Document ID: FRA-2023-0011-0001
Agency: fra
Document Type: Notice
Title: Request for Information: Uses for Used Creosote-Treated Railroad Ties
Posted Date: 2023-04-25T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 79 (Tuesday, April 25, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25054-25055]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-08689]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Docket No. FRA-2023-0011]

Request for Information Regarding Uses for Used Creosote-Treated 
Railroad Ties

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

ACTION: Request for information (RFI).

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SUMMARY: The Federal Railroad Administration is seeking information on 
potential uses and options for disposal or repurposing used creosote-
treated railroad ties (CTRTs), which are the wooden rail crossties that 
support the rail track. Every year, approximately 23 million CTRTs are 
replaced along the nation's rail network. Because a number of FRA's 
grant programs fund rail infrastructure projects, which may include the 
replacement of worn CTRTs, understanding the options to dispose of 
CTRTs will assist FRA and its grantees from the implementation of FRA's 
grant programs and assessing the impacts of such disposition (e.g., 
life-cycle maintenance impacts). Depending on the responses, FRA may 
develop a best practices document for rail tie disposal.

DATES: Written comments on this RFI must be received on or before June 
26, 2023. FRA will consider comments filed after this date to the 
extent practicable in the development of any potential best practices.

ADDRESSES: Comments: Comments should refer to docket number FRA-2023-
0011 and be submitted at https://www.regulations.gov. Search by using 
the docket number and follow the instructions for submitting comments.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and 
docket number (FRA-2023-0011) for this RFI. Please note that comments 
submitted online via www.regulations.gov are not immediately posted to 
the docket. Several business days may elapse after a comment has been 
submitted online before it is posted to the docket.
    Privacy Act: DOT solicits comments from the public to better inform 
its regulatory process. DOT posts these comments, without edit, to 
www.regulations.gov, as described in the system of records notice, DOT/
ALL- 14 FDMS, accessible through www.dot.gov/privacy. To facilitate 
comment tracking and response, commenters are encouraged to provide 
their name, or the name of their organization; however, submission of 
names is completely optional. Whether or not commenters identify 
themselves, all timely comments will be fully considered. If you wish 
to provide comments containing proprietary or confidential information, 
please contact the agency for alternate submission instructions.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read comments received, please 
visit https://www.regulations.gov and follow the online instructions 
for accessing the docket.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information related to 
this RFI, please contact Michael Johnsen, Senior Advisor for Climate 
and Sustainability, Office of Environmental Program Management, at 
telephone: 202-450-8540, email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Crossties support the metal rails upon which 
trains run and the majority of them are made of creosote-treated wood. 
Creosote is an oil-based preservative allowing the ties to maintain a 
lifespan of about 30 years. There are approximately 207,000 miles of 
rail track in the U.S. requiring about 620 million crossties. About 23 
million crossties are replaced every

[[Page 25055]]

year. Traditionally, end of life disposal of CTRTs primarily involved 
burning in waste-to-energy (or energy conversion) facilities to produce 
electricity. However, recent changes in Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA) regulations and policy limit the options for disposing CTRTs 
through those facilities.
    Recent research points to a pyrolysis process than can recover 
creosote and produce a material called biochar from CTRTs. Biochar is a 
residue of carbon and ashes from specific burning processes of biomass, 
such as rail crossties, and has a number of potential uses. These uses 
include filtration and use as a soil amendment to improve soil quality 
and to reduce acidity and nutrient leaching. In addition, converting 
used rail crossties to biochar can also sequester carbon, providing an 
option to help remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In the August 
2020 Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis (Vol 149, August 2020, 
104826), a research paper entitled ``Pyrolysis of creosote-treated 
railroad ties to recover creosote and produce biochar'' found that 
CTRTs pyrolyzed to 700 [deg]C resulted in residual creosote of 0.06% by 
weight of the original CTRT. This residual level would meet the 
qualification of a soil amendment under the European Biochar 
Certificate as no trace metals were found. This indicates there could 
be potential benefits and sustainable uses for used CTRTs.
    FRA manages a number of grant programs that fund rail 
infrastructure improvements, including the Consolidated Rail 
Infrastructure and Safety Improvement grant program. Those FRA-funded 
rail activities under these grant programs include track and tie 
projects that replace worn CTRTs. Understanding the disposition of worn 
CTRTs will assist FRA in complying with the direction in E.O. 14008 to 
assess the climate impacts of these grant programs, and in researching 
greenhouse gas emissions from rail projects.\1\ This information may 
also provide FRA with opportunities to offer technical assistance to 
grantees relating to the various options to dispose of CTRTs.
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    \1\ See also DOT's Climate Plan, available at https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2022-04/Climate_Action_Plan.pdf.
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    FRA is therefore seeking any information, public comment, or 
feedback, including information about initiatives and pilot studies, on 
how CTRTs could be reused or repurposed as an alternative to 
landfilling, including information regarding the biochar process. FRA 
is also interested in potential uses for CTRT-sourced biochar as well 
as other legal and potentially commercially viable options for used 
CTRTs. Where available and appropriate, FRA requests that respondents 
provide relevant technical information, statutory or regulatory 
citations, data, or other evidence to support their comments.
    Interested parties are invited to submit comments to the electronic 
docket in response to this RFI. Please refer to the ADDRESSES section 
above for guidance on how to submit comments to the electronic docket.

    Issued in Washington, DC.
Marlys Ann Osterhues,
Director, Office of Environmental Program Management.
[FR Doc. 2023-08689 Filed 4-24-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P