29268 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 117 / Friday, June 19, 2009 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Railroad Administration 

[Docket No. FRA–2000–7257; Notice No. 54] 

Railroad Safety Advisory Committee 

(RSAC); Working Group Activity 

Update 

AGENCY: Federal Railroad 

Administration (FRA), Department of 

Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Announcement of Railroad 

Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC) 

Working Group Activities. 

SUMMARY: The FRA is updating its 

announcement of RSAC’s Working 

Group activities to reflect its current 

status. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Larry Woolverton, RSAC Coordinator, 

FRA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., 

Mailstop 25, Washington, DC 20590, 

(202) 493–6212; or Grady Cothen, 

Deputy Associate Administrator for 

Safety, FRA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, 

SE., Mailstop 25, Washington, DC 

20590, (202) 493–6302. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

notice serves to update FRA’s last 

announcement of working group 

activities and status reports of March 17, 

2009 (74 FR 11401). The 38th full RSAC 

Committee meeting was held April 2, 

2009, and the 39th meeting is scheduled 

for June 25, 2009, at the Wardman Park 

Marriott Hotel, 2660 Woodley Road, 

NW., Washington, DC 20008. 

Since its first meeting in April of 

1996, the RSAC has accepted 31 tasks. 

The status for each of the open tasks 

(neither completed nor terminated) is 

provided below: 

Open Tasks 

Task 96–4—Tourist and Historic 

Railroads. Reviewing the 

appropriateness of the agency’s current 

policy regarding the applicability of 

existing and proposed regulations to 

tourist, excursion, scenic, and historic 

railroads. This Task was accepted on 

April 2, 1996, and a Working Group was 

established. The Working Group 

monitored the steam locomotive 

regulation task. Planned future activities 

involve the review of other regulations 

for possible adaptation to the safety 

needs of tourist and historic railroads. 

Contact: Grady Cothen, (202) 493–6302. 

Task 03–01—Passenger Safety. This 

task includes updating and enhancing 

the regulations pertaining to passenger 

safety, based on research and 

experience. This Task was accepted on 

May 20, 2003, and a Working Group was 

established. Prior to embarking on 

substantive discussions of a specific 

task, the Working Group set forth in 

writing a specific description of the 

task. The Working Group reports 

planned activities to the full Committee 

at each scheduled full RSAC meeting, 

including milestones for completion of 

projects and progress toward 

completion. At the first meeting, held 

September 9–10, 2003, a consolidated 

list of issues was completed. At the 

second meeting, held November 6–7, 

2003, four task groups were established: 

Emergency Preparedness; Mechanical; 

Crashworthiness; and Track/Vehicle 

Interaction. The task forces met and 

reported on activities for Working 

Group consideration at the third 

meeting held May 11–12, 2004, and a 

fourth meeting was held October 26–27, 

2004. The Working Group met on March 

21–22, 2006, and again on September 

12–13, 2006, at which time the group 

agreed to establish a task force on 

General Passenger Safety. The full 

Passenger Safety Working Group met on 

April 17–18, 2007, December 11–12, 

2007, November 13, 2008, and June 8, 

2009. Contact: Charles Bielitz, (202) 

493–6314. 

Emergency Preparedness Task Force: 

At the Working Group meeting of March 

9–10, 2005, the Working Group received 

and approved the consensus report of 

the Emergency Preparedness Task Force 

related to emergency communication, 

emergency egress, and rescue access. 

These recommendations were presented 

to and approved by the full RSAC 

Committee on May 18, 2005. The 

Working Group met on September 7–8, 

2005, and additional, supplementary 

recommendations were presented to and 

accepted by the full RSAC on October 

11, 2005. The Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking (NPRM) was published on 

August 24, 2006 (71 FR 50275), and was 

open for comment until October 23, 

2006. The Working Group agreed upon 

recommendations for the final rule, 

including resolution of final comments 

received, during the April 17–18, 2007, 

meeting. The recommendations were 

presented to and approved by the full 

RSAC on June 26, 2007. The Passenger 

Train Emergency Systems final rule, 

focusing on emergency communication, 

emergency egress, and rescue access, 

was published on February 1, 2008 (73 

FR 6370). The Task Force met on 

October 17–18, 2007, and reached 

consensus on draft rule text for a 

followup NPRM on Passenger Train 

Emergency Systems, focusing on lowlocation emergency exit path marking, 

emergency lighting, and emergency 

signage. The Task Force presented the 

draft rule text to the Passenger Safety 

Working Group on December 11–12, 

2007, and the consensus draft rule text 

was presented to and approved by full 

RSAC vote during the February 20, 

2008, meeting. At its most recent 

meeting, held May 13–14, 2008, the 

Task Force recommended clarifying the 

applicability of backup emergency 

communication system requirements in 

the February 1, 2008, final rule, and 

FRA announced its intention to exercise 

limited enforcement discretion for a 

new provision amending instruction 

requirements for emergency window 

exit removal. The Working Group 

ratified these recommendations on June 

19, 2008. The Task Force met on March 

31, 2009, to clarify issues related to the 

followup NPRM raised by members. The 

rule text was modified to better reflect 

the intent of the Task Force and the 

revised rule text was presented to and 

approved by the Passenger Safety 

Working Group on June 8, 2009. The 

Working Group proposed adding 

language to address an issue left open 

by the Task Force related to daily 

inspection of removable panels/ 

windows in vestibule doors and is 

sending this back to the Task Force for 

review. The Working Group will finalize 

the open issue via mail ballot. No 

additional Task Force meetings are 

currently scheduled. Contact: Brenda 

Moscoso, (202) 493–6282. 

Mechanical Task Force: (Completed.) 

Initial recommendations on mechanical 

issues (revisions to Title 49 Code of 

Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 238) 

were approved by the full Committee on 

January 26, 2005. At the Working Group 

meeting of September 7–8, 2005, the 

Task Force presented additional 

perfecting amendments and the full 

RSAC approved them on October 11, 

2005. An NPRM was published in the 

Federal Register on December 8, 2005 

(70 FR 73070). Public comments were 

due by February 17, 2006. The final rule 

was published in the Federal Register 

on October 19, 2006 (71 FR 61835), 

effective December 18, 2006. 

Crashworthiness Task Force: Among 

its efforts, the Crashworthiness Task 

Force provided consensus 

recommendations on static end strength 

that were adopted by the Working 

Group on September 7–8, 2005. The full 

Committee accepted the 

recommendations on October 11, 2005. 

The Front-End Strength of Cab Cars and 

Multiple-Unit Locomotives NPRM was 

published in the Federal Register on 

August 1, 2007 (72 FR 42016), with 

comments due by October 1, 2007. A 

number of comments were entered into 

the docket, and a Crashworthiness Task 

Force meeting was held September 9, 

2008, to resolve comments on the 

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NPRM. Based on the consensus 

language agreed to at the meeting, FRA 

has prepared the text of the final rule 

incorporating the resolutions made at 

the Task Force meeting and the final 

rule language was adopted at the 

Passenger Safety Working Group 

meeting held on November 13, 2008. 

The language was presented and 

approved at the December 10, 2008, full 

RSAC meeting and the rule will go 

forward with a target publication date of 

June 25, 2009. Contact: Gary Fairbanks, 

(202) 493–6322. 

Vehicle/Track Interaction Task Force: 

The Task Force is developing proposed 

revisions to 49 CFR parts 213 and 238, 

principally regarding high-speed 

passenger service. The Task Force met 

on October 9–11, 2007, and again on 

November 19–20, 2007, in Washington, 

DC, and presented the final Task Force 

Report and final recommendations and 

proposed rule text for approval by the 

Passenger Safety Working Group at the 

December 11–12, 2007, meeting. The 

final report and the proposed rule text 

were approved by the Working Group 

and was presented to and approved by 

full RSAC vote during the February 20, 

2008, meeting. The group last met on 

February 27–28, 2008, and FRA is 

currently crafting an NPRM with a target 

publication date of September 2009. The 

Task Force may be reconvened to 

review comments on the NPRM, but no 

further meetings are currently 

scheduled. Contact: John Mardente, 

(202) 493–1335. 

General Passenger Safety Task Force: 

At the Working Group meeting on April 

17–18, 2007, the Task Force presented 

a progress report to the Working Group. 

The Task Force met on July 18–19, 

2007, and afterwards, it reported 

proposed reporting cause codes for 

injuries involving the platform gap, 

which were approved by the Working 

Group by mail ballot in September 2007. 

The full RSAC approved the 

recommendations for changes to 49 CFR 

part 225 accident/incident cause codes 

on October 25, 2007. The Task Force 

continues work on passenger train door 

securement, ‘‘second train in station,’’ 

trespasser incidents, and System Safetybased solutions by developing a 

regulatory approach to System Safety. 

The System Safety regulation will cover 

all passenger railroads, including highspeed rail, and it is expected that the 

System Safety regulation will satisfy the 

risk reduction-mandated requirements 

for passenger railroads in the Rail Safety 

Improvement Act of 2008 (RSIA) (Pub. 

L. 110–432). 

The General Passenger Safety Task 

Force presented draft guidance material 

for management of the gap that was 

considered and approved by the 

Working Group during the December 

11–12, 2007, meeting and was presented 

and approved by full RSAC vote during 

the February 20, 2008, meeting. The 

group met on April 23–24, 2008, 

December 3–4, 2008, and April 21–23, 

2009, and continues to work on 

emergency preparedness, door 

securement, and System Safety issues. 

The door securement team will meet in 

July and August 2009 and the System 

Safety group will hold ‘‘GoTo meetings’’ 

by teleconference in July with the 

American Public Transportation 

Association and commuter railroads. 

The next full meeting of the General 

Passenger Safety Task Force is 

scheduled for October 2009. Contact: 

Dan Knote, (631) 567–1596. 

Task 05–01—Review of Roadway 

Worker Protection Issues. This Task was 

accepted on January 26, 2005, to review 

49 CFR Part 214, Subpart C, Roadway 

Worker Protection (RWP), and related 

sections of Subpart A. The RSAC agreed 

to recommend consideration of specific 

actions to advance the on-track safety of 

railroad employees and contractors 

engaged in maintenance-of-way 

activities throughout the general system 

of railroad transportation, including 

clarification of existing requirements. A 

Working Group was established and 

reported to the RSAC any specific 

actions identified as appropriate. The 

first meeting of the Working Group was 

held on April 12–14, 2005. The Working 

Group was able to come to consensus on 

32 separate items. However, prior to the 

full RSAC vote in June 2007, which 

confirmed working group 

recommendations on 31 of those items, 

two parties raised technical concerns 

regarding the draft language concerning 

electronic display of track authorities. In 

addition, there were eight items 

discussed by the Working Group, which 

led to valuable insight but over which 

the Working Group was unable to come 

to consensus. FRA intends to address all 

the items discussed through two 

rulemakings: (1) A relatively compact 

rulemaking that will address adjacent 

track protection and (2) a longer, 

catchall rulemaking that will address all 

consensus items and be broad enough in 

scope to raise the nonconsensus items 

for further discussion and comment. 

The decision to issue a separate adjacent 

track rule was due to an increase in 

roadway worker fatalities that occurred 

on adjacent track. Consequently, a draft 

NPRM to address adjacent track 

protection was published in the Federal 

Register on July 17, 2008, but due to 

concern that parts of the NPRM failed to 

accurately capture the consensus 

recommendations of the RSAC, the 

NPRM was withdrawn by FRA on 

August 13, 2008. FRA will address 

discrepancies between the consensus 

language and the adjacent track 

protection NPRM to clarify the essential 

issues, and intends to publish a second 

NPRM by August 31, 2009. FRA is also 

working on the longer, catchall 

rulemaking and plans to publish an 

NPRM in late 2009. Contact: 

Christopher Schulte, (610) 521–8201. 

Task 05–02—Reduce Human FactorCaused Train Accident/Incidents. This 

Task was accepted on May 18, 2005, to 

reduce the number of human factorcaused train accidents/incidents and 

related employee injuries. The Railroad 

Operating Rules Working Group was 

formed and the Group extensively 

reviewed the issues presented. The final 

Working Group meeting devoted to 

developing a proposed rule was held 

February 8–9, 2006. The Working Group 

was not able to deliver a consensus 

regulatory proposal, but did recommend 

that it be used to review comments on 

FRA’s NPRM, which was published in 

the Federal Register on October 12, 

2006 (FR 71 60372), with public 

comments due by December 11, 2006. 

Two reviews were held, one on 

February 8–9, 2007, the other on April 

4–5, 2007. Consensus was reached on 

four items and those items were 

presented and accepted by the full 

RSAC Committee at the June 26, 2007, 

meeting. A final rule was published in 

the Federal Register on February 13, 

2008 (73 FR 8442), with an effective 

date of April 14, 2008. FRA received 

four petitions for reconsideration of that 

final rule. The final rule that responded 

to the petitions for consideration was 

published in the Federal Register on 

June 16, 2008, and concluded the 

rulemaking. Working group meetings 

were held September 27–28, 2007, 

January 17–18, 2008, May 21–22, 2008, 

and September 25–26, 2008. The 

Working Group has considered issues 

related to issuance of Emergency Order 

No. 26 (prohibition on use of certain 

electronic devices while on duty) and 

‘‘after arrival mandatory directives,’’ 

among other issues. The working group 

continues to work on after arrival orders 

and at the September 25, 2008, meeting 

voted to create a Highway-Rail Grade 

Crossing Task Force to review highwayrail grade crossing accident reports 

regarding incidents of crossing warning 

systems providing ‘‘short or no 

warning’’ resulting from or contributed 

to ‘‘by train operational issues’’ with the 

intent to recommend new accident/ 

incident reporting codes that would 

better explain such events, and which 

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may provide information for remedial 

action going forward. A follow-on task 

is to review and provide 

recommendations regarding 

supplementary reporting of train 

operations-related, no-warning, or shortwarning incidents that are not 

technically warning system activation 

failures but which result in an accident/ 

incident or a near miss. The Task Force 

has been formed and is scheduled to 

meet in the late 2009 timeframe. 

Contact: Douglas Taylor, (202) 493– 

6255. 

Task 06–01—Locomotive Safety 

Standards. This task was accepted on 

February 22, 2006, to review 49 CFR 

Part 229, Railroad Locomotive Safety 

Standards, and revise as appropriate. A 

Working Group was established with 

the mandate to report any planned 

activity to the full Committee at each 

scheduled full RSAC meeting, to 

include milestones for completion of 

projects and to progress toward 

completion. The first Working Group 

meeting was held May 8–10, 2006. 

Working Group meetings were held on 

August 8–9, 2006, September 25–26, 

2006, October 30–31, 2006, and the 

Working Group presented 

recommendations regarding revisions to 

requirements for locomotive sanders to 

the full RSAC on September 21, 2006. 

The NPRM regarding sanders was 

published in the Federal Register on 

March 6, 2007 (72 FR 9904). Comments 

received were discussed by the Working 

Group for clarification, and FRA 

published a Final Rule on October 19, 

2007 (72 FR 59216). The Working Group 

is continuing the review of Part 229 

with work in the areas of locomotive cab 

temperature standards, alerters, remote 

control locomotives, and critical 

locomotive electronics, with a view to 

proposing further revisions to update 

the Standards. The Working Group met 

on January 9–10, 2007, November 27– 

28, 2007, February 5–6, 2008, May 20– 

21, 2008, August 5–6, 2008, October 22– 

23, 2008, January 6–7, 2009, and April 

15–16, 2009. The group has completed 

the review of Part 229 and was unable 

to reach consensus regarding locomotive 

cab temperature standards, locomotive 

alerters, and remote control 

locomotives. The group reached 

consensus regarding critical locomotive 

electronic standards, updated annual/ 

biennial air brake standards, 

clarification of the ‘‘air brakes operateas-intended requirement, locomotive 

pilot clearance within hump 

classification yards, clarification of the 

high-voltage warning requirement, 

updated headlight lamp requirements, 

and language to allow locomotive 

records to be stored electronically. FRA 

will brief the full RSAC and proceed to 

an NPRM. There are no meetings 

planned for the immediate future but 

the group may be called back into 

service to address comments received 

on the NPRM. Contact: George Scerbo, 

(202) 493–6249. 

Task 06–02—Track Safety Standards 

and Continuous Welded Rail (CWR). 

Section 9005 of the Safe, Accountable, 

Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity 

Act: A Legacy for Users (Pub. L. 109– 

59), the 2005 Surface Transportation 

Authorization Act, requires FRA to 

issue requirements for inspection of 

joint bars in CWR to detect cracks that 

could affect the integrity of the track 

structure (49 U.S.C. 20142(e)). FRA 

published an interim final rule (IFR) 

establishing new requirements for 

inspections on November 2, 2005 (70 FR 

66288). On October 11, 2005, FRA 

offered the RSAC a task to review 

comments on this IFR, but the 

conditions could not be established 

under which the Committee could have 

undertaken this with a view toward 

consensus. Comments on the IFR were 

received through December 19, 2005. 

FRA reviewed the comments. On 

February 22, 2006, the RSAC accepted 

this task to review and revise the CWR 

related to provisions of the Track Safety 

Standards, with particular emphasis on 

reduction of derailments and 

consequent injuries and damage caused 

by defective conditions, including joint 

failures, in track using CWR. A Working 

Group was established. The first 

Working Group meeting was held April 

3–4, 2006, at which time the Working 

Group reviewed comments on the IFR. 

The second Working Group meeting was 

held April 26–28, 2006. The Working 

Group also met May 24–25, 2006, and 

July 19–20, 2006. The Working Group 

reported consensus recommendations 

for the final rule that were accepted by 

the full RSAC Committee by mail ballot 

on August 11, 2006. The final rule was 

published in the Federal Register on 

October 11, 2006 (71 FR 59677). The 

Working Group continued review of 49 

CFR Section 213.119, with a view to 

proposing further revisions to update 

the standards. The Working Group met 

January 30–31, 2007, April 10–11, 2007, 

June 27–28, 2007, August 15–16, 2007, 

October 23–24, 2007, and January, 8–9, 

2008. The Working Group reported 

consensus recommendations for 

revisions to 49 CFR Section 213.119 

regulations to the full RSAC Committee 

on February 20, 2008, and the Working 

Groups recommendations were accepted 

and incorporated into FRA’s publication 

of an NPRM on December 1, 2008 (73 

FR 73077). The NPRM proposes specific 

requirements for the qualification of 

persons designated to inspect CWR 

track, or supervise the installation, 

adjustment, or maintenance of CWR 

track. FRA is also proposing to clarify 

the procedures associated with the 

submission of CWR plans to FRA by 

track owners. FRA proposes that these 

plans focus on inspecting CWR for pullapart prone conditions, and focus more 

specifically on CWR joint installation 

and maintenance procedures. FRA is 

preparing a final rule with a target 

publication date of July 2009. See Tasks 

07–01 and 08–03, below. Contact: Ken 

Rusk, (202) 493–6236. 

Task 06–0—Medical Standards for 

Safety-Critical Personnel. This task was 

accepted on September 21, 2006, to 

enhance the safety of persons in the 

railroad operating environment and the 

public by establishing standards and 

procedures for determining the medical 

fitness for duty of personnel engaged in 

safety-critical functions. The Medical 

Standards Working Group has met 10 

times since December 2006; the last 

Working Group meeting was held April 

22–23, 2008. A Medical Standards 

Physicians Task Force was established 

in May 2007 to provide medical support 

for this task and had met four times 

prior to the last Working Group meeting 

held April 22–23, 2008. It was noted by 

FRA during the April 2008 Working 

Group meeting that although general 

agreement about the general structure of 

the medical standards had been 

achieved by the Working Group, 

significant points of departure remained 

unresolved among Working Group 

members despite efforts to achieve 

consensus. FRA announced that the 

agency would take the Working Group’s 

products through April 2008, including 

information provided by the Medical 

Standards Physicians Task Force, and 

endeavor to produce a draft medical 

standards document by June 30, 2009. 

The Physicians Task Force met June 22– 

23, 2008, and began the process of 

development of mandatory medical 

guidelines, which will be the specific 

medical criteria used by railroad Chief 

Medical Officers and railroad 

physicians to assess whether safetycritical employees, who have specific 

medical conditions and/or take certain 

categories of medications, are medically 

fit for duty. Since meeting on June 22– 

23, 2008, the Physicians Task Force has 

met on September 8–10, 2008, October 

8, 2008, November 12–13, 2008, 

December 8–10, 2008, January 27–28, 

2009, February 24–25, March 11–12, 

and March 31–April 1, 2009, to 

continue development of the mandatory 

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medical guidelines. The Physicians 

Task Force is developing medical 

criteria and protocols for safety critical 

positions for the Working Group and 

FRA is drafting the regulation text. The 

completed draft medical standards 

language and the accompanying 

Mandatory Medical Guidelines 

document will be presented to the 

Working Group, when complete. There 

are currently no Medical Standards 

Working Group meetings scheduled. 

Contact: Dr. Bernard Arseneau, (202) 

493–6002. 

Task 07–01—Track Safety Standards. 

This task was accepted on February 22, 

2007, to consider specific improvements 

to the Track Safety Standards or other 

responsive actions, supplementing work 

already underway on CWR, specifically 

to review controls applied to reuse of 

rail in CWR ‘‘plug rail’’; review the issue 

of cracks emanating from bond wire 

attachments; consider improvements in 

the Track Safety Standards related to 

fastening of rail to concrete ties; and to 

ensure a common understanding within 

the regulated community concerning 

requirements for internal rail flaw 

inspections. The tasks were assigned to 

the Track Safety Standards Working 

Group. The Working Group will report 

any planned activity to the full 

Committee at each scheduled full RSAC 

meeting, including milestones for 

completion of projects and progress 

toward completion. The first Working 

Group meeting was held on June 27–28, 

2007 and the group met again on August 

15–16, 2007, and October 23–24, 2007. 

Two Task Forces were created under the 

Working Group: Concrete Ties and Rail 

Integrity Task Forces. The Concrete Ties 

Task Force met on November 26–27, 

2007, February 13–14, 2008, April 16– 

17, 2008, July 9–10, 2008, and 

September 17–18, 2008. The Concrete 

Ties Task Force finalized consensus 

language regarding concrete crossties 

(49 CFR Part 213) and presented a 

recommendation to the Track Standards 

Working Group at the November 20, 

2008, Working Group meeting. The 

language was approved by both the 

Working Group and the December 10, 

2008, RSAC meeting and the Task Force 

was dissolved. FRA is preparing a 

NPRM with a target publication date of 

July 2009. Contact: Ken Rusk, (202) 

493–6236. 

Task 08–03—Track Safety Standards 

Rail Integrity. This Task was accepted 

on September 10, 2008, to consider 

specific improvements to the Track 

Safety Standards or other responsive 

actions designed to enhance rail 

integrity. The Rail Integrity Task Force 

was created in October 2007 under Task 

07–01 and first met on November 28–29, 

2007. The Task Force met on February 

12–13, 2008, April 15–16, 2008, July 8– 

9, 2008, September 16–17, 2008, and 

February 3–4, 2009. Consensus has been 

achieved on bond wires and a common 

understanding on internal rail flaw 

inspections has been reached; however, 

more work remains before a 

recommendation for possible regulatory 

action is made. The next Rail Integrity 

Task Force meeting is scheduled for 

June 16–17, 2009. Contact: Ken Rusk, 

(202) 493–6236. 

Task No. 08–04—Positive Train 

Control. This task was accepted on 

December 10, 2008, to provide advice 

regarding development of implementing 

regulations for Positive Train Control 

(PTC) systems and their deployment 

under the RSIA. The task included a 

requirement to convene an initial 

meeting not later than January 2009 and 

to report recommendations back to the 

RSAC no later than April 24, 2009. The 

PTC Working Group was created in 

December 2008 by working group 

member nominations from Committee 

member organizations under Task 08–04 

and the kickoff meeting was held on 

January 26–27, 2009. The group met 

again on February 11–13, 2009, 

February 25–27, 2009, March 17–18, 

2009, and March 31–April 1, 2009. On 

April 2, 2009, the RSAC approved the 

request by the Working Group for 

agreement to vote on the draft rule text 

recommendations from the working 

group by mail ballot. On May 11, 2009, 

by majority vote via mail ballot, the 

RSAC Committee accepted the 

recommendations of the PTC Working 

Group and will forward those 

recommendations to the Administrator, 

with the understanding that there are 

other issues for which FRA will be 

making proposals with respect to its 

resolution. The NPRM is currently in 

coordination with a target publication 

date of June 30, 2009. If time permits, 

the PTC Working Group will be 

reconvened to discuss any comments 

received on the NPRM. An additional 

Task Force was formed to assist FRA in 

developing a model template for a 

successful PTC Implementation Plan, 

which are to be submitted by April 16, 

2010, under the mandates of the RSIA 

of 2008. FRA provided a draft template 

to the Task Force for comment on May 

20, 2009, and received an alternative 

draft on June 10, 2009, for review and 

consideration along with a proposed 

model for risk-based implementation 

prioritization. Contact: Grady Cothen, 

(202) 493–6302. 

Task No. 08–05—Railroad Bridge 

Safety Assurance. This Task was 

accepted on December 10, 2008, to 

develop a draft rule encompassing the 

requirements of Section 417 of the Rail 

Safety Improvement Act of 2008, 

Railroad Bridge Safety Assurance. This 

Section directs the Secretary of 

Transportation to promulgate 

regulations, not later than 12 months 

after the October 16, 2008, date of 

enactment, requiring owners of track 

carried on one or more railroad bridges 

to adopt a bridge safety management 

program to reduce the risk of human 

casualties, environmental damage, and 

disruption to the Nation’s railroad 

transportation system that would result 

from a catastrophic bridge failure. The 

Railroad Bridge Working Group created 

under Task 08–01 was directed to 

reconvene and the kickoff meeting was 

held January 28–29, 2009. The Working 

Group also met on February 23–24, 

2009, where they reached agreement on 

consensus language covering all but two 

issues that remain to be resolved 

pending comments on the NPRM. The 

working group presented the draft 

language to the full Committee at the 

April 2, 2009, meeting and the 

Committee approved the consensus 

recommendations by vote as the 

recommendations of the Committee to 

the FRA Administrator. The resulting 

NPRM is currently in coordination, with 

a target publication date of September 1, 

2009. The Working Group may be 

reconvened to address comments 

received on the NPRM. Contact: Gordon 

Davids, (202) 230–6320. 

Task No. 08–06—Hours of Service 

Recordkeeping and Reporting. This Task 

was accepted on December 10, 2008, to 

develop revised recordkeeping and 

reporting requirements for hours of 

service of railroad employees. The 

Hours of Service Working Group was 

formed in January 2009 by member 

nominations from Committee member 

organizations and the first meeting was 

held on January 22–23, 2009. The 

working group met again on February 4– 

6, 2009, February 18–20, 2009 and 

March 23–25, 2009. At the full RSAC 

meeting held on April 2, 2009, the 

working group reported that partial 

consensus was reached on the draft rule 

text and the Committee approved the 

consensus recommendations by vote as 

the recommendations of the Committee 

to the FRA Administrator and the final 

rule was published on May 27, 2009, 

with an effective date of July 16, 2009 

(74 FR 25330). Contact: Mark McKeon, 

(202) 493–6350. 

Task No. 08–07—Conductor 

Certification. This task was accepted on 

December 10, 2008, to develop 

regulations for certification of railroad 

conductors, as required by the RSIA, 

and to consider any appropriate related 

amendments to existing regulations and 

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report recommendations for proposed or 

IFR (as determined by FRA in 

consultation with the Office of the 

Secretary of Transportation and the 

Office of Management and Budget) by 

October 16, 2009. The group has been 

tasked to review safety data bearing on 

opportunities for reducing risk 

associated with the duties performed by 

freight and passenger conductors and to 

assist FRA in developing regulations 

responsive to the legislative mandate 

and to consider any revisions to 49 CFR 

part 240 appropriate to conform and 

update the certification programs for 

locomotive engineers and conductors. 

The Conductor Certification Working 

Group has been officially formed 

through the Committee member 

nomination process and the first 

meeting is scheduled for July 21–23, 

2009, with follow-on meetings planned 

for August 25–27, 2009, and September 

15–17, 2009. Contact: Mark McKeon, 

(202) 493–6350. 

Task No. 09–01—Passenger Hours of 

Service. This Task was accepted on 

April 2, 2009, to provide advice 

regarding development of implementing 

regulations for the hours of service of 

operating employees of commuter and 

intercity passenger railroads under the 

RSIA. The group has been tasked to 

review available data concerning the 

effects of fatigue on the performance of 

subject employees and to consider the 

role of fatigue prevention in 

determining maximum hours of service. 

The group has also been tasked to 

consider the potential for alternative 

approaches to hour of service using 

available tools for evaluating the impact 

of various crew schedules, and 

determine the effect of alternative 

approaches on the availability of 

employees to support passenger service. 

The group is charged to report whether 

existing hours of service restrictions are 

effective in preventing fatigue among 

subject employees, whether an 

alternative approach to hours of service 

for the subject employees would 

enhance safety, and whether alternative 

restrictions on hours of service could be 

coupled with other fatigue 

countermeasures to promote the fitness 

of employees for safety-critical duties. 

The Passenger Hours of Service Working 

Group has been officially formed 

through the formal Committee member 

nomination process and the first 

meeting is scheduled for June 24, 2009. 

Contact: Grady Cothen, (202) 493–6302. 

Completed Tasks 

Task 96–1—(Completed.) Revising the 

Freight Power Brake Regulations. 

Task 96–2—(Completed.) Reviewing 

and recommending revisions to the 

Track Safety Standards (49 CFR Part 

213). 

Task 96–3—(Completed.) Reviewing 

and recommending revisions to the 

Radio Standards and Procedures (49 

CFR Part 220). 

Task 96–5—(Completed.) Reviewing 

and recommending revisions to Steam 

Locomotive Inspection Standards (49 

CFR Part 230). 

Task 96–6—(Completed.) Reviewing 

and recommending revisions to 

miscellaneous aspects of the regulations 

addressing Locomotive Engineer 

Certification (49 CFR Part 240). 

Task 96–7—(Completed.) Developing 

Roadway Maintenance Machines (OnTrack Equipment) Safety Standards. 

Task 96–8—(Completed.) This 

Planning Task evaluated the need for 

action responsive to recommendations 

contained in a report to Congress 

entitled, Locomotive Crashworthiness & 

Working Conditions. 

Task 97–1—(Completed.) Developing 

crashworthiness specifications (49 CFR 

Part 229) to promote the integrity of the 

locomotive cab in accidents resulting 

from collisions. 

Task 97–2—(Completed.) Evaluating 

the extent to which environmental, 

sanitary, and other working conditions 

in locomotive cabs affect the crew’s 

health and the safe operation of 

locomotives, proposing standards where 

appropriate. 

Task 97–3—(Completed.) Developing 

event recorder data survivability 

standards. 

Task 97–4 and Task 97–5— 

(Completed.) Defining PTC 

functionalities, describing available 

technologies, evaluating costs and 

benefits of potential systems, and 

considering implementation 

opportunities and challenges, including 

demonstration and deployment. 

Task 97–6—(Completed.) Revising 

various regulations to address the safety 

implications of processor-based signal 

and train control technologies, 

including communications-based 

operating systems. 

Task 97–7—(Completed.) Determining 

damages qualifying an event as a 

reportable train accident. 

Task 00–1—(Task withdrawn.) 

Determining the need to amend 

regulations protecting persons who 

work on, under, or between rolling 

equipment and persons applying, 

removing, or inspecting rear end 

marking devices (Blue Signal 

Protection). 

Task 01–1—(Completed.) Developing 

conformity of FRA’s regulations for 

accident/incident reporting (49 CFR Part 

225) to revised regulations of the 

Occupational Safety and Health 

Administration, U.S. Department of 

Labor, and to make appropriate 

revisions to the FRA Guide for 

Preparing Accident/Incident Reports. 

Task 08–01—(Completed.) Report on 

the Nation’s Railroad Bridges. Report to 

the FRA Administrator on the current 

state of railroad bridge safety 

management, update the findings and 

conclusions of the 1993 Summary 

Report of the FRA Railroad Bridge 

Safety Survey, and include 

recommendations for further action. 

Please refer to the notice published in 

the Federal Register on March 11, 1996 

(61 FR 9740), for more information 

about the RSAC. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on June 15, 

2009. 

Grady C. Cothen, Jr., 

Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety 

Standards and Program Development. 

[FR Doc. E9–14390 Filed 6–18–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Office of Foreign Assets Control 

Additional Designation of Entities and 

Individuals Pursuant to Executive 

Order 12978 

AGENCY: Office of Foreign Assets 

Control, Treasury. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Treasury Department’s 

Office of Foreign Assets Control 

(‘‘OFAC’’) is publishing the names of 15 

newly-designated entities and 9 newlydesignated individuals whose property 

and interests in property are blocked 

pursuant to Executive Order 12978 of 

October 21, 1995, ‘‘Blocking Assets and 

Prohibiting Transactions with 

Significant Narcotics Traffickers.’’ In 

addition, OFAC is publishing changes to 

the identifying information associated 

with one entity and nine individuals 

previously designated pursuant to 

Executive Order 12978. 

DATES: The designation by the Director 

of OFAC of the 15 entities and 9 

individuals identified in this notice 

pursuant to Executive Order 12978 is 

effective on June 12, 2009. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Assistant Director, Compliance 

Outreach & Implementation, Office of 

Foreign Assets Control, Department of 

the Treasury, Washington, DC 20220, 

tel.: 202/622–2490. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Electronic and Facsimile Availability 

This document and additional 

information concerning OFAC are 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES