[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 202 (Wednesday, October 21, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54116-54117]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-25316]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Research and Innovative Technology Administration

[Docket Number RITA-2008-0002]


Notice of Request for Approval To Continue To Collect New 
Information: Confidential Close Call Reporting System

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

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the requirements of section 3506(c)(2)(A) 
of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces that the 
Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) intends to request the Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB) renew the information collection request 
for the Close Calls project. This data collection effort is 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 ongoing research study is conducted by the 
Office of Human Factors in the Federal Railroad Administration and is 
designed to identify safety issues and propose corrective actions based 
on voluntary reports of close calls submitted to BTS. This collection 
is necessary because data on close calls are not normally reported to 
the railroad carriers or the Federal Railroad Administration. 
Continuous data collection for this research project is necessary to 
develop trends about rail safety and to improve railroad safety on an 
ongoing basis.

Dates:  Comments must be received by December 21, 2009.

Addresses:  You can mail or hand-deliver comments to the U.S. 
Department of Transportation (DOT), Docket Management Facility (DMF). 
You may submit your comments by mail to the Docket Clerk, Docket No. 
RITA-2008-0002, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey 
Ave., SE., West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 
20590-0001. Comments should identify the docket number; paper comments 
should be submitted in duplicate. The DMF 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-2008-0002.'' 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 DMF at (202) 493-2251.
    If you wish to file comments using the Internet, you may use the 
Web site http://www.regulations.gov. Please follow the instructions for 
submitting an electronic comment. You can also review comments on-line 
at the same Web site http://www.regulations,gov.
    Please note that anyone is able to electronically search all 
comments received into our docket management 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 Department's Privacy Policy at http://www.dot.gov/Privacy.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Demetra V. Collia, E-36, Room 314, 
Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Research and Innovative Technology 
Administration, 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE., Washington, DC 20590; (202) 
366-1610; FAX No. (202) 366-3676; e-mail:[email protected].
    Data Confidentiality Provisions: The confidentiality of Close Calls 
data 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 close call reports.

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 continue an information collection activity. BTS is seeking 
OMB approval for the following BTS information collection activity:
    Title: Confidential Close Call Reporting System.
    OMB Control Number: 2139- 0010.
    Type of Review: Approval to continue to collect new information: 
Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS).
    Respondents: Employees of selected (pilot) railroad sites.
    Number of Respondents: 4,000 (per annum).

[[Page 54117]]

    Estimated Time per Response: 0.50 hours.
    Frequency: Intermittent for approximately three (3) years. (Reports 
are submitted when there is a qualifying event, i.e., a close call 
occurs within a pilot site. The frequency of such an event is estimated 
to be two per day.)
    Total Annual Burden: 365.00 hours.

II. Background

    Continuing to collect data on the Nation's transportation system is 
an important component of the BTS responsibility to the transportation 
community and is authorized in BTS statutory authority (49 USC 
111(c)(1) and (2) and 49 USC 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 (C3RS) Demonstration Project to 
investigate the effectiveness of such a data collection system in 
improving rail safety. The data collection phase of this study was 
initiated in February, 2009 and is scheduled to continue for 
approximately 3 more years.
    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 are asked to fill out a 
questionnaire and mail it to BTS. Blank forms of the questionnaire will 
be made available on the Web for download and at the employees work 
site. The respondent is asked to provide information such as: (1) Name 
and contact information; (2) time and location of the close call event; 
(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 collects close call reports submitted by railroad employees and 
protects 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). In addition, BTS is 
developing an analytical database containing the reported data and 
other pertinent information to determine root causes of frequently 
reported close calls. The database is a valuable tool to railroad 
carriers and the FRA in their effort to identify safety issues and 
provide corrective measures before an accident occurs.
    Voluntary reporting of close calls to a confidential system can 
provide a tool to identify and correct weaknesses in railroad safety 
systems before an accident actually occurs. The C\3\RS demonstration 
project offers a voluntary, cooperative, non-punitive environment to 
communicate safety concerns. Through the analysis of close calls the 
FRA and the railroad community receive information about factors that 
may contribute to unsafe events and the error recovery mechanisms that 
prevented an adverse consequence from occurring. Such information is 
used to develop new training programs, identify root causes of 
potentially adverse events, assess risk and allocate resources to 
address those risks more efficiently. In addition, the database 
provides rail safety researchers with valuable information regarding 
precursors to safety risks and contributes to research and development 
of intervention programs aimed at preventing accidents and fatalities.

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 October 15, 2009.
Steven D. Dillingham,
Director, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Research and Innovative 
Technology Administration.
[FR Doc. E9-25316 Filed 10-20-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-HY-P