[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 90 (Wednesday, May 10, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27312-27313]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-7109]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Research and Innovative Technology Administration

[Docket Number: RITA-2006-24715]


Notice of Request for Approval To Collect New Information: 
Collection of Data for Program Evaluation

AGENCY: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), Research and 
Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces that the Bureau of Transportation 
Statistics (BTS) intends to request the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) to approve a data collection effort to evaluate a five-year 
research program on using information from close calls and near misses 
to improve safety in the rail industry. The study is conducted by the 
Office of Human Factors in the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) 
and is designed to identify safety issues and propose corrective 
actions based on voluntary reports of close calls submitted to BTS. 
Because of the innovative nature of this program, the FRA is 
implementing an evaluation to determine whether the program is 
succeeding, how it can be improved, and what is needed to implement the 
program through out the railroad industry. This collection is necessary 
to obtain the data needed to carry out the evaluation. This notice is 
required by the Paperwork Reduction Act.

DATES: Comments must be received by July 10, 2006.

ADDRESSES: You can mail or hand-deliver comments to the U.S. Department 
of Transportation (DOT), Dockets Management System (DMS). You may 
submit your comments by mail or in person to the Docket Clerk, Docket 
No. RITA-2006-24715, U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh 
Street, SW., Room PL-401, Washington, DC 20590-0001. Comments should 
identify the docket number; paper comments should be submitted in 
duplicate. The DMS is open for examination and copying, at the above 
address, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except federal 
holidays. If you wish to receive confirmation of receipt of your 
written comments, please include a self-addressed, stamped postcard 
with the following statement: ``Comments on Docket RITA-2006-24715.'' 
The Docket Clerk will date stamp the postcard prior to returning it to 
you via the U.S. mail. Please note that due to delays in the delivery 
of U.S. mail to Federal offices in Washington, DC, we recommend that 
persons consider an alternative method (the Internet, fax, or 
professional delivery service) to submit comments to the docket and 
ensure their timely receipt at U.S. DOT. You may fax your comments to 
the DMS at (202) 493-2251.
    If you wish to file comments using the Internet, you may use the 
DOT DMS Web site at http://dms.dot.gov. Please follow the online 
instructions for submitting an electronic comment. You can also review 
comments on-line at the DMS Web site at http://dms.dot.gov.
    Please Note that anyone is able to electronically search all 
comments received into our docket management

[[Page 27313]]

system by the name of the individual submitting the comment (or signing 
the comment if submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor 
union, etc.). You may review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in 
the Federal Register published on April 11, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 70; 
pages 19477-78) or you may review the Privacy Act Statement at http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Demetra V. Collia, RTS 31, Room 3430, 
Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 400 Seventh Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20590; (202) 366-1610; FAX NO. (202) 493-0568; e-mail: 
[email protected].
    Data Confidentiality Provisions: The confidentiality of data 
collected by BTS is protected under the BTS confidentiality statute (49 
U.S.C. 111 (k) and the Confidential Information Protection and 
Statistical Efficiency Act (CIPSEA) of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-347, Title V). 
In accordance with these confidentiality statutes, only statistical and 
non-identifying data will be made publicly available through reports. 
Further, BTS will not release to FRA or any other public or private 
entity any information that might reveal the identity of individuals or 
organizations mentioned in the collected survey data.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. The Data Collection

    The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35; as 
amended) and 5 CFR part 1320 require each Federal agency to obtain OMB 
approval to initiate an information collection activity. BTS is seeking 
OMB approval for the following BTS information collection activity:
    Title: Collection of Data for Program Evaluation.
    OMB Control Number: 2139-NEW.
    Type of Review: Approval of data collection.
    Respondents: Employees of selected (pilot) railroad sites.
    Number of Respondents: 1,200 (per annum).
    Estimated Time per Response: 0.50 hours.
    Frequency: The evaluation survey will be conducted three times: (1) 
At the onset of the Close Calls research program (baseline); (2) two to 
three years later; and (3) at the end of the Close Calls research 
program (five to six years from the baseline data collection.).
    Total Annual Burden: 600 hours.

II. Background

    Collecting data on the nation's transportation system is an 
important component of BTS' responsibility to the transportation 
community and is authorized in BTS statutory authority (49 U.S.C. 
111(c)(1) and (2) and 49 U.S.C. 111(c)(5) (j)). Further, BTS and FRA 
share a common interest in promoting rail safety based on better data. 
In recognition of the need for new approaches to improving safety, the 
FRA has initiated a research program called the Confidential Close Call 
Reporting System (C3RS). The C3RS is designed to 
identify safety issues and propose corrective actions based on 
voluntary reports of close calls submitted to BTS. A close call 
represents a situation in which an ongoing sequence of events was 
stopped from developing further, preventing the occurrence of 
potentially serious safety-related consequences. This might include the 
following: (1) Events that happen frequently, but have low safety 
consequences; (2) events that happen infrequently but have the 
potential for high consequences (e.g., a train in dark territory 
proceeds beyond its authority); (3) events that are below the FRA 
reporting threshold (e.g., an event that causes a minor injury); and 
(4) events that are reportable to FRA but have the potential for a far 
greater accident than the one reported (e.g., a slow speed collision 
with minor damage to the equipment and no injuries.)
    BTS will collect close call reports submitted by railroad 
employees, develop an analytical database containing the reported data 
and other pertinent information, and protect the confidentiality of 
these data through its own statute (49 U.S.C. 111(i)) and the 
Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 
2002 (CIPSEA). The operating assumption behind C3RS is that 
by assuring confidentiality, employees will report events which, if 
dealt with, will decrease the likelihood of accidents. C3RS 
therefore has both a confidential reporting component, and a problem 
analysis/solution component. C3RS is expected to affect 
safety in two ways. First, it will lead to problem solving concerning 
specific safety conditions. Second, it will engender an organizational 
culture and climate that supports greater awareness of safety and a 
greater cooperative willingness to improve safety. BTS is seeking a 
separate OMB approval for the collection of close call reports (71 FR 
24913, April 27, 2006) which does not involve the evaluation of the 
reporting system.
    While C3RS has been developed and is being implemented 
with the participation of the FRA, railroad labor, and railroad 
management, there are legitimate questions about whether it is being 
implemented in the most effective way, and whether it will have its 
intended effect. Further, even if C3RS is successful, it 
will be necessary to know if it is successful enough to implement on a 
wide scale. To address these important questions, the FRA is 
implementing a formative evaluation to guide program development, a 
summative evaluation to assess impact, and a sustainability evaluation 
to determine how C3RS can continue after the test period is 
over. The evaluation is needed to provide the FRA with guidance as to 
how it can improve the program, and how it might be scaled up 
throughout the railroad industry.
    Program evaluation is an inherently data driven activity. Its basic 
tenet is that as change is implemented, data can be collected to track 
the course and consequences of the change. Because of the setting in 
which C3RS is being implemented, that data must come from 
the railroad employees (labor and management) who may be affected. 
Employees of selected railroad sites (pilot sites) will be asked to 
fill out a questionnaire which will be made available to them at town 
hall meetings and mail back to BTS. The evaluation program 
questionnaire will request the respondent to provide information such 
as: (a) Beliefs about rail safety; (b) issues and personal concerns 
related to implementation of safety programs in their work environment; 
(c) knowledge and views on voluntary reporting of unsafe events; and 
(d) opinions and observations about the operation of C3RS at 
their work site.

III. Request for Comments

    BTS requests comments on any aspects of these information 
collections, including: (1) The accuracy of the estimated burden; (2) 
ways to enhance the quality, usefulness, and clarity of the collected 
information; and (3) ways to minimize the collection burden without 
reducing the quality of the information collected, including additional 
use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on May 3, 2006.
William Bannister,
Acting Deputy Director, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Research 
and Innovative Technology Administration.
 [FR Doc. E6-7109 Filed 5-9-06; 8:45 am]
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