Document ID: FRA-2008-0158-0001
Agency: fra
Document Type: Rule
Title: Policy on the Safety of Railroad Bridges
Posted Date: 2009-01-13T05:00Z

[Federal Register: January 13, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 8)]
[Rules and Regulations]               
[Page 1605-1607]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr13ja09-7]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

49 CFR Part 213

[Docket No. FRA-2008-0158]

 
Policy on the Safety of Railroad Bridges

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

ACTION: Amendment to Final Statement of Agency Policy.

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SUMMARY: FRA is amending its statement of agency policy on the safety 
of railroad bridges. The policy outlines suggested criteria for 
railroads to use to ensure the structural integrity of bridges that 
carry railroad tracks. This amendment adds provisions that will guide 
railroads in developing their own implementing programs that will 
ensure conformity with the provisions of this policy.

DATES: Effective Date: This amendment to the statement of policy is 
effective February 12, 2009.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gordon A. Davids, P.E., Bridge 
Engineer, Office of Safety Assurance and Compliance, Federal Railroad 
Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Mail Stop 25, Washington, 
DC 20590 (Telephone: 202-493-6320), or Sarah Grimmer Yurasko, Trial 
Attorney, Office of Chief Counsel, Federal Railroad Administration, 
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Mail Stop 10, Washington, DC 20590 
(Telephone 202-493-6047).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FRA published its ``Statement of Agency 
Policy on the Safety of Railroad Bridges'' (``Policy'') on August 30, 
2000 (65 FR 52667). The Policy Statement, included in the Federal Track 
Safety Standards (Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 213) as 
Appendix C, includes non-regulatory guidelines based on good practices 
which were prevalent in the railroad industry at the time the Policy 
was issued. This notice amends those guidelines by

[[Page 1606]]

incorporating changes proposed by the Rail Safety Advisory Committee 
(RSAC) on September 10, 2008.

Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC) Overview

    In March 1996, FRA established RSAC, which provides a forum for 
developing consensus recommendations to FRA's Administrator on 
rulemakings and other safety program issues. The RSAC includes 
representation from all of the agency's major customer groups, 
including railroads, labor organizations, suppliers and manufacturers, 
and other interested parties. A list of RSAC members follows:

American Association of Private Railroad Car Owners (AARPCO);
American Association of State Highway & Transportation Officials 
(AASHTO);
American Chemistry Council;
American Petrochemical Institute;
American Public Transportation Association (APTA);
American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA);
American Train Dispatchers Association (ATDA);
Association of American Railroads (AAR);
Association of Railway Museums (ARM);
Association of State Rail Safety Managers (ASRSM);
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET);
Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division (BMWED);
Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS);
Chlorine Institute;
Federal Transit Administration (FTA)*;
Fertilizer Institute;
High Speed Ground Transportation Association (HSGTA);
Institute of Makers of Explosives;
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers;
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW);
Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA)*;
League of Railway Industry Women*;
National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP);
National Association of Railway Business Women*;
National Conference of Firemen & Oilers;
National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association;
National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak);
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)*;
Railway Supply Institute (RSI);
Safe Travel America (STA);
Secretaria de Comunicaciones y Transporte*;
Sheet Metal Workers International Association (SMWIA);
Tourist Railway Association Inc.;
Transport Canada*;
Transport Workers Union of America (TWU);
Transportation Communications International Union/BRC (TCIU/BRC);
Transportation Security Administration (TSA); and
United Transportation Union (UTU).
*Indicates associate, non-voting membership.

    When appropriate, FRA assigns a task to RSAC, and after 
consideration and debate, RSAC may accept or reject the task. If the 
task is accepted, RSAC establishes a working group that possesses the 
appropriate expertise and representation of interests to develop 
recommendations to FRA for action on the task. These recommendations 
are developed by consensus. A working group may establish one or more 
task forces to develop facts and options on a particular aspect of a 
given task. The task force then provides that information to the 
working group for consideration. If a working group comes to unanimous 
consensus on recommendations for action, the package is presented to 
the full RSAC for a vote. If the proposal is accepted by a simple 
majority of RSAC, the proposal is formally recommended to FRA. FRA then 
determines what action to take on the recommendation. Because FRA staff 
play an active role at the working group level in discussing the issues 
and options and in drafting the language of the consensus proposal, FRA 
is often favorably inclined toward the RSAC recommendation. However, 
FRA is in no way bound to follow the recommendation, and the agency 
exercises its independent judgment on whether the recommended rule 
achieves the agency's regulatory goal, is soundly supported, and is in 
accordance with policy and legal requirements. Often, FRA varies in 
some respects from the RSAC recommendation in developing the actual 
regulatory proposal or final rule. Any such variations would be noted 
and explained in the rulemaking document issued by FRA. If the working 
group or RSAC is unable to reach consensus on recommendations for 
action, FRA moves ahead to resolve the issue through traditional 
rulemaking proceedings.

Railroad Bridge Working Group

    RSAC agreed with FRA on February 20, 2008, to accept the task of 
reviewing FRA's railroad bridge safety policies and activities, and to 
make appropriate recommendations for FRA to improve the bridge safety 
program. RSAC accordingly established a Railroad Bridge Working Group 
(RBWG), composed of representatives of the various organizations on the 
RSAC and including persons with particular expertise in railroad bridge 
safety and management. The RBWG met on April 24-25, 2008, June 12, 
2008, and August 7, 2008. On September 10, 2008, the full RSAC voted on 
the RBWG's report, and recommended that FRA implement the RBWG's 
proposal of a set of ``Essential Elements of Railroad Bridge Management 
Programs,'' (Essential Elements) in FRA's Agency Policy on the Safety 
of Railroad Bridges.
    Developing the Essential Elements composed the bulk of the RBWG's 
work. The purpose of these Essential Elements is to provide railroad 
bridge owners with a uniform, comprehensive set of components for 
recommended inclusion in their bridge management programs. With this 
information, a bridge owner may develop a single, comprehensive set of 
instructions, information and data as guidance for his employees who 
are responsible for the management, inspection, maintenance and safety 
of railroad bridges.
    In the course of developing these Essential Elements, the members 
of the RBWG combined their experience in determining the items to be 
included. The RBWG members also recognized that, although most 
railroads were already performing these functions to varying degrees, 
it would be useful to have the recommended Essential Elements available 
in a central location so that all concerned may see the railroad's full 
program, and also to determine that no essential element is overlooked. 
FRA agrees with this recommendation by the RSAC, which is the agency's 
basis for now incorporating the ``Essential Elements of Railroad Bridge 
Management Programs'' into Appendix C of the Track Safety Standards.
    On October 16, 2008, President Bush signed into law, the Railroad 
Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (Pub. L. 110-423) (Act''). Section 417 
of the Act directs FRA to issue, by October 16, 2009, regulations 
requiring railroad bridge owners to adopt and follow specific 
procedures to protect the safety of their bridges. FRA plans to conform 
to that legislative mandate. A close reading and study of the specific 
requirements of the bridge safety provisions mandated by the Act shows 
that they closely parallel the Essential Elements of RSAC's September 
10, 2008, recommendation. FRA therefore finds that this amendment of 
the Statement of Agency Policy on the

[[Page 1607]]

Safety of Railroad Bridges, which FRA is completing expeditiously as a 
non-regulatory proceeding, will benefit railroad bridge owners by 
giving them prompt advice regarding the development of their bridge 
safety programs, and that the early work to be done railroad bridge 
owners in conformance with this recommendation will benefit the owners 
and the public when FRA issues regulations conforming to the 
legislative mandate.

Effect of the Amendment to This Statement of Policy

    This amendment to Policy contains guidelines for the development of 
effective programs for the management and safety of railroad bridges. 
It is meant to be advisory in nature. It does not have the force of 
regulations under which FRA ordinarily issues violations and assesses 
civil penalties. The guidelines contained herein represent the general 
criteria against which FRA will evaluate each railroad's bridge 
inspection and management program.
    Even without specific bridge safety regulations, FRA maintains 
authority to perform safety inspections of any railroad facility and to 
issue emergency orders under 49 U.S.C. 20104, 49 U.S.C. 20107, and 49 
CFR part 209. This amendment to the Policy does not change FRA's 
statutory emergency order authority with respect to railroad bridge 
safety. This emergency order authority permits FRA, if necessary, to 
remove from service, or otherwise impose conditions on any railroad 
operation which, in the judgment of the agency, poses an emergency 
situation involving a hazard of death or personal injury. FRA will not 
hesitate to use this authority if circumstances warrant.

List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 213

    Penalties, Railroad safety, Railroads.

PART 213--[AMENDED]

0
1. The authority citation for part 213 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 20102-20114 and 20142; 28 U.S.C. 2461, 
note; and 49 CFR 1.49(m).

0
2. Section 14 is added to Appendix C, Part 213 to read as follows:

Appendix C to Part 213--Statement of Agency Policy on the Safety of 
Railroad Bridges

* * * * *

14. Railroad Implementation of Bridge Safety Programs

    FRA recommends that each track owner or other entity which is 
responsible for the integrity of bridges which support its track 
adopt and implement an effective and comprehensive program to ensure 
the safety of its bridges. The bridge safety program should 
incorporate the following essential elements, applied according to 
the configuration of the railroad and its bridges. The basis of the 
program should be in one comprehensive and coherent document which 
is available to all railroad personnel and other persons who are 
responsible for the application of any portion of the program.
    The program should include:
    (a) Clearly defined roles and responsibilities of all persons 
who are designated or authorized to make designations regarding the 
integrity of the track owner's bridges. The definitions may be made 
by position or by individual;
    (b) Provisions for a complete inventory of bridges that carry 
the owner's track, to include the following information on each 
bridge:
    (1) A unique identifier, such as milepost location and a 
subdivision code;
    (2) The location of the bridge by nearest town or station, and 
geographic coordinates;
    (3) The name of the geographic features crossed by the bridge;
    (4) The number of tracks on the bridge;
    (5) The number of spans in the bridge;
    (6) The lengths of the spans; and
    (7) Types of construction of:
    (i) Substructure;
    (ii) Superstructure; and
    (iii) Deck;
    (8) Overall length of the bridge.
    (9) Dates of:
    (i) Construction;
    (ii) Major renovation; and
    (iii) Strengthening;
    (10) Identification of entities responsible for maintenance of 
the bridge or its different components;
    (c) Known capacity of its bridges as determined by rating by 
competent engineer or by design documents;
    (d) Procedures for the control of movement of high, wide or 
heavy loads exceeding the nominal capacity of bridges;
    (e) Instructions for the maintenance of permanent records of 
design, construction, modification, and repair;
    (f) Railroad-specific procedures and standards for design and 
rating of bridges;
    (g) Detailed bridge inspection policy, including:
    (1) Inspector Qualifications.
    (i) Bridge experience or appropriate educational training.
    (ii) Training on bridge inspection procedures.
    (iii) Training on Railroad Workplace Safety.
    (2) Type and frequency of inspection.
    (i) Periodic (at least annually).
    (ii) Underwater.
    (iii) Special.
    (iv) Seismic.
    (v) Cursory inspections of overhead bridges that are not the 
responsibility of the railroad.
    (3) Inspection schedule for each bridge.
    (4) Documentation of inspections.
    (i) Date.
    (ii) Name of inspector.
    (iii) Reporting Format.
    (iv) Coherence of information.
    (5) Inspection Report Review Process.
    (6) Record retention.
    (7) Tracking of critical deficiencies to resolution;
    (h) Provide for the protection of train operations following an 
inspection, noting a critical deficiency, repair, modification or 
adverse event and should
    (1) Include a listing of qualifications of personnel permitted 
to authorize train operations following an adverse event; and
    (i) Detailed internal program audit procedures to ensure 
compliance with the provisions of the program.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on January 7, 2009.
Clifford C. Eby,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. E9-436 Filed 1-12-09; 8:45 am]

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