[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 134 (Thursday, July 13, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39699-39700]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-11034]


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

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Research and Innovative Technology Administration


Agency Information Collection; Activity Under OMB Review; 
Confidential Close Call Reporting System

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

ACTION: Notice.

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

SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces that the Information 
Collection Request (ICR) described below is being forwarded to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval for a new 
information collection in support of a five-year research study aiming 
at improving rail safety by analyzing information on close calls and 
other unsafe occurrences in the rail industry. The ICR describes the 
nature of the information collection and its expected burden. The 
Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting 
comments on the following collection of information was published on 
April 27, 2006 (71 FR 24913) and the comment period ended on June 26, 
2006. The 60-day notice produced no comments.

DATES: Written comments should be submitted by August 14, 2006.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Demetra V. Collia, Room 3430, 
RITA, BTS, Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20590-0001. Telephone (202) 366-1610, Fax (202) 493-0568 
or e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Confidential Close Call Reporting System.
    Type of Request: Approval of a new information collection.
    OMB Control Number: New.
    Affected Public: Workers in the railroad industry.
    Number of Respondents: 350.
    Number of Responses: 350.
    Total Annual Burden: 175 hours (Average estimate of 30 minutes to 
complete the survey resulting in a total of 175 hours).
    Abstract: Collecting data on the nation's transportation system is 
an important component of BTS's 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)). BTS and FRA share a 
common interest in promoting rail safety based on better data. To that 
end, FRA's Office of Research and Development is sponsoring the 
Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C\3\RS) Demonstration Project 
to investigate the effectiveness of such system in improving rail 
safety.
    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.).
    Employees involved in a close call will be asked to fill out a 
reporting form which will be made available on the Web and at their 
work site and mail it to BTS. The close call reporting form will ask 
the respondent to provide information on: (1) Name and contact 
information; (2) time and location of the incident; (3) a short 
description of the event; (4) contributing factors to the close call; 
and (5) any other information that might be useful in determining a 
root cause of such event.
    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). Accordingly, only statistical and non-sensitive 
information will be made available through publications and reports. 
Through the analysis of close calls the FRA and the railroad community 
will receive information about factors that may contribute to unsafe 
events and use that information to develop new training programs and 
identify root causes of potentially adverse events. The database will 
also provide other users such as rail safety researchers with valuable 
data regarding precursors to safety risks and contribute to research 
and development of intervention programs aimed at preventing accidents 
and fatalities.
    It is estimated that the close call reporting form will take no 
more than 30 minutes to complete for a maximum total burden of 175 
hours (350

[[Page 39700]]

reports*30 minutes/60 = 175 hours). Reports are submitted when there is 
a qualifying event, i.e., a close call occurs within a pilot site. The 
frequency of such event is estimated to be approximately one per day.

ADDRESSES: The agency seeks public comments on its proposed information 
collection. Comments should address whether the information will have 
practical utility; the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden 
of the proposed information collection; ways to enhance the quality, 
utility and clarity of the information to be collected; and ways to 
minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, 
including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of 
information technology. Send comments to the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 725-17th Street, 
NW., Washington, DC 20503, Attention: BTS Desk Officer.

    Issued in Washington, DC on this 6th day of July, 2006.
William Bannister,
Acting Deputy Director, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Research 
and Advanced Technology Administration, U.S. Department of 
Transportation.
[FR Doc. E6-11034 Filed 7-12-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-HY-P