminated crossing must have publicly 

maintained street lighting. However, 

FRA is primarily interested in collecting 

data on the presence (or absence) of 

street lighting at the crossing. Since FRA 

does not wish to exclude crossings that 

are illuminated by privately maintained 

street lighting, we did not adopt this 

recommendation. 

Crossing Surface 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that FRA remove the box 

for ‘‘Width’’ from the ‘‘Crossing 

Surface’’ data field since it is essentially 

captured by the number of tracks at the 

crossing. The ICC also recommended 

that the Inventory Guide explain how 

length should be measured when there 

are sidewalks present at the crossing 

and add helpful illustrations on how to 

measure crossing length in a variety of 

different environments. 

We retained the box for ‘‘Width’’ as 

proposed in the Crossing Surface data 

field since the distance between railroad 

tracks is not uniform and therefore 

cannot be relied upon for purposes of 

determining crossing width. However, 

we revised the Inventory Guide to 

provide additional explanation on how 

crossing length (and width) should be 

measured. 

NCDOT submitted comments 

recommending that we revise the 

Inventory Guide description for the 

subfield ‘‘Asphalt and Timber’’ to refer 

to a range of materials that could be 

used to form flangeway openings, such 

as ‘‘rubber, steel, or other flange 

material.’’ However, after evaluating the 

language in the Inventory Guide, FRA 

determined the description for this 

subfield (which states that other 

material which could be used to form 

flangeway openings may include 

rubber) is broad enough to accomplish 

the same purpose. Therefore, we did not 

adopt this recommendation. 

Intersecting roadway within 500 feet? 

LaDOTD submitted comments 

recommending that FRA revise this data 

field to collect data on the presence of 

an intersecting roadway within 200 feet 

of the crossing to identify highway-rail 

crossings that might be good candidates 

for highway traffic signal preemption. 

While the MUTCD recommends the use 

of highway traffic signal preemption for 

highway-rail grade crossings located 

less than 200 feet from an intersecting 

roadway, FRA believes highway traffic 

signal preemption may be beneficial for 

highway-rail grade crossings that are 

located up to 500 feet from an 

intersecting roadway. Therefore, we did 

not revise this data field. 

The CPUC submitted comments 

recommending addition of checkboxes 

to the ‘‘Intersecting Roadway within 500 

feet?’’ data field in Part IV of the 

Inventory Form that would capture 

additional data on the type of any 

highway traffic control device present at 

the highway intersection. Although we 


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did not adopt this recommendation, 

State agencies may record data on the 

types of highway traffic control devices 

that are present at the crossing in the 

State Use data fields in Part I of the 

Inventory Form. 

Smallest Crossing Angle 

The CPUC submitted comments 

recommending that FRA revise the 

Inventory Form to require reporting of 

the smallest crossing angle as a whole 

number between 0 and 90 degrees, as 

opposed to a 30-degree range to improve 

precision. We did not adopt this 

recommendation because the specific 

data that would be captured does not 

justify the additional burden that would 

be imposed by the proposed revision to 

this data element. 

The CPUC also recommended that 

Inventory Guide advise Crossing 

Inventory users to determine the 

smallest crossing angle from the 

roadway approach lane to the track on 

the right-hand side of the roadway 

approach. The CPUC asserted that 

research of detailed angle data and 

associated accident history seems to 

indicate that small angles on the righthand side of the roadway approach may 

be a significant factor in crossing 

collisions. FRA did not adopt this 

recommendation because FRA has 

historically collected data on the 

smallest angle present at the crossing 

rather than limiting data collection to 

the size of the angle present on the 

right-hand side of the roadway 

approach. The presence of acute angles 

on the left-hand side of the roadway 

approach can also be problematic. 

Whenever the railroad tracks intersect 

roadway approaches at an acute angle, 

drivers must look over one shoulder to 

watch for approaching trains. However, 

States may record the measurements of 

acute angles on either side of the 

roadway approach in the State Use 

fields in Part I of the Inventory Form. 

Is commercial power available? 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending removal of the ‘‘Is 

Commercial Power Available’’ data field 

from Part IV of the Inventory Form 

unless an analysis determines this data 

field is sufficiently utilized and 

demonstrates collecting this data is 

worth the effort. However, we retained 

this data field as proposed on the 

Inventory Form because the data 

collected in this data field is often relied 

upon when evaluating crossings that are 

candidates for potential crossing 

improvements. 

Part V, Public Highway Information 

The CPUC submitted comments 

recommending that FRA add a new data 

field to Part V of the Inventory Form for 

the name of the local highway agency 

responsible for installing and 

maintaining signs and pavement 

markings near the crossing. FRA also 

received comments from the University 

of Nebraska-Lincoln recommending that 

we add a new data field to Part V of the 

Inventory Form to capture data on 

estimated pedestrian and bicycle traffic 

counts at the crossing. 

FRA encourages State agencies to use 

their ‘‘State Use’’ data fields in Part I of 

the Inventory Form to record the name 

of the local highway agency that is 

responsible for installing and 

maintaining signs and pavement 

markings, as well as estimated 

pedestrian and bicycle traffic counts. 

However, we did not add data fields to 

Part V of the Inventory Form to collect 

this data. 

Highway System 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that we remove the 

‘‘Highway System’’ data field in Part V 

of the Inventory Form unless an analysis 

determines that this data is sufficiently 

utilized such that the burden associated 

with collecting and reporting this 

information is justified. However, we 

retained the ‘‘Highway System’’ data 

field as proposed since the data 

collected in this data field can be useful 

for nationwide analyses. 

Functional Classification of Road at 

Crossing 

In the proposed rule, FRA solicited 

comment on whether the ‘‘Local 

Access’’ functional classification code 

should be changed to ‘‘Local’’ to be 

consistent with the official functional 

classification codes contained in the 

FHWA’s Highway Performance 

Monitoring System (HMPS) Manual. 

FRA received multiple comments from 

State agencies, including the CPUC, 

NCDOT, DelDOT, FDOT, and NDOT, 

requesting that FRA revise the proposed 

Functional Classification categories 

provided on the Inventory Form to make 

them consistent with FHWA’s current 

Functional Classification Codes. FRA 

adopted this recommendation and 

revised the functional classification 

codes in this data field to be consistent 

with FHWA’s current Functional 

Classification Codes. 

Linear Referencing System (LRS Route 

ID)/LRS Milepost 

LaDOTD and Tavla Solutions 

submitted comments recommending 

elimination of the Linear Referencing 

System data fields in Part V of the 

Inventory Form based on the assertion 

that this information can vary within 

the State and railroad system. The ICC 

submitted comments recommending 

that the Inventory Guide discussion of 

the ‘‘Linear Referencing System’’ (LRS) 

data field explain that this data field is 

intended to show whether the crossing 

is on a State-defined linear referencing 

system or the Federal Highway 

Performance Monitoring System 

(HPMS). 

We retained these data fields in the 

Inventory Form as proposed. However, 

to address situations when more than 

one LRS code is used, FRA revised the 

Inventory Guide to recommend that the 

LRS code entered should match the 

HPMS data reported to the Federal 

Highway Administration. In addition, 

FRA notes that the Linear Referencing 

System data fields in Part V of the 

Inventory Form are optional. 

Annual Average Daily Traffic 

FRA changed the title of the 

‘‘Estimated Average Daily Traffic’’ data 

field in Part V of the Inventory Form to 

‘‘Annual Average Daily Traffic’’ to make 

the title consistent with generally 

accepted terms used in highway safety 

parlance. We made this revision in 

response to comments the ICC 

submitted recommending that the title 

of this data field be revised to reflect the 

terminology used in the MUTCD. While 

the ICC also recommended that we add 

subfields for ‘‘Actual’’ and ‘‘Estimated’’ 

to this data field, we did not adopt this 

recommendation because there are very 

few annual average daily traffic counts 

that reflect actual (as opposed to 

estimated) values. 

Estimated Percent of Trucks 

We changed the title of the 

‘‘Estimated Percent Commercial Trucks’’ 

data field in Part V of the Inventory 

Form to ‘‘Estimated Percent Trucks.’’ In 

addition, in response to ICC comments 

requesting clarification of the primary 

purpose of this data field, FRA revised 

the Inventory Guide to explain that this 

data field is intended to collect data on 

crossing usage by vehicles having a 

manufacturer’s gross vehicle weight 

(GVW) rating of 9,000 pounds for more 

and having dual tires on at least one rear 

axle. This would include buses, singleunit trucks, combination trucks, and 

campers/recreational vehicles, but not 

school buses. 

The ICC also submitted comments 

recommending that we add a subfield to 

the Estimated Percent Trucks data field 

to collect data on whether the crossing 

is located on a State’s officially 

designated Truck Route System or a 


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locally-designated municipal Truck 

Route. While FRA encourages State 

agencies to use their ‘‘State Use’’ data 

fields in Part I of the Inventory Form to 

collect this data, we did not add these 

subfields to the Inventory Form because 

the potential benefits that might result 

from collecting this additional data do 

not appear to justify the increased 

burden associated with collection of this 

data. 

Regularly used by school buses? 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending that the ‘‘Regularly Used 

by School Buses’’ data field in Part V of 

the Inventory Form be analyzed to 

determine whether this data can be 

collected with statistical reliability. 

However, if this data field is retained, 

the ICC recommended that FRA revise 

the Inventory Guide to capture data on 

whether the crossing is located on a 

local school district’s published school 

bus route system or a local mass transit 

fixed route bus system used to transport 

schoolchildren. The ICC also 

recommended that we add boxes for 

‘‘Unknown’’ and ‘‘No’’ to this data field. 

We retained this data field as 

proposed except we added a ‘‘No’’ box 

for crossings that are not subject to at 

least one school bus movement on a 

normal school day. While we did not 

revise the Inventory Guide to require the 

submission of data on whether a 

crossing is located on a local school 

district’s published school bus route 

system or a local mass transit fixed 

route bus system that is used to 

transport schoolchildren, State agencies 

may use their State Use data fields in 

Part I of the Inventory Form to record 

this data. 

Regularly used by hazmat vehicles? 

With respect to the data field titled, 

‘‘Regularly Used by Hazmat Vehicles?’’ 

in the Inventory Form, in the NPRM, 

FRA solicited comments on how it 

should define ‘‘regular use’’ in the 

Inventory Guide. DelDOT submitted 

comments asserting the collection of 

data on crossing use by vehicles 

transporting hazardous materials could 

be time consuming and costly because 

it would require additional field data 

collection. LaDOTD and Tavla Solutions 

submitted comments asserting the 

collection of this data would be difficult 

to obtain, not reliable, and might have 

liability implications. AAR also 

submitted comments stating that 

railroads do not maintain the type of 

information which would be collected 

in this data field. In response to these 

comments, we removed the ‘‘Regularly 

Used by Hazmat Vehicles?’’ data field 

from the Inventory Form. However, 

State agencies may record this 

information in one of the State Use 

fields in Part I of the Inventory Form. 

Emergency Services Route 

With respect to the ‘‘Regular 

Emergency Services Route’’ data field in 

Part V of the Inventory Form, FRA 

solicited comments in the NPRM on 

how it should define the term ‘‘regular 

emergency services route.’’ 

The AAR submitted comments stating 

that railroads do not maintain 

information about emergency service 

routes and therefore should not be held 

responsible for reporting information to 

the Crossing Inventory that State 

agencies maintain. However, under this 

rule, the primary operating railroad is 

only required to provide information for 

this data field for new and previously 

unreported public highway-rail grade 

crossings. In addition, under 

§§ 234.405(d) and 234.407(d), if the 

primary operating railroad cannot 

obtain information for this data field 

from the applicable State agency 

responsible for grade crossing safety, the 

primary operating railroad may provide 

a written certification statement to the 

FRA Associate Administrator noting 

that it has requested, and not yet 

received, this information from the 

appropriate State agency. 

FRA also received comments from 

NCDOT requesting that we clarify what 

would constitute a regular emergency 

services route. In response, we added 

guidance in the Inventory Guide to 

explain that the ‘‘Yes’’ box in the 

‘‘Emergency Services Route’’ data field 

should be checked if highway vehicles 

routinely use a crossing to obtain access 

to emergency facilities including 

hospitals and police and fire stations. 

While FRA received comments from 

the ICC, LaDOTD, and Tavla Solutions 

recommending elimination of the 

Emergency Services Route data field in 

Part V of the Inventory Form, FRA 

decided to retain this data field in order 

to facilitate safety analysis of crossings 

located on emergency services routes. 

However, we changed the title of the 

‘‘Regular Emergency Services Route’’ 

data field in Part V of the Inventory 

Form to ‘‘Emergency Services Route.’’ 

We also drew a clear demarcation 

between the section titled, ‘‘Submission 

Information,’’ and Part V of the 

Inventory Form. FRA made this change 

in response to CPUC comments 

recommending that we revise the 

Inventory Form to include a clear 

separation between Part V and the data 

fields which identify and provide 

contact information for the individual 

who submits crossing data to the 

Crossing Inventory. 

Appendix A, U.S. DOT Crossing 

Inventory Form 

We revised Appendix A by including 

specific instructions for the initial 

reporting of new and previously 

unreported highway-rail and pathway 

crossings. We also added instructions 

for reporting changes in crossing 

characteristics at a public highway-rail 

grade crossing, under § 234.411(c), as 

well as changes to the public/private 

status of highway-rail and pathway 

grade crossings to this appendix. 

Appendix A contains a draft of the 

revised Form FRA F6180.71, ‘‘U.S. DOT 

Crossing Inventory Form.’’ Form FRA 

F6180.71 was submitted to OMB for 

approval and is still pending OMB 

approval. Therefore, operating railroads 

and State agencies cannot use the form 

until it has been approved. FRA expects 

that, prior to the final rule effective date, 

the form will be approved. Following 

approval, the final form will be 

available on FRA’s safety data Web site 

under the Forms/Publications tab. 

Appendix B, Responsibility Table for 

Periodic Updates to the Crossing 

Inventory 

In the NPRM, FRA requested 

comments on the proposed Crossing 

Inventory Responsibility Table, which 

assigns responsibility for updating 

specific data fields on the Inventory 

Form to either the State or railroad. 

Several commenters recommended 

that FRA assign responsibility for the 

completion of each individual data field 

(with the exception of the data fields 

contained in the Header of the Inventory 

Form) to either the State or the railroad. 

For example, DelDOT submitted 

comments recommending that we assign 

responsibility for updating the ‘‘Type of 

Land Use’’ data field in Part I of the 

Inventory Form to railroads, while Tavla 

Solutions submitted comments 

recommending that we assign 

responsibility for updating this data 

field exclusively to States. The CPUC 

also submitted comments 

recommending that we assign 

responsibility for updating the ‘‘Gate 

Arms’’ data field in Part III of the 

Inventory Form to railroads, while 

NCDOT submitted comments 

recommending that we assign 

responsibility for updating the 

‘‘Highway Traffic Signal 

Interconnection’’ and ‘‘Highway Traffic 

Signal Preemption’’ data fields in Part 

III of the Inventory Form to railroads. 

FRA also received comments 

recommending that we assign 

responsibility for updating certain data 

fields exclusively assigned to States. 

NCDOT and the CPUC submitted 


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comments recommending that we assign 

responsibility for updating the ‘‘Latitude 

in decimal degrees’’ and ‘‘Longitude in 

decimal degrees’’ data fields in Part I of 

the Inventory Form to States, while 

Tavla Solutions submitted comments 

recommending that we assign 

responsibility for updating the 

‘‘Crossing Type’’ data field in Part I of 

the Inventory Form to States. The ICC 

submitted comments recommending 

that we assign responsibility for 

updating all of the data fields in Parts 

III through V of the Inventory Form for 

public highway-rail grade crossings to 

States. 

In response to these comments, FRA 

revised Appendix B to the Inventory 

Guide to clarify which data fields are 

assigned to States for voluntary 

updating and which data fields are 

assigned to primary operating railroads 

for mandatory updating. For example, 

we assigned the responsibility for 

updating the ‘‘Type of Land Use’’ data 

field in Part I of the Inventory Form to 

primary operating railroads for private 

highway-rail grade crossings and private 

pathway grade crossings, while State 

agencies are being asked to voluntarily 

update this data field for public 

highway-rail grade crossings and public 

pathway grade crossings. Similarly, we 

assigned the responsibility for updating 

the ‘‘Crossing Type’’, ‘‘Latitude in 

decimal degrees’’ and ‘‘Longitude in 

decimal degrees’’ data fields in Part I of 

the Inventory Form to primary operating 

railroads for private highway-rail grade 

crossings and private pathway grade 

crossings, while asking State agencies to 

voluntarily update these data fields for 

public highway-rail grade crossings and 

public pathway grade crossings. 

We are not requiring primary 

operating railroads to submit data for 

Parts III—V of the Inventory Form for 

private highway-rail crossings and 

private pathway crossings (with the 

exception of the ‘‘Private Crossing Sign’’ 

data field in Part III of the Inventory 

Form). This final rule only requires 

primary operating railroads to update 

one data field (the ‘‘Private Crossing 

Sign’’ data field) in Parts III—V of the 

Inventory Form for private highway-rail 

grade crossings and private pathway 

grade crossings. However, FRA strongly 

encourages primary operating railroads 

to voluntarily report data on trainactivated warning devices and crossing 

signs at private highway-rail grade 

crossings and private pathway crossings 

to the Crossing Inventory. As noted 

previously, the NTSB recently issued 

Safety Recommendation R–14–48 that 

FRA should require equivalent levels of 

reporting for both public and private 

highway-rail grade crossings. Therefore, 

FRA may issue regulations in the future 

that would require railroads to complete 

Parts III–V of the Inventory Form for 

private highway-rail crossings and 

private pathway crossings. With respect 

to public pathway grade crossings, 

Appendix B states that State agencies 

are being asked to submit voluntary 

updates to certain specified data fields 

in Part I of the Inventory Form. 

However, with respect to public 

highway-rail grade crossings, State 

agencies are being asked to submit 

voluntary updates to certain specified 

data fields in Part I of the Inventory 

Form for public highway-rail grade 

crossings, along with the data fields in 

Parts III–V of the Inventory Form (with 

the exception of the ‘‘Private Crossing 

Sign’’ data field in Part III of the 

Inventory Form). 

Appendix C, Reporting Crossings That 

Have Multiple Operating Railroads 

FRA revised Appendix C to the 

Inventory Guide to provide specific 

guidance on the reporting and updating 

of Crossing Inventory data by operating 

railroads that operate trains on separate 

tracks through highway-rail and 

pathway crossings. The requirements 

that apply to the reporting and updating 

of Crossing Inventory data by individual 

operating railroads are in §§ 234.405(b), 

234.407(b), and 234.409(b). 

Appendix D, Definitions 

We added new definitions for various 

terms used in the Inventory Guide to 

Appendix D and revised the proposed 

definitions for certain terms (e.g., 

‘‘adjacent crossing’’, ‘‘operating 

railroad’’, ‘‘primary operating railroad’’, 

and ‘‘public crossing’’) as further 

explained below. 

FRA revised the definition of 

‘‘adjacent crossing’’ in Appendix D to 

the Inventory Guide to provide 

additional detail. As stated in the 

revised definition, adjacent crossings 

have separate warning devices and 

separate Crossing Inventory Numbers, 

even though they are located on the 

same vehicular highway or pathway and 

the distance between the inside rail of 

each crossing does not exceed 100 feet. 

We added a definition of ‘‘Annual 

Average Daily Traffic (AADT)’’ to 

Appendix D to the Inventory Guide and 

the Inventory Guide discussion of the 

‘‘Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT)’’ 

data field in Part V of the Inventory 

Form to clarify the meaning of this term. 

We also added a definition of ‘‘back 

lights’’ to Appendix D to the Inventory 

Guide and an illustration of ‘‘back 

lights’’ in the Inventory Guide 

discussion of the ‘‘Mast Mounted 

Flashing Lights’’ data field in Part III of 

the Inventory Form. FRA added the 

definition and illustration in response to 

ICC comments recommending that we 

add an illustration of back lights to the 

Inventory Guide to clarify the meaning 

of this term. 

As discussed previously in the 

Section-by-Section Analysis of the 

‘‘Reason for Update’’ data field in Part 

I of the Inventory Form, we revised the 

definition of ‘‘closed crossing’’ in 

response to comments submitted by 

LaDOTD, NCDOT, and Tavla Solutions. 

Therefore, we made the same revision to 

the definition of ‘‘closed crossing’’ in 

Appendix D to the Inventory Guide. 

In addition, we added definitions for 

‘‘event recorder’’ and ‘‘remote health 

monitoring’’ to Appendix D to the 

Inventory Guide and to the Inventory 

Guide discussion of the ‘‘Event 

Recorder’’ and ‘‘Remote Health 

Monitoring’’ data fields in Part II of the 

Inventory Form. These data fields were 

originally combined on the Inventory 

Form to collect data on the presence of 

either an event recorder or a remote 

health monitoring system at a highwayrail or pathway crossing. However, in 

response to comments the ICC 

submitted, we divided the ‘‘Event 

Recorder Monitoring Device’’ data field 

on the Inventory Form into two separate 

data fields, with one data field for Event 

Recorders and another data field for 

Remote Health Monitoring Systems. 

Likewise, we added definitions for 

‘‘event recorder’’ and ‘‘remote health 

monitoring’’ to Appendix D to the 

Inventory Guide to clarify the meaning 

of these terms for Crossing Inventory 

users. 

FRA added a definition of ‘‘flashing 

light pairs’’ to Appendix D to the 

Inventory Guide and illustrations of 

flashing light pairs to the Inventory 

Guide discussion of the ‘‘Total Count of 

Flashing Light Pairs’’ data field in Part 

III of the Inventory Form. These 

additions were made in response to ICC 

comments recommending that an 

illustration of a pair of flashing lights be 

added to the Inventory Guide to provide 

further clarification of the meaning of 

this term for Crossing Inventory users. 

We made revisions to the definition of 

‘‘gate’’ and the definitions for specific 

types of gate configurations (such as 

‘‘Two Quadrant Gates’’, ‘‘Three 

Quadrant Gates’’ and ‘‘Four Quadrant 

Gates’’) in Appendix D to the Inventory 

Guide to correct inadvertent errors and 

clarify the meaning of these terms for 

Crossing Inventory users. In addition, 

we removed the proposed definition for 

‘‘full entrance closure gates’’ from 

Appendix D to the Inventory Guide 

because the ‘‘Gate Configuration’’ data 

field in Part III of the Inventory Form no 


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longer contains a reference to full 

entrance closure gates. 

To clarify that the term ‘‘grade 

crossing’’ applies to both highway-rail 

grade crossings and pathway grade 

crossings (including pedestrian station 

crossings), we added a definition of 

‘‘grade crossing’’ to Appendix D to the 

Inventory Guide. We also added 

definitions of ‘‘highway-rail grade 

crossing,’’ ‘‘pathway grade crossing,’’ 

and ‘‘pedestrian station grade crossing’’ 

to Appendix D to the Inventory Guide 

because these terms are used frequently 

in the Inventory Guide. These terms are 

not defined in § 234.401, due to the 

limited use of these terms in the text of 

the final rule. 

In response to comments seeking 

clarification as to whether a pathway 

crossing is essentially a type of 

highway-rail crossing, we revised the 

definition of ‘‘highway-rail crossing’’ in 

§ 234.401. Therefore, to be consistent, 

we also made the same revision to the 

definition of ‘‘highway-rail crossing’’ in 

Appendix D to the Inventory Guide. 

We added a definition of ‘‘median’’ to 

Appendix D to the Inventory Guide and 

to the Inventory Guide discussion of the 

‘‘Channelization Devices/Medians’’ data 

field in Part III of the Inventory Form. 

This definition addresses NCDOT 

comments recommending that the 

Inventory Guide be revised to clarify the 

classification of medians. 

We made the same revisions to the 

definition of ‘‘operating railroad’’ in 

Appendix D to the Inventory Guide as 

the revisions that were made to the 

definition of this term in § 234.401. 

FRA added to the definition of 

‘‘pathway crossing’’ in Appendix D to 

the Inventory Guide to clarify that 

pathways located more than 25 feet 

from the location where a highway, 

road, or street intersects with one or 

more railroad tracks are generally 

considered to be separate pathway 

crossings. 

Denver RTD submitted a comment 

requesting guidance on the proper 

classification of station crossings that 

are used by fare-paying passengers. In 

response to this comment, we added a 

definition of ‘‘pedestrian station 

crossing’’ to Appendix D to the 

Inventory Guide and to the Inventory 

Guide discussion of the ‘‘Crossing 

Purpose’’ data field in Part I of the 

Inventory Form. The Inventory Guide 

also states that for the ‘‘Crossing 

Purpose’’ data field, pedestrian station 

crossings are basically pathway 

crossings that are located within 

passenger stations. 

We also added a definition of ‘‘plant 

railroad’’ to Appendix D to the 

Inventory Guide in response to 

comments from NCDOT and the CPUC 

recommending that we add a definition 

of this term to this appendix. As stated 

in § 234.3, plant railroads are not subject 

to the reporting and updating 

requirements of this subpart. 

Nonetheless, we added a definition of 

‘‘plant railroad’’ consistent with the 

definition in § 234.5 for reference 

purposes. 

To be consistent with the revisions we 

made to the definition of ‘‘primary 

operating railroad’’ in § 234.401, we also 

revised this definition in Appendix D to 

the Inventory Guide. 

We revised the definition of ‘‘private 

crossing’’ in Appendix D to the 

Inventory Guide to specifically 

reference pathway crossings in addition 

to highway-rail crossings. In addition, 

FRA revised the definition of ‘‘public 

crossing’’ in Appendix D to the 

Inventory Guide to specifically 

reference pathway crossings, in addition 

to highway-rail crossings, and to replace 

the term ‘‘roadway approaches’’ with 

‘‘approaches’’ to acknowledge the fact 

that pathway crossings generally do not 

have roadway approaches. We also 

merged the proposed definition of 

‘‘open to public travel’’ in Appendix D 

to the Inventory Guide with the 

definition of ‘‘public crossing’’ and 

added an exception to the requirement 

that all approaches to the crossing must 

be on public property for situations 

where State law or regulation provides 

otherwise. 

To clarify the meaning of the term 

‘‘side lights’’ for Crossing Inventory 

users, we added a definition of this term 

to Appendix D to the Inventory Guide 

and an illustration of ‘‘side lights’’ to the 

Inventory Guide discussion of the ‘‘Mast 

Mounted Flashing Lights’’ data field in 

part III of the Inventory Form. 

We revised the definition of 

‘‘temporary crossing’’ in Appendix D to 

the Inventory Guide to specifically 

reference pathway crossings in addition 

to highway-rail crossings. 

The ICC submitted comments 

recommending we add all definitions to 

§ 234.401, or in the body of the 

Inventory Guide, where the data item is 

discussed. FRA notes that the 

definitions of terms in § 234.401 are 

consistent with the definitions in 

Appendix D to the Inventory Guide. We 

did not adopt this recommendation 

because the definitions in § 234.401 are 

intended to clarify terms used in the 

rule text. For the most part, the 

definitions in Appendix D to the 

Inventory Guide are also in the 

Inventory Guide discussion of the 

specific data field on the Inventory 

Form where the defined term is used. 

However, in some instances, FRA 

determined that illustrations of specific 

defined terms would be especially 

helpful to Crossing Inventory users. In 

those instances, we included 

illustrations of the defined term in the 

Inventory Guide discussion of the 

relevant data field on the Inventory 

Form, but retained the official definition 

of the term in Appendix D to the 

Inventory Guide for reference purposes. 

Appendix E, Frequently Asked 

Questions (FAQs) 

To be consistent with changes we 

made to the final rule and Inventory 

Guide, we made minor revisions to the 

questions and answers in Appendix E to 

the Inventory Guide. We also added 

new questions and answers to Appendix 

E to provide guidance on the following 

topics: (1) Whether the Crossing 

Inventory records for closed or gradeseparated crossings must be updated; (2) 

how to report a previously closed 

crossing that has recently been reopened; (3) how to report the sale of a 

highway-rail or pathway crossing to the 

Crossing Inventory; (4) how to report a 

change in crossing characteristics (such 

as a change in the crossing surface or a 

change in the crossing warning devices); 

and (5) whether a private company can 

have more than one Inventory Number. 

Appendix F, High-Speed Rail ID 

Corridor Designations and Codes 

We updated Appendix F to the 

Inventory Guide to show current highspeed rail corridor designations and 

codes. 

V. Regulatory Impact and Notices 

A. Executive Order 12866 and 13563 

and DOT Regulatory Policies and 

Procedures 

This final rule has been evaluated in 

accordance with existing policies and 

procedures and determined to be nonsignificant under both Executive Order 

12866 and 13563 and DOT policies and 

procedures. See 44 FR 11034, Feb. 26, 

1979. FRA has prepared and placed in 

the docket a Regulatory Evaluation 

addressing the economic impact of this 

rule. The primary purpose of the 

Crossing Inventory is to provide a 

uniform inventory database that can be 

merged with highway-rail crossing 

collision files and used to analyze 

information for planning and 

implementation of crossing 

improvement programs by public and 

private agencies responsible for 

highway-rail crossing safety, as well as 

the railroad industry and academia. 

As part of the regulatory evaluation, 

FRA has assessed quantitative estimates 

of the costs expected to result from the 


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implementation of this rule. FRA’s 

analysis follows DOT’s ‘‘Guidance on 

the Economic Value of a Statistical Life 

in US Department of Transportation 

Analyses,’’ published in March 2013. 

Based on real wage growth forecasts 

from the Congressional Budget Office, 

DOT’s estimates that there will be a 1.07 

percent annual growth rate in median 

real wages over a 20-year period (2014– 

2034). Real wages represent the 

purchasing power of nominal wages. 

FRA assumed an income elasticity of 1.0 

and adjusted the Value of Statistical Life 

(VSL) in future years in the same way. 

VSL is the basis for monetizing avoided 

casualties. FRA’s analysis further 

accounts for expected wage growth by 

adjusting the taxable wage component 

of labor costs. Other non-labor based 

costs and benefits are not impacted. 

The NPRM estimated the costs of the 

proposed rule to be $2.1 million. Using 

a 7-percent discount rate the cost 

estimate will be $1.5 million. The final 

rule’s estimated cost is $2.8 million, 

discounted to $2.0 million (7 percent). 

From the NPRM to the final rule, the 

base cost estimates increased due to the 

adjustment of the CBO real wage 

forecasts for each year of the analysis. 

FRA also updated wage inputs using the 

Surface Transportation Board’s newest 

wage rates for 2012, which impacted the 

overall cost estimate. FRA also assumed 

that the implementation year will be 

2014 and adjusted all wages 

accordingly. While the final rule will 

not take effect until 2015, FRA does not 

believe this will materially impact the 

findings of its analysis. FRA conducted 

a break-even analysis of the rule and 

believes that potential benefits from the 

rule will equal or exceed total costs. 

FRA analyzed the industry costs 

associated with requiring railroads to 

establish and maintain an inventory for 

all public and private highway-rail 

crossings and pathway crossings. Many 

railroads have already implemented 

components of the final rule prior to 

publication of the rulemaking. FRA 

estimates that as many as 50 percent of 

all highway-rail crossings currently 

have up-to-date information in the 

National Inventory. For more details on 

the costing, please see the Regulatory 

Evaluation contained in the public 

docket. The burdens of the rule relate to 

the collection of recent information and 

to the periodic update of the inventory. 

The table below presents the estimated 

costs associated with the rule. 

20-YEAR COST FOR FINAL RULE

Initial Update of Inventory ........ $1,178,701 

Periodic Update of Inventory .... 819,473 

20-YEAR COST FOR FINAL RULE— 

Continued 

Total ................................... 1,998,174 

Future costs are discounted to present 

value using a 7 percent discount rate. 

In the Regulatory Evaluation, FRA has 

explained the expected likely benefits 

for the final rule, and provided a breakeven analysis. The main benefit derived 

from the rule is improved crossing 

inventory data. This more precise 

information will better enable FRA, 

railroads, and any other entity to 

accurately analyze pertinent data, detect 

trends, and if needed, initiate crossingrelated safety initiatives. In this 

analysis, FRA determined that if there 

were a decrease of 0.015 percent of 

crossing accidents over the twenty-year 

period the costs associated with the rule 

will break-even. In the last decade there 

were over 26,000 collisions at grade 

crossings. This break-even analysis 

indicates that preventing at least three 

incidents over the next twenty years 

would justify the rule. FRA anticipates 

that this rulemaking will increase the 

precision, completeness, and utility of 

railroad records and will improve the 

Crossing Inventory. This will allow FRA 

to identify certain highway-rail 

crossings and pathway crossings that are 

not currently recorded in the existing 

voluntary crossing inventory. FRA 

believes that such clarification helps 

offset costs associated with the 

rulemaking by simplifying the reporting 

process. FRA believes the value of the 

anticipated benefits justify the cost of 

implementing the final rule. 

B. Regulatory Flexibility Act and 

Executive Order 13272 

To ensure potential impacts of rules 

on small entities are properly 

considered, FRA has developed this 

final rule in accordance with Executive 

Order 13272 (‘‘Proper Consideration of 

Small Entities in Agency Rulemaking’’) 

and DOT’s procedures and policies to 

promote compliance with the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (5 

U.S.C. 601 et seq.). 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act 

requires an agency to review regulations 

to assess their impact on small entities. 

An agency must prepare a regulatory 

flexibility analysis (RFA) unless it 

determines and certifies that a rule, if 

promulgated, would not have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. 

The primary purpose of the Crossing 

Inventory is to provide a uniform 

inventory database that can be merged 

with highway-rail crossing collision 

files and used to analyze information for 

planning and implementation of 

crossing improvement programs by 

public and private agencies responsible 

for highway-rail crossing safety, as well 

as the railroad industry and academia. 

(1) Description of Regulated Entities 

and Impacts: The ‘‘universe’’ of the 

entities to be considered generally 

includes only those small entities that 

are reasonably expected to be directly 

regulated by this action. This final rule 

directly affects Class I, Class II, and 

Class III railroads that own or operate 

over at-grade or grade-separated 

crossings. 

‘‘Small entity’’ is defined in 5 U.S.C. 

601. Section 601(3) defines a ‘‘small 

entity’’ as having the same meaning as 

‘‘small business concern’’ under section 

three of the Small Business Act. This 

includes any small business concern 

that is independently owned and 

operated and is not dominant in its field 

of operation. Section 601(4) likewise 

includes within the definition of this 

term not-for-profit enterprises that are 

independently owned and operated and 

are not dominant in their field of 

operation. The U.S. Small Business 

Administration (SBA) stipulates in its 

size standards that the largest a railroad 

business firm that is ‘‘for profit’’ may be 

and still be classified as a ‘‘small entity’’ 

is 1,500 employees for ‘‘Line Haul 

Operating Railroads’’ and 500 

employees for ‘‘Switching and Terminal 

Establishments.’’ Additionally, 5 U.S.C. 

601(5) defines as ‘‘small entities’’ 

governments of cities, counties, towns, 

townships, villages, school districts, or 

special districts with populations less 

than 50,000. 

Federal agencies may adopt their own 

size standards for small entities in 

consultation with SBA and in 

conjunction with public comment. 

Pursuant to that authority, FRA has 

published a final statement of agency 

policy that formally establishes ‘‘small 

entities’’ or ‘‘small businesses’’ as being 

railroads, contractors, and hazardous 

materials shippers that meet the revenue 

requirements of a Class III railroad as set 

forth in 49 CFR 1201.1–1, which is $20 

million or less in inflation-adjusted 

annual revenues; and commuter 

railroads or small governmental 

jurisdictions that serve populations of 

50,000 or less. See 68 FR 24891, May 9, 

2003, codified at appendix C to 49 CFR 

part 209. The $20 million-limit is based 

on the Surface Transportation Board’s 

revenue threshold for a Class III 

railroad. Railroad revenue is adjusted 

for inflation by applying a revenue 

deflator formula in accordance with 49 

CFR 1201.1–1. FRA is using this 

definition for this rulemaking. 


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Railroads: There are a total of 756 

regulated railroads. This rulemaking 

does not affect 152 railroads because 

they do not own any crossings. There 

are seven Class I railroads and 12 Class 

II railroads, all which are not considered 

small. There are a total of ten out of 29 

commuter/passenger railroads, 

including Amtrak, this rule will affect. 

However, all the affected commuter 

railroads are part of larger public 

transportation agencies that receive 

Federal funds and serve major 

jurisdictions with populations greater 

than 50,000. There are also 11 transit 

operators. FRA typically does not 

regulate transit operators. However, 

some transit operators have crossings 

which must be included in the Crossing 

Inventory. 

The costs each railroad incurs will 

generally vary in proportion to the 

number of crossings they maintain. For 

instance, railroads with fewer crossings 

should have lower overall costs 

associated with implementing the 

standards. There are 710 Class III 

railroads, and of those railroads, this 

rule affects 569. However, large holding 

companies own 113 of these railroads 

and, thus, are not considered small 

entities for purposes of this analysis. 

Hence, there are 456 railroads 

considered to be small entities impacted 

by this rule. 

For the purpose of this analysis, FRA 

broke Class III railroads into two 

categories. We considered any Class III 

railroad with more than 40 crossings a 

Larger Class III railroad and any Class III 

railroad with 40 or less crossings a 

Smaller Class III railroad. FRA 

anticipates the majority of the Larger 

Class III railroads will use FRA’s Web 

based program to submit their 

inventories to the FRA. FRA believes 

the Smaller Class III railroads will 

manually fill out and send their 

inventory forms, by either mail or email, 

to the FRA. FRA also estimates that 50 

percent of all railroads in the industry 

are already in compliance with the rule. 

In the regulatory evaluation FRA 

determined that there are 322 Larger 

Class III railroads. FRA estimates each 

Larger Class III railroad will initially 

task one person for approximately one 

week to review and update its 

inventory. Subsequently, FRA estimates 

it will take one person two days to 

update a Larger Class III railroad 

inventory every year. The initial cost 

associated with Larger Class III railroads 

will be around $1,945 per railroad. We 

estimate the cost to periodically update 

their inventory is about $780 per 

railroad. FRA does not believe the 

regulation will significantly impact the 

Larger Class III railroads. 

In the regulatory evaluation FRA 

determined that there are 247 Smaller 

Class III railroads. FRA estimates that 

each Smaller Class III railroad will 

initially need one person to work 16 

hours to review and update each 

inventory. Subsequently, the periodic 

inventory update cost will be the same, 

requiring one person to work eight 

hours each year. We estimate the initial 

cost associated with Smaller Class III 

railroads will be $778 per railroad. The 

cost to periodically update their 

inventory is about $389 per railroad. 

Again, FRA believes that the regulation 

will not significantly burden any of the 

Smaller Class III railroads. 

During the NPRM public comment 

period, FRA did not receive any 

comments discussing the Initial 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis or 

Executive Order 13272. FRA certifies 

that the final rule will not have any 

significant economic impact on the 

competitive position of small entities, or 

on the small entity segment of the 

railroad industry as a whole. 

(2) Certification: Pursuant to the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 

605(b)), FRA certifies that this final rule 

will not have a significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities. Although a substantial number 

of small railroads will be affected by the 

final rule, none of these entities will be 

significantly impacted. 

C. Federalism 

Executive Order 13132, ‘‘Federalism’’ 

(64 FR 43255, Aug. 10, 1999), requires 

FRA to develop an accountable process 

to ensure ‘‘meaningful and timely input 

by State and local officials in the 

development of regulatory policies that 

have federalism implications.’’ ‘‘Policies 

that have federalism implications’’ are 

defined in the Executive Order to 

include regulations that have 

‘‘substantial direct effects on the States, 

on the relationship between the national 

government and the States, or on the 

distribution of power and 

responsibilities among the various 

levels of government.’’ Under Executive 

Order 13132, the agency may not issue 

a regulation with federalism 

implications that imposes substantial 

direct compliance costs and that is not 

required by statute, unless the Federal 

government provides the funds 

necessary to pay the direct compliance 

costs incurred by State and local 

governments, or the agency consults 

with State and local government 

officials early in the process of 

developing the regulation. Where a 

regulation has federalism implications 

and preempts State law, the agency 

seeks to consult with State and local 

officials in the process of developing the 

regulation. 

This final rule has been analyzed in 

accordance with the principles and 

criteria contained in Executive Order 

13132. This rule will not have a 

substantial effect on the States or their 

political subdivisions; it will not impose 

any compliance costs; and it will not 

affect the relationships between the 

Federal government and the States or 

their political subdivisions, or the 

distribution of power and 

responsibilities among the various 

levels of government. Therefore, the 

consultation and funding requirements 

of Executive Order 13132 do not apply. 

This final rule amends part 234, 

which contains FRA’s principal 

regulations regarding grade crossing 

safety. Part 234 could have preemptive 

effect by operation of law under a 

provision of the former Federal Railroad 

Safety Act of 1970 (repealed and 

recodified at 49 U.S.C. 20106). Section 

20106 provides that States may not 

adopt or continue in effect any law, 

regulation, or order related to railroad 

safety or security that covers the subject 

matter of a regulation prescribed or 

order issued by the Secretary (with 

respect to railroad safety matters) or the 

Secretary of Homeland Security (with 

respect to railroad security matters), 

except when the State law, regulation, 

or order qualifies under the ‘‘essentially 

local safety or security hazard’’ 

exception to section 20106. 

In sum, FRA has analyzed this final 

rule in accordance with the principles 

and criteria contained in Executive 

Order 13132. As explained above, FRA 

has determined that this final rule has 

no federalism implications, other than 

the possible preemption of State laws 

under Federal railroad safety statutes, 

specifically 49 U.S.C. 20106. 

Accordingly, FRA has determined that 

preparation of a federalism summary 

impact statement for this final rule is 

not required. 

D. Paperwork Reduction Act 

The information collection 

requirements in this final rule have been 

submitted for approval to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) under 

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 

44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. The sections that 

contain new information collection 

requirements and the estimated time to 

fulfill each requirement are as follows: 


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784 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 3 / Tuesday, January 6, 2015 / Rules and Regulations 

CFR section Respondent 

universe 

Total annual 

responses 

Average time per 

response 

Total annual 

burden hours 

234.403(a–c)—(New Requirements; Formerly Voluntary) 

—Submission of Data to the U.S. DOT Highway-Rail 

Crossing Inventory: Completion of Inventory Form.

51 States/entities & 

618 railroads.

4,212 forms ............ 30 minutes ............. 2,106 

—Mass Update Lists of Designated Data Submitted by 

Railroads/States.

51 States/entities & 

618 railroads.

257 lists ................. 30 minutes ............. 129 

—Excel Lists of Submitted Data ..................................... 51 States/entities & 

618 railroads.

1,234 lists .............. 30 minutes ............. 617 

—Changes/Corrections to Crossing Inventory Data 

Submitted via GX 32 Computer Program.

51 States/entities & 

618 railroads.

35,845 records ....... 6 minutes ............... 3,585 

—Written Requests by States/Railroads for FRA Crossing Inventory Guide (New Requirement).51 States/entities & 

618 railroads.

10 requests ............ 15 minutes ............. 3 

(d)—Reporting Crossing Inventory Data by State Agencies on Behalf of Railroads: Written Notices to FRA 

(New Requirement).

51 States/entities & 

618 railroads.

20 notices .............. 30 minutes ............. 10 

(e)(1)—Consolidated Reporting by Parent Corporation 

on Behalf of Its Subsidiary Railroads: Written Notice 

to FRA (New Requirement).

51 States/entities & 

618 railroads.

250 notices ............ 30 minutes ............. 125 

(e)(2)—Immediate Notification to FRA by Parent Corporation of Any Changes in the List of Subsidiary 

Railroads for Which It Reports (New Requirement).

51 States/entities & 

618 railroads.

75 notices .............. 30 minutes ............. 38 

234.405(a)(1)—Initial Submission of Previously Unreported 

Highway-Rail and Pathway Crossings through which They 

Operate by Primary Operating Railroads: Providing Assigned Crossing Inventory Number to Each Railroad that 

Operates One or More Trains Through Crossing (New 

Requirement).

51 States/entities & 

618 railroads.

2,120 assigned 

numbers + 4,180 

provided assigned numbers.

5 minutes + 5 minutes.525 

(a)(2)(i)—Completed Inventory Forms for Each Previously Unreported Crossing (New Requirement).51 States/entities & 

618 railroads.

2,120 forms ............ 30 minutes ............. 1,060 

(c)—Duty of All Operating Railroads: Notification to 

FRA of Previously Unreported Crossing through 

Which It Operates (New Requirement).

51 States/entities & 

618 railroads.

450 notices/ notifications.30 minutes ............. 225 

(d)—Incomplete Submission by State Agency: Written 

Certification by Primary Operating Railroad that State 

has Not Provided Requested Crossing Information 

(New Requirement).

51 States/entities & 

618 railroads.

35 certification 

statements.

45 minutes ............. 26 

—Copies of Written Certification Statements to Other 

Operating Railroads and Responsible State Agency 

(New Requirement).

51 States/entities & 

618 railroads.

105 mailed certification copies.2 minutes ............... 4 

234.407(a)—Submission of Initial Data to the Crossing Inventory for New Crossings: Providing Assigned Inventory 

Numbers for New Highway-Rail and Pathway Crossings 

through which They Operate by Primary Operating Railroads to Each Railroad that Operates One or More Trains 

Through the Crossing (New Requirement).

51 States/entities & 

618 railroads.

100 assigned numbers + 100 provided assigned 

numbers.

5 minutes + 5 minutes.16 

(a)(2)(i)—Completed Inventory Forms for Each New 

Highway-Rail and Pathway Crossing (New Requirement).

51 States/entities & 

618 railroads.

100 forms ............... 90 minutes ............. 150 

234.409(a)—Submission of Periodic Updates to the Crossing Inventory (New Requirements; Formerly Voluntary).51 States/entities & 

618 railroads.

80,775 crossing inventory updates.2.5025 minutes ...... 3,369 

(c) Duty of All Operating Railroads: Written Notification 

to FRA of that Up-to-date and Accurate Information 

has Not Been Timely Submitted to the Crossing Inventory (New Requirement).

51 States/entities & 

618 railroads.

950 written notices 20 minutes ............. 317 

234.411(a)—Crossing Sale: Submission of Crossing Inventory Form by Any Operating Railroad that Sells All or Part 

of Highway-Rail and Pathway Crossing (New Requirement).

51 States/entities & 

618 railroads.

650 updated crossing inventory 

forms.

2 hours ................... 1,300 

(b)—Crossing Closure: Submission of Crossing Inventory Form by Primary Operating Railroad that Closes 

Highway-Rail and Pathway Crossing (New Requirement).

51 States/entities & 

618 railroads.

85 crossing inventory forms (closures).5 minutes ............... 7 

(c)—Primary Operating RR Submission of Inventory 

form for Any Surface/Warning Device Changes at 

Crossing (New Req.).

51 States/entities & 

618 railroads.

650 forms ............... 30 minutes ............. 325 

234.413(a & b)(1)—Recordkeeping: Duplicate Copy of Each 

Inventory Form Submitted in Hard Copy (New Requirement).

51 States/entities & 

618 railroads.

5,901 duplicate 

copies.

1 minute ................. 98 

(a & b)(2)—Railroad Copy of FRA Confirmation after 

Electronic Submission of Crossing Data to the Crossing Inventory (New Requirement).

51 States/entities & 

618 railroads.

80,775 copies ........ 1 minute ................. 1,346 

(c)—Railroad List of Establishment Locations Where 

Any Required Records are Kept (New Requirement).

51 States/entities & 

618 railroads.

618 lists ................. 5 minutes ............... 52 


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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 3 / Tuesday, January 6, 2015 / Rules and Regulations 785 

All estimates include the time for 

reviewing instructions; searching 

existing data sources; gathering or 

maintaining the needed data; and 

reviewing the information. Pursuant to 

44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(B), FRA solicits 

comments concerning: Whether these 

information collection requirements are 

necessary for the proper performance of 

the functions of FRA, including whether 

the information has practical utility; the 

accuracy of FRA’s estimates of the 

burden of the information collection 

requirements; the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and whether the burden of 

collection of information on those who 

are to respond, including through the 

use of automated collection techniques 

or other forms of information 

technology, may be minimized. For 

information or a copy of the paperwork 

package submitted to OMB, contact Mr. 

Robert Brogan, Information Clearance 

Officer, Office of Safety, at 202–493– 

6292, or Ms. Kimberly Toone, Records 

Management Officer, Office of 

Information Technology, at 202–493– 

6132 or via email at the following 

addresses: Robert.Brogan@dot.gov; 

Kimberly.Toone@dot.gov. 

Organizations and individuals 

desiring to submit comments on the 

collection of information requirements 

should direct them to the Office of 

Management and Budget, Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs, 

Washington, DC 20503, Attention: FRA 

Desk Officer. Comments may also be 

sent via email to OMB at the following 

address: oira_submissions@

omb.eop.gov. 

OMB is required to make a decision 

concerning the collection of information 

requirements contained in this final rule 

between 30 and 60 days after 

publication of this document in the 

Federal Register. Therefore, a comment 

to OMB is best assured of having its full 

effect if OMB receives it within 30 days 

of publication. 

FRA cannot impose a penalty on 

persons for violating information 

collection requirements which do not 

display a current OMB control number, 

if required. FRA intends to obtain 

current OMB control numbers for any 

new information collection 

requirements resulting from this 

rulemaking action prior to the effective 

date of this final rule. The OMB control 

number, when assigned, will be 

announced by separate notice in the 

Federal Register. 

E. Environmental Impact 

FRA has evaluated this rule in 

accordance with its ‘‘Procedures for 

Considering Environmental Impacts’’ 

(FRA’s Procedures) (64 FR 28545, May 

26, 1999) as required by the National 

Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 

4321 et seq.), other environmental 

statutes, Executive Orders, and related 

regulatory requirements. FRA has 

determined that this final rule is not a 

major FRA action (requiring the 

preparation of an environmental impact 

statement or environmental assessment) 

because it is categorically excluded from 

detailed environmental review pursuant 

to section 4(c)(20) of FRA’s Procedures. 

See 64 FR 28547, May 26, 1999. 

In accordance with section 4(c) and 

(e) of FRA’s Procedures, the agency has 

further concluded that no extraordinary 

circumstances exist with respect to this 

regulation that might trigger the need for 

a more detailed environmental review. 

As a result, FRA finds that this final rule 

is not a major Federal action 

significantly affecting the quality of the 

human environment. 

F. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 

1995 

Pursuant to Section 201 of the 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 

(Pub. L. 104–4, 2 U.S.C. 1531), each 

Federal agency ‘‘shall, unless otherwise 

prohibited by law, assess the effects of 

Federal regulatory actions on State, 

local, and tribal governments, and the 

private sector (other than to the extent 

that such regulations incorporate 

requirements specifically set forth in 

law).’’ Section 202 of the Act (2 U.S.C. 

1532) further requires that ‘‘before 

promulgating any general notice of 

proposed rulemaking that is likely to 

result in the promulgation of any rule 

that includes any Federal mandate that 

may result in expenditure by State, 

local, and tribal governments, in the 

aggregate, or by the private sector, of 

$100 million or more (adjusted annually 

for inflation) in any one year, and before 

promulgating any final rule for which a 

general notice of proposed rulemaking 

was published, the agency shall prepare 

a written statement’’ detailing the effect 

on State, local, and tribal governments 

and the private sector. This final rule 

will not result in the expenditure, in the 

aggregate, of $140,800,000 or more (as 

adjusted annually for inflation) in any 

one year, and thus preparation of such 

a statement is not required. 

G. Energy Impact 

Executive Order 13211 requires 

Federal agencies to prepare a Statement 

of Energy Effects for any ‘‘significant 

energy action.’’ 66 FR 28355, May 22, 

2001. Under the Executive Order, a 

‘‘significant energy action’’ is defined as 

any action by an agency (normally 

published in the Federal Register) that 

promulgates or is expected to lead to the 

promulgation of a final rule or 

regulation, including notices of inquiry, 

advance notices of proposed 

rulemaking, and notices of proposed 

rulemaking: (1)(i) That is a significant 

regulatory action under Executive Order 

12866 or any successor order, and (ii) is 

likely to have a significant adverse effect 

on the supply, distribution, or use of 

energy; or (2) that is designated by the 

Administrator of the Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs as a 

significant energy action. FRA has 

evaluated this final rule in accordance 

with Executive Order 13211. FRA has 

determined that this final rule is not 

likely to have a significant adverse effect 

on the supply, distribution, or use of 

energy. Consequently, FRA has 

determined that this regulatory action is 

not a ‘‘significant energy action’’ within 

the meaning of Executive Order 13211. 

H. Trade Impact 

The Trade Agreements Act of 1979 

(Pub. L. 96–39, 19 U.S.C. 2501 et seq.) 

prohibits Federal agencies from 

engaging in any standards setting or 

related activities that create unnecessary 

obstacles to the foreign commerce of the 

United States. Legitimate domestic 

objectives, such as safety, are not 

considered unnecessary obstacles. The 

statute also requires consideration of 

international standards and, where 

appropriate, that they be the basis for 

U.S. standards. FRA has assessed the 

potential effect of this final rule on 

foreign commerce and believes that its 

requirements are consistent with the 

Trade Agreements Act of 1979. The 

requirements imposed are safety 

standards which, as noted, are not 

considered unnecessary obstacles to 

trade. 

I. Privacy Act 

In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), 

DOT solicits comments from the public 

to better inform its rulemaking process. 

DOT posts these comments, without 

edit, including any personal information 

the commenter provides, to 

www.regulations.gov, as described in 

the system of records notice (DOT/ALL– 

14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at 

www.dot.gov/privacy. 

List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 234 

Highway safety, Penalties, Railroad 

safety, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, State and local 

governments. 

The Rule 

In consideration of the foregoing, FRA 

amends part 234 of chapter II, subtitle 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with RULES
786 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 3 / Tuesday, January 6, 2015 / Rules and Regulations 

B of title 49, Code of Federal 

Regulations as follows: 

PART 234—GRADE CROSSING 

SAFETY 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 234 

is revised to read as follows: 

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 20103, 20107, 20152, 

20160, 21301, 21304, 21311, 22501 note; Pub. 

L. 110–432, Div. A., Sec. 202, 28 U.S.C. 2461, 

note; and 49 CFR 1.89. 

■ 2. The heading for part 234 is revised 

to read as set forth above. 

■ 3. Amend § 234.1 by revising 

paragraphs (a)(3) and (4) and adding 

paragraph (a)(5) to read as follows: 

§ 234.1 Scope. 

(a) * * * 

(3) Requirements for particular 

identified States to develop State 

highway-rail grade crossing action 

plans; 

(4) Requirements that certain railroads 

establish systems for receiving toll-free 

telephone calls reporting various unsafe 

conditions at highway-rail grade 

crossings and pathway grade crossings, 

and for taking certain actions in 

response to those calls; and 

(5) Requirements for reporting to, and 

periodically updating information 

contained in, the U.S. DOT National 

Highway-Rail Crossing Inventory for 

highway-rail and pathway crossings. 

* * * * * 

■ 4. Subpart F is added to part 234 to 

read as follows: 

Subpart F—Highway-Rail and Pathway 

Crossing Inventory Reporting 

Sec. 

234.401 Definitions. 

234.403 Submission of data to the Crossing 

Inventory, generally. 

234.405 Submission of initial data and 

periodic updates to the Crossing 

Inventory. 

234.407 Recordkeeping. 

234.409 Electronic recordkeeping. 

Appendix A to Part 234—Schedule of Civil 

Penalties 

Subpart F—Highway-Rail and Pathway 

Crossing Inventory Reporting 

§ 234.401 Definitions. 

As used in this subpart— 

Class I has the meaning assigned by 

regulations of the Surface 

Transportation Board (49 CFR part 1201; 

General Instructions 1–1), as those 

regulations may be revised and applied 

by order of the Board (including 

modifications in class threshold based 

on revenue deflator adjustments). 

Closed crossing means a location 

where a previous crossing no longer 

exists because either the railroad tracks 

have been physically removed, or each 

pathway or roadway approach to the 

crossing has been physically removed, 

leaving behind no intersection of 

railroad tracks with either a pathway or 

roadway. A grade-separated highwayrail or pathway crossing that has been 

physically removed is also considered a 

closed crossing. 

Crossing Inventory means the U.S. 

DOT National Highway-Rail Crossing 

Inventory. 

FRA Associate Administrator means 

the FRA Associate Administrator for 

Railroad Safety/Chief Safety Officer. 

Highway-rail crossing means the 

location where one or more railroad 

tracks intersect with a public highway, 

road, street, or private roadway, either 

at-grade or grade-separated, including 

associated sidewalks. 

Inventory Form means the U.S. DOT 

Crossing Inventory Form (Form FRA F 

6180.71). 

Inventory Guide means the FRA 

Guide for Preparing Highway-Rail 

Crossing Inventory Forms in effect at the 

time of the submission of data to the 

Crossing Inventory. 

Inventory Number means the number 

assigned to a highway-rail crossing or 

pathway crossing in the Crossing 

Inventory. 

Operating railroad means any railroad 

or urban rapid transit operator that 

operates one or more trains through a 

highway-rail or pathway crossing on, or 

connected to, the general railroad 

system of transportation. 

Pathway crossing means a pathway 

that: 

(1) Is explicitly authorized by a public 

authority or a railroad; 

(2) Is dedicated for the use of nonvehicular traffic, including pedestrians, 

bicyclists, and others; 

(3) Is not associated with a public 

highway, road, or street, or a private 

roadway; and 

(4) Crosses one or more railroad tracks 

either at grade or grade-separated. 

Primary operating railroad means the 

operating railroad that either owns or 

maintains the track through the 

highway-rail or pathway crossing, 

unless the crossing is located within a 

private company, port, or dock area. If 

more than one operating railroad either 

owns or maintains the track through the 

highway-rail or pathway crossing, or if 

no operating railroad owns or maintains 

the track through the highway-rail or 

pathway crossing, then the operating 

railroad that operates the highest 

number of trains through the crossing is 

the primary operating railroad. In the 

event that there is only one operating 

railroad that operates one or more trains 

through a highway-rail or pathway 

crossing, that operating railroad is the 

primary operating railroad. For 

highway-rail and pathway crossings that 

are located within a private company, 

port, or dock area, each railroad that 

owns track leading to the private 

company, port, or dock area will be 

considered a primary operating railroad 

as applied to crossings within the 

private company, port, or dock area. 

Private crossing means a highway-rail 

or pathway crossing that is not a public 

crossing. 

Public crossing means a highway-rail 

or pathway crossing where the 

approaches are under the jurisdiction of 

and maintained by a public authority 

and open to public travel. All 

approaches must be under the 

jurisdiction of the public authority and 

no approach may be on private 

property, unless State law or regulation 

provides otherwise. 

Temporary crossing means a highwayrail or pathway crossing created to serve 

a specific activity for a temporary time 

period not to exceed six months. 

§ 234.403 Submission of data to the 

Crossing Inventory, generally. 

(a) Highway-rail and pathway 

crossing data shall be submitted to the 

Crossing Inventory on the Inventory 

Form. Except as provided in paragraph 

(c) of this section, the Inventory Form 

may be submitted in hard copy or 

electronically. 

(b) The Inventory Form, or its 

electronic equivalent, shall be 

completed in accordance with the 

Inventory Guide. A copy of this guide 

may be obtained from the Office of 

Railroad Safety, RRS–23, Federal 

Railroad Administration, 1200 New 

Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 

20590. A copy of this guide can also be 

viewed or downloaded from FRA’s 

Safety Data Web site under the Forms/ 

Publications tab. 

(c) Each Class I railroad shall submit 

the data required by paragraph (a) of 

this section to the Crossing Inventory 

electronically. 

(d) Reporting by State agencies on 

behalf of operating railroads. A State 

agency may submit crossing data to the 

Crossing Inventory on behalf of an 

operating railroad. The State agency and 

the operating railroad shall provide 

written notice to the FRA Associate 

Administrator that the State agency has 

agreed to submit and update crossing 

data for all of the operating railroad’s 

highway-rail and pathway crossings 

within the state. 

(e) Reporting by the parent 

corporation on behalf of subsidiary 

railroads. (1) In order to satisfy the 

reporting requirements of this section, a 


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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 3 / Tuesday, January 6, 2015 / Rules and Regulations 787 

parent corporation may submit crossing 

data to the Crossing Inventory on behalf 

of one or more of its subsidiary 

railroads. The parent corporation and 

the subsidiary railroad(s) shall provide 

written notice to the FRA Associate 

Administrator that the parent 

corporation has assumed reporting and 

updating responsibility for all of the 

subsidiary railroad’s highway-rail and 

pathway crossings. The written 

notification shall include the following: 

(i) A list of all subsidiary operating 

railroads for which the parent 

corporation will assume reporting and 

updating responsibility; 

(ii) An explanation as to how the 

parent corporation and the subsidiary 

operating railroad(s) operate as a single, 

seamless, integrated United States 

railroad system; and 

(iii) A statement signed by the chief 

executive officer of the parent 

corporation, in which the chief 

executive officer shall consent, on 

behalf of the parent corporation, to 

guarantee any monetary penalty 

assessments or other liabilities owed to 

the United States government that are 

incurred by the named subsidiaries for 

violating the reporting or updating 

requirements set forth in this subpart. 

(2) The parent corporation shall 

provide immediate written notification 

to the FRA Associate Administrator of 

any change in the list of subsidiary 

operating railroads for which it has 

assumed reporting and updating 

responsibility. 

(3) The parent corporation shall 

submit the data required by paragraph 

(a) of this section to the Crossing 

Inventory electronically. 

§ 234.405 Submission of initial data to the 

Crossing Inventory for previously 

unreported crossings. 

(a) Duty of primary operating railroad. 

(1)(i) With the exception of highway-rail 

and pathway crossings that are located 

in a railroad yard, passenger station, or 

within a private company, port, or dock 

area, each primary operating railroad 

shall assign an Inventory Number to 

each previously unreported highwayrail and pathway crossing through 

which it operates. 

(ii) A primary operating railroad shall 

assign one or more Inventory Numbers 

to previously unreported highway-rail 

and pathway crossings through which it 

operates that are located in a railroad 

yard, passenger station, or within a 

private company, port, or dock area. 

(iii) An Inventory Number shall not be 

assigned to a temporary crossing, nor 

shall an Inventory Form be submitted to 

the Crossing Inventory for a temporary 

crossing. 

(2) With the exception of highway-rail 

and pathway crossings that are located 

within a private company, port, or dock 

area, the primary operating railroad 

shall provide the assigned Inventory 

Number to each operating railroad that 

operates one or more trains through the 

previously unreported highway-rail or 

pathway crossing no later than January 

6, 2016. 

(3) Each primary operating railroad 

shall submit accurate and complete 

Inventory Forms, or their electronic 

equivalent, to the Crossing Inventory for 

the previously unreported highway-rail 

and pathway crossings through which it 

operates, no later than March 7, 2016. 

The Inventory Form, or its electronic 

equivalent, shall reference the assigned 

Inventory Number for the crossing(s) 

and shall be completed and submitted 

in accordance with § 234.403. 

(b) Duty of operating railroad when 

operating railroads operate on separate 

tracks. For each previously unreported 

highway-rail and pathway crossing 

where operating railroads operate trains 

on separate tracks through the crossing, 

each operating railroad (other than the 

primary operating railroad) shall submit 

accurate crossing data specified in the 

Inventory Guide to the Crossing 

Inventory no later than March 7, 2016. 

The Inventory Form, or its electronic 

equivalent, which contains this crossing 

data shall reference the Inventory 

Number assigned to the crossing by the 

primary operating railroad and shall be 

completed and submitted in accordance 

with § 234.403. 

(c) Duty of all operating railroads. 

Unless a written certification statement 

has been provided by the primary 

operating railroad in accordance with 

paragraph (d) of this section, each 

operating railroad, other than the 

primary operating railroad, that operates 

through a previously unreported 

highway-rail or pathway crossing 

(except a temporary crossing) for which 

a completed Inventory Form, or its 

electronic equivalent, has not been 

submitted to the Crossing Inventory in 

accordance with paragraph (a) of this 

section shall notify the FRA Associate 

Administrator in writing of this 

oversight. Written notification provided 

by the operating railroad shall include, 

at a minimum, the latitudinal and 

longitudinal coordinates for each 

previously unreported highway-rail or 

pathway crossing for which a completed 

Inventory Form, or its electronic 

equivalent, has not been submitted to 

the Crossing Inventory in accordance 

with paragraph (a) of this section. 

(d) Incomplete submission—State 

agency data. (1)(i) If a primary operating 

railroad requests State-maintained 

crossing data from the appropriate State 

agency responsible for maintaining 

highway-rail and pathway crossing data 

and does not receive the requested data 

within 60 days, the primary operating 

railroad may provide a written 

statement to the FRA Associate 

Administrator certifying that it 

requested crossing data from the 

appropriate State agency responsible for 

maintaining highway-rail and pathway 

crossing data at least 60 days prior, but 

has not yet received the data. If a 

written statement is provided to the 

FRA Associate Administrator pursuant 

to this subsection by certified mail, 

return receipt requested, the primary 

operating railroad will not be held liable 

for failure to timely submit an accurate 

and complete Inventory Form, or its 

electronic equivalent, as required by 

§ 234.405(a)(3). If the primary operating 

railroad receives the requested crossing 

data subsequent to the mailing of a 

certified statement under this section, 

the primary operating railroad shall 

submit the crossing data to the Crossing 

Inventory within 60 days of receipt. 

(ii) Any written statement provided 

pursuant to this subsection shall certify 

that the primary operating railroad 

requested crossing information for one 

or more data fields that have been 

assigned by the Inventory Guide to the 

State for updating purposes and the 

requested information has not yet been 

provided. The written certification 

statement shall be mailed no later than 

March 7, 2016. Copies of this written 

certification statement shall also be 

mailed to each operating railroad that 

operates through the crossing and to the 

State agency responsible for maintaining 

highway-rail and pathway crossing data. 

(2) The written certification statement 

shall include the following: 

(i) A list of each data field for which 

crossing information has been requested 

from the appropriate State agency; and 

(ii) The date on which this crossing 

information was requested from the 

appropriate State agency. 

§ 234.407 Submission of initial data to the 

Crossing Inventory for new crossings. 

(a) Duty of primary operating railroad. 

(1)(i) With the exception of highway-rail 

and pathway crossings that are located 

in a railroad yard, a passenger station, 

or within a private company, port, or 

dock area, each primary operating 

railroad shall assign an Inventory 

Number to each new highway-rail and 

pathway crossing through which it 

operates. 

(ii) A primary operating railroad shall 

assign one or more Inventory Numbers 

to new highway-rail and pathway 

crossings through which it operates, 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with RULES
788 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 3 / Tuesday, January 6, 2015 / Rules and Regulations 

which are located in a railroad yard, 

passenger station, or within a private 

company, port, or dock area. 

(iii) An Inventory Number shall not be 

assigned to a temporary crossing, nor 

shall an Inventory Form be submitted to 

the Crossing Inventory for a temporary 

crossing. 

(2) With the exception of highway-rail 

and pathway crossings that are located 

within a private company, port, or dock 

area, the primary operating railroad 

shall provide the assigned Inventory 

Number to each operating railroad that 

operates one or more trains through the 

new highway-rail or pathway crossing 

no later than four (4) months after the 

crossing becomes operational or January 

6, 2016, whichever occurs later. 

(3) Each primary operating railroad 

shall submit accurate and complete 

Inventory Forms, or their electronic 

equivalent, to the Crossing Inventory for 

new highway-rail and pathway 

crossings through which it operates, no 

later than six (6) months after the 

crossing becomes operational or March 

7, 2016, whichever occurs later. The 

Inventory Form, or its electronic 

equivalent, shall reference the assigned 

Inventory Number for the crossing(s) 

and shall be completed and submitted 

in accordance with § 234.403. 

(b) Duty of operating railroad when 

operating railroads operate on separate 

tracks. For each new highway-rail and 

pathway crossing where operating 

railroads operate trains on separate 

tracks through the crossing, each 

operating railroad shall submit accurate 

crossing data specified in the Inventory 

Guide to the Crossing Inventory no later 

than March 7, 2016. The Inventory 

Form, or its electronic equivalent, 

which contains this crossing data shall 

reference the Inventory Number 

assigned to the crossing by the primary 

operating railroad and shall be 

completed and submitted in accordance 

with § 234.403. 

(c) Duty of all operating railroads. 

Unless a written certification statement 

has been provided by the primary 

operating railroad in accordance with 

paragraph (d) of this section, each 

operating railroad, other than the 

primary operating railroad, that operates 

through a new highway-rail or pathway 

crossing (except a temporary crossing) 

for which a completed Inventory Form, 

or its electronic equivalent, has not been 

submitted to the Crossing Inventory in 

accordance with paragraph (a) of this 

section shall notify the FRA Associate 

Administrator in writing of this 

oversight. Written notification provided 

by the operating railroad shall include, 

at a minimum, the latitudinal and 

longitudinal coordinates for each new 

and unreported highway-rail or pathway 

crossing for which a completed 

Inventory Form, or its electronic 

equivalent, has not been submitted to 

the Crossing Inventory in accordance 

with paragraph (a) of this section. 

(d) Incomplete submission—State 

agency data. (1)(i) If a primary operating 

railroad requests State-maintained 

crossing data from the appropriate State 

agency responsible for maintaining 

highway-rail and pathway crossing data 

and does not receive the requested data 

within 60 days, the primary operating 

railroad may provide a written 

statement to the FRA Associate 

Administrator certifying that it 

requested crossing data from the 

appropriate State agency responsible for 

maintaining highway-rail and pathway 

crossing data at least 60 days prior, but 

has not yet received the data. If a 

written statement is provided to the 

FRA Associate Administrator pursuant 

to this subsection by certified mail, 

return receipt requested, the primary 

operating railroad will not be held liable 

for failure to timely submit an accurate 

and complete Inventory Form, or its 

electronic equivalent, as required by 

§ 234.405(a)(3). If the primary operating 

railroad submits the requested crossing 

data subsequent to the mailing of a 

certified statement under this section, 

the primary operating railroad shall 

submit the crossing data to the Crossing 

Inventory within 60 days of receipt. 

(ii) Any written certification 

statement provided pursuant to this 

subsection shall certify that the primary 

operating railroad requested crossing 

information for one or more data fields 

that have been assigned by the 

Inventory Guide to the State for 

updating purposes and the requested 

information has not yet been provided. 

The written certification statement shall 

be mailed no later than six (6) months 

after the crossing becomes operational 

or March 7, 2016, whichever occurs 

later. Copies of this written certification 

statement shall also be mailed to each 

operating railroad that operates through 

the crossing and to the State agency 

responsible for maintaining highwayrail and pathway crossing data. 

(2) The written certification statement 

shall include the following: 

(i) A list of each data field for which 

crossing information has been requested 

from the appropriate State agency; and 

(ii) The date on which this crossing 

information was requested from the 

appropriate State agency. 

§ 234.409 Submission of periodic updates 

to the Crossing Inventory. 

(a) Duty of primary operating railroad. 

Each primary operating railroad shall 

submit up-to-date and accurate crossing 

data to the Crossing Inventory for each 

highway-rail and pathway crossing 

(except for a grade-separated or closed 

highway-rail or pathway crossing) 

through which it operates, in 

accordance with the Inventory Guide. 

Updated crossing data shall be 

submitted to the Crossing Inventory at 

least every three (3) years from the date 

of the most recent submission of data by 

the primary operating railroad (or on 

behalf of the primary operating railroad) 

for the crossing or March 7, 2016, 

whichever occurs later. For hard-copy 

submissions to Crossing Inventory, this 

three-year period shall be measured 

from mailing date of the most recent 

submission of data by the primary 

operating railroad (or on behalf of the 

primary operating railroad). 

(b) Duty of operating railroad when 

operating railroads operate on separate 

tracks. For each highway-rail and 

pathway crossing where operating 

railroads operate trains on separate 

tracks through the crossing, each 

operating railroad shall submit up-todate and accurate crossing data for 

certain specified data fields on the 

Inventory Form, or its electronic 

equivalent, to the Crossing Inventory at 

least every three (3) years from the date 

of the most recent submission of data by 

that operating railroad (or on behalf of 

that operating railroad) for the crossing 

or March 7, 2016, whichever occurs 

later. For hard-copy submissions to 

Crossing Inventory, this three-year 

period shall be measured from mailing 

date of the most recent submission of 

data by the operating railroad (or on 

behalf of the operating railroad). The 

Inventory Form, or its electronic 

equivalent, shall be partially completed 

in accordance with the Inventory Guide 

and submitted in accordance with 

§ 234.403. 

(c) Duty of all operating railroads. 

Each operating railroad, other than the 

primary operating railroad, that operates 

through a highway-rail or pathway 

crossing for which up-to-date 

information has not been timely 

submitted to the Crossing Inventory in 

accordance with paragraph (a) of this 

section shall notify the FRA Associate 

Administrator in writing of this 

oversight. Written notification provided 

by the operating railroad shall include, 

at a minimum, the Inventory Number 

for each highway-rail and pathway 

crossing that has not been updated. 

§ 234.411 Changes requiring submission 

of updated information to the Crossing 

Inventory. 

(a) Crossing sale. Any railroad that 

sells all or part of a highway-rail or 


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pathway crossing shall submit to the 

Crossing Inventory an Inventory Form, 

or its electronic equivalent, which 

reflects the crossing sale. The updated 

Inventory Form, or its electronic 

equivalent, shall be submitted to the 

Crossing Inventory in accordance with 

§ 234.403 no later than three (3) months 

after the date of sale or March 7, 2016, 

whichever occurs later. 

(b) Crossing closure. Within three (3) 

months after the closure of any 

highway-rail or pathway crossing 

reported to the Crossing Inventory or 

March 7, 2016, whichever occurs later, 

the primary operating railroad shall 

submit an Inventory Form, or its 

electronic equivalent, that reflects 

closure of the crossing to the Crossing 

Inventory, in accordance with the 

Inventory Guide and § 234.403. 

(c) Changes in crossing 

characteristics. (1) Within three (3) 

months of any change in crossing 

surface or change in warning device at 

any public highway-rail grade crossing 

or March 7, 2016, whichever occurs 

later, the primary operating railroad 

shall submit an Inventory Form, or its 

electronic equivalent, that reflects up-todate and accurate crossing data for the 

crossing (including the change in 

crossing surface or change in warning 

device) to the Crossing Inventory, in 

accordance with the Inventory Guide 

and § 234.403. 

(2) For purposes of this subpart, a 

‘‘change in warning device’’ means the 

addition or removal of a crossbuck, 

yield or stop sign, flashing lights, or 

gates at a public highway-rail grade 

crossing. The installation of a crossbuck, 

yield or stop sign, flashing lights, or 

gates that will be in place for less than 

six months does not constitute a 

‘‘change in warning device’’ for 

purposes of this subpart. 

§ 234.413 Recordkeeeping. 

(a) Each railroad subject to this 

subpart shall keep records in 

accordance with this section. Records 

may be kept either on paper or by 

electronic means in a manner that 

conforms with § 234.415. 

(b) Each operating railroad, including 

the primary operating railroad, 

responsible for submitting information 

to the Crossing Inventory in accordance 

with this subpart shall, at a minimum, 

maintain the following information for 

each required Inventory Form: 

(1) A duplicate copy of each Inventory 

Form submitted in hard copy to the 

Crossing Inventory; or 

(2) A copy of the electronic 

confirmation received from FRA after 

electronic submission of crossing data to 

the Crossing Inventory. 

(c) Each railroad shall identify the 

locations where a copy of any record 

required to be retained by this subpart 

is accessible for inspection and 

photocopying by maintaining a list of 

such establishment locations at the 

office where the railroad’s reporting 

officer conducts his or her official 

business. 

(d) Each operating railroad shall 

retain for at least four (4) years from the 

date of submission to the Crossing 

Inventory all records referred to in 

paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section. 

Records required to be kept under this 

subpart shall be made available to FRA 

as provided by 49 U.S.C. 20107. 

§ 234.415 Electronic recordkeeping. 

(a) If a railroad subject to this subpart 

maintains records required by this 

subpart in electronic format in lieu of 

paper, the system for keeping the 

electronic records must meet all of the 

following conditions: 

(1) The railroad adequately limits and 

controls accessibility to the records 

retained in its electronic database 

system and identifies those individuals 

who have such access; 

(2) The railroad has a terminal at the 

office where the railroad’s reporting 

officer conducts his or her official 

business and at each location designated 

by the railroad as having a copy of any 

record required to be retained by this 

subpart that is accessible for inspection 

and photocopying; 

(3) Each such terminal has a computer 

and either a facsimile machine or a 

printer connected to a computer to 

retrieve and produce information in a 

usable format for immediate review by 

FRA representatives; 

(4) The railroad has a designated 

representative who is authorized to 

authenticate retrieved information from 

the electronic system as a true and 

accurate copy of the electronically kept 

record; and 

(5) The railroad provides FRA 

representatives with immediate access 

to the record(s) for inspection and 

copying during normal business hours 

and provides a printout of such 

record(s) upon request. 

(b) If a record required by this subpart 

is in the form of an electronic record 

kept by an electronic recordkeeping 

system that does not comply with 

paragraph (a) of this section, then the 

record must be kept on paper in 

accordance with the recordkeeping 

requirements contained in § 234.413. 

Appendix A to Part 234—Schedule of 

Civil Penalties 

Section Violation Willful 

violation 

Subpart F—Highway-Rail and Pathway Crossing Inventory Reporting 

§ 234.403 Submission of data to the Crossing Inventory: 

(b) Failure to complete Inventory Form (or electronic equivalent) in accordance with the Inventory Guide. $1,000 $2,000 

(c) Class I railroad failure to submit crossing data to the Crossing Inventory electronically. 1,000 2,000 

§ 234.405 Submission of initial data to the Crossing Inventory for previously unreported crossings: 

(a) Primary operating railroad failure to timely submit an accurate and complete Inventory Form (or electronic equivalent) to the Crossing Inventory for previously unreported crossing. 2,500 5,000 

(b) Operating railroad failure to timely submit accurate partial crossing data to the Crossing Inventory for 

previously unreported crossing. 2,500 5,000 

(c) Operating railroad failure to provide written notification to FRA that the primary operating railroad failed 

to timely report previously unreported crossing. 1,000 2,000 

§ 234.407 Submission of initial data to the Crossing Inventory for new crossings: 

(a) Primary operating railroad failure to timely submit an accurate and complete Inventory Form (or electronic equivalent) to the Crossing Inventory for new crossing. 2,500 5,000 

(b) Operating railroad failure to timely submit accurate partial crossing data to the Crossing Inventory for 

new crossing. 2,500 5,000 

(c) Operating railroad failure to provide written notification to FRA that the primary operating railroad failed 

to timely report new crossing. 1,000 2,000 

§ 234.409 Submission of periodic updates to the Crossing Inventory: 

(a) Primary operating railroad failure to timely submit up-to-date and accurate crossing data to the Crossing Inventory for highway-rail or pathway crossing. 2,500 5,000 


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Section Violation Willful 

violation 

(b) Operating railroad failure to timely submit up-to-date and accurate partial crossing data to the Crossing 

Inventory for highway-rail or pathway crossing. 2,500 5,000 

(c) Operating railroad failure to provide written notification to FRA that the primary operating railroad failed 

to timely submit up-to-date crossing data. 1,000 2,000 

§ 234.411 Changes requiring submission of updated information to the Crossing Inventory: 

(a) Failure to timely report crossing sale to the Crossing Inventory. 2,500 5,000 

(b) Primary operating railroad failure to timely report crossing closure to the Crossing Inventory. 2,500 5,000 

(c) Primary operating railroad failure to timely submit up-to-date and accurate crossing data to the Crossing Inventory after change in crossing characteristics. 2,500 5,000 

§ 234.413 Recordkeeping. 1,000 2,000 

§ 234.415 Electronic recordkeeping. 1,000 2,000 

Issued in Washington, DC, on December 

19, 2014. 

Melissa L. Porter, 

Chief Counsel. 

[FR Doc. 2014–30279 Filed 1–5–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–06–P 


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