[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 48 (Monday, March 11, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9740-9741]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-5505]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration
[Docket No. RSAC-96-1]


Railroad Safety Advisory Committee; Establishment

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

ACTION: Notice of Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (``RSAC'') 
Establishment.

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SUMMARY: As required by Section 9(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory 
Committee Act 

[[Page 9741]]
(FACA), 5 U.S.C. App. 2 (1988) and 41 C.F.R. Part 101-6, section 101-6, 
1015(a), the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is giving notice of 
the establishment of an advisory committee to address railroad safety 
issues. This committee will provide recommendations and comments and 
will be known as the ``Railroad Safety Advisory Committee''(RSAC).

DATES: On or about April 1, 1996, FRA will file the Committee's charter 
with the General Services Administration, the Library of Congress, and 
all Congressional committees with jurisdiction over FRA, as required by 
section 9(c) of FACA.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Grady Cothen, Deputy Associate 
Administrator for Safety Standards Program Development, Federal 
Railroad Administration, 400 7th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590, 
202-366-0897, or Lisa Levine, Office of Chief Counsel, Federal Railroad 
Administration, 400 7th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590, 202-366-
0621.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FRA has concluded that the continued use of 
ad hoc collaborative procedures for appropriate rulemakings is not the 
most effective means of accomplishing our goal of achieving a more 
consensual regulatory program. Instead, FRA believes that establishing 
an advisory committee to address railroad safety issues will provide 
the best opportunity for creating a consensual regulatory program in 
order to inform the Administrator in the conduct of her statutory 
responsibilities. The formation and use of the Railroad Safety Advisory 
Committee are determined to be in the public interest in connection 
with the performance of duties imposed on the Secretary, and delegated 
to the Federal Railroad Administrator, by the federal railroad safety 
statutes (49 U.S.C. 20101-21311).
    The Committee will provide a continuing forum for advice and 
recommendations on railroad safety issues. As all interested segments 
of the railroad industry will be represented on the Committee, all of 
FRA's customers will have a more direct role in shaping FRA's 
regulatory program. The Committee will allow management, labor, FRA and 
other interested parties cooperatively to address safety problems by 
identifying the best solutions based on agreed-upon facts, and, where 
regulation appears necessary, identify regulatory options to implement 
these solutions.

Committee Composition

    The Administrator is the sponsor of the Committee and will 
designate the members of the Committee. The Administrator's 
representative (the Associate Administrator for Safety or that person's 
delegate) shall serve as Chairperson for the Committee. The Committee 
is authorized to constitute an Executive Committee and such 
subcommittees as the Administrator and the Committee find necessary to 
discharge its responsibilities.
    The Committee will have sufficient diversity to ensure the 
requisite range of views and expertise necessary to discharge its 
responsibilities. The membership on the Committee will be fairly 
balanced with points of view representative of those interested in 
railroad issues, including those of railroad owners, manufacturers, 
labor groups, state government groups, and public interest 
associations. In order to foster harmonization of railroad safety 
standards at their inception, the agencies with regulatory 
responsibility for railroad safety in both Canada and Mexico will be 
extended Associate Memberships that will not include any voting rights.

Meetings and Recordkeeping

    Timely notice of committee and subcommittee meetings will be 
published in the Federal Register at least 15 days before the meeting, 
except in exceptional circumstances, where the reasons for giving less 
than 15 days notice will be explained in the Federal Register notice. 
Each meeting of the Committee shall be open to the public, except as 
authorized by Section 10(d) of FACA, as implemented by 41 C.F.R. Part 
101-6. Persons wishing to appear before the Committee will have to make 
prior arrangements to do so. Written materials may be submitted to the 
Committee at any time. Each meeting will be held at a reasonable time, 
in a place reasonably accessible to the public, and in a room large 
enough to accommodate the Committee members, staff, and interested 
members of the public.
    Subject to the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552, the 
records, reports, transcripts, minutes and other documents that are 
made available to, or prepared for or by, the Committee will be 
available for public inspection and copying at the Office of Chief 
Counsel, Federal Railroad Administration, 400 7th Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20594. Fees will be charged for information furnished to 
the public in accordance with the fee schedule published in Part 7 of 
Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations.
Jolene M. Molitoris,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 96-5505 Filed 3-8-96; 8:45 am]
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