[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 92 (Friday, May 12, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27781-27783]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-7299]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Docket No. FRA-2000-7257]


[Notice No. 36]; 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: Patricia Butera or Lydia Leeds, RSAC 
Coordinator, FRA, 1120 Vermont Avenue, NW., Mailstop 25, Washington, DC 
20590, (202) 493-6212/6213 or Grady Cothen, Deputy Associate 
Administrator for Safety, FRA, 1120 Vermont Avenue, NW., 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 December 
6, 2005, (70 FR 73513). The 28th full Committee meeting was held 
February 22, 2006.
    Since its first meeting in April of 1996, the RSAC has accepted 
twenty-two tasks. Status for each of the tasks is provided below:

Open Tasks

    Task 96-4--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

[[Page 27782]]

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 97-1--Developing crashworthiness specifications to promote the 
integrity of the locomotive cab in accidents resulting from collisions. 
This Task was accepted on June 24, 1997. On April 14, 2004, the RSAC 
reached consensus on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). The NPRM 
is a new standard to increase the crashworthiness of conventional wide- 
and narrow-nose locomotives and codifies requirements for monocoque 
locomotives. On November 2, 2004, FRA published an NPRM in the Federal 
Register (69 FR 63990) proposing to establish comprehensive, minimum 
standards for locomotive crashworthiness. In that NPRM, FRA established 
a January 3, 2005, deadline for submission of written comments. FRA 
received a request to extend the comment period to give interested 
parties additional time to review, analyze, and submit comments on the 
NPRM. After considering the request, FRA extended the comment period 
until February 3, 2005. The Working Group met to review the public 
comments on June 27-28, 2005, and reached consensus on July 1, 2005. 
The Working Group's recommendations were adopted by the full Committee, 
by mail ballot, on August 5, 2005. The final rule was cleared by OMB; 
FRA is arranging publication. Contact: Charles Bielitz, (202) 493-6314 
or John Punwani (202) 493-6369.
    Task 97-2--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. This Task was accepted June 24, 1997.
(Sanitation) (Completed)
    (Noise exposure) On June 27, 2003, the full RSAC gave consensus by 
ballot on the NPRM. The NPRM was published in the Federal Register on 
June 23, 2004. The comment period ended September 21, 2004. Task Force 
and Working Group meetings were held March 1, and March 2 and 3, 2005, 
respectively, to review the public comments and recommend a final rule. 
The Working Group reached agreement on all issues, and its report was 
presented to the full Committee on May 18, 2005. The final rule is in 
review and clearance.
(Cab Temperature) (Completed)

    Note: Additional related topics such as vibration may be 
considered by the Working Group in the future.


    Contact: Jeffrey Horn, (202) 493-6283.
    Task 03-01--Passenger Safety. 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 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. 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, five task groups were established: 
Crashworthiness/glazing; emergency preparedness; mechanical-general 
issues; mechanical-safety appliances; and track/vehicle interaction. 
The task groups 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. Initial recommendations on 
mechanical issues (revisions to 49 CFR Part 238) were approved by the 
full Committee on January 26, 2005. 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 
egress and rescue access. These recommendations were presented to and 
approved by the full Committee on May 18, 2005. An NPRM is now under 
development. 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. An NPRM was published in 
the Federal Register on December 8, 2005, (70 FR 73070). Public 
comments were due by February 17, 2006. The Working Group met on March 
21-22, 2006, and tentatively agreed to establish a task force on 
General Passenger Safety. Contact: Charles Bielitz, (202) 493-6314.
    Task 05-01--Review of Roadway Worker Protection issues. This Task 
was accepted on January 26, 2005, to review 49 CFR 214, Subpart C, 
Roadway Worker Protection, and related sections of Subpart A; 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 has 
been established and will report 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 will report planned 
activity to the full Committee at each scheduled Committee meeting, 
including milestones for completion of projects and progress toward 
completion. The Working Group met on June 22-24, 2005, August 8-11, 
2005, September 20-22, 2005, November 8-9, 2005, January 10-11, 2006, 
February 1-2, 2006, and March 15-16, 2006. The Working Group met on 
April 11-12, 2006, to prepare the proposed amendments in regulatory 
format for review by the Working Group in August 2006. Contact: 
Christopher Schulte, (202) 493-6251.
    Task 05-02--Reduce Human Factor-Caused Train Accident/Incidents. 
This Task was accepted on May 18, 2005, to reduce the number of human 
factor-caused train accidents/incidents and related employee injuries. 
A Working Group has been established. 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 Working Group met on July 12-13, 2005, August 
31-September 1, 2005, September 28-29, 2005, October 25-26, 2005, 
November 16-17, 2005, and December 6-7, 2005. 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 
forthcoming NPRM, which is under development with the Working Group's 
discussion draft as its basis with a deadline of September 30, 2006, 
for publication. Contact: Douglas Taylor, (202) 493-6255.
    Task 06-01--Locomotive Safety Standards. This task was accepted on 
February 22, 2006, to review Title 49 CFR Part 229, Railroad Locomotive 
Safety Standards, and revise as appropriate. A Working Group has been 
established. 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 is scheduled for May 8-10, 2006. 
Contact: George Scerbo, (202) 493-6249.
    Task 06-02--Track Safety Standards and Continuous Welded Rail. 
Section 9005 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible,

[[Page 27783]]

Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (Pub. L. 109-
59, ``SAFETEA-LU''), the 2005 surface transportation authorization act, 
requires FRA to issue requirements for inspection of joint bars in 
continuous welded rail (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 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 is reviewing 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 has been established. 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 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. Contact: Ken 
Rusk, (202) 493-6236.

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 (On-
Track 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 97-3--(Completed) Developing event recorder data survivability 
standards.
    Task 97-4 and Task 97-5--(Completed) Defining Positive Train 
Control (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--(Completed--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 
(OSHA), U.S. Department of Labor, and to make appropriate revisions to 
the FRA Guide for Preparing Accident/Incident Reports (Reporting 
Guide).
    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 May 9, 2006.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program 
Development.
 [FR Doc. E6-7299 Filed 5-11-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P