[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 10 (Friday, January 15, 2010)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 2466-2467]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-684]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

49 CFR Part 234

[Docket No. FRA-2009-0032, Notice No. 4]
RIN 2130-AC20


State Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Action Plans

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

ACTION: Notice of public hearing and extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: By notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) published on November 
13, 2009 (74 FR 58589), FRA proposed a rule to require the ten States 
with the most highway-rail grade crossing collisions, on average, over 
the past three years, to develop State highway-rail grade crossing 
action plans. This document announces a public hearing to provide 
interested parties the opportunity to comment on the NPRM and announces 
a fourteen (14) day extension of the comment period, which closed 
December 14, 2009, to commence on the date of the public hearing. The 
extension provides interested parties the opportunity to comment on the 
NPRM and to respond to matters that arise at the public hearing related 
to the NPRM.

DATES: (1) Public Hearing: A public hearing will be held on the date 
and at the location listed below to provide interested parties the 
opportunity to comment on the proposed rule contained in the NPRM. A 
fourteen (14) day extension of the comment period will commence on the 
date of the hearing. The date of the public hearing is as follows: 
Monday, February 22, 2010, at 9:30 a.m. in Washington, DC.
    (2) Extension of Comment Period: The comment period will reopen 
Monday, February 22, 2010 and written comments must be received by 
Monday, March 8, 2010. Comments received after that date will be 
considered to the

[[Page 2467]]

extent possible without incurring additional expenses or delays.

ADDRESSES: (1) Public Hearing: The public hearing will be held at the 
following location: Washington, DC: Washington Plaza Hotel, Ten Thomas 
Circle, Washington, DC 20005.
    (2) Extension of Comment Period: Comments related to Docket No. 
FRA-2009-0032, may be submitted by any of the following methods:
     Fax: 1-202-493-2251;
     Mail: U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket 
Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590;
     Hand Delivery: U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket 
Operations, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey 
Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, except Federal holidays; or
     Electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal, 
http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for 
submitting comments.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name, docket 
name, and docket number or Regulatory Identification Number (RIN) for 
this rulemaking. Note that all comments received will be posted without 
change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal 
information provided. Please see the Privacy Act section of this 
document.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov at any time or to 
U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket Operations, M-30, West 
Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., 
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ron Ries, Office of Safety, FRA, 1200 
New Jersey Ave. SE., RRS-23, Mail Stop 25, Washington, DC 20590 
(Telephone 202-493-6299), or Zeb Schorr, Trial Attorney, Office of 
Chief Counsel, FRA, 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE., Mail Stop 10, 
Washington, DC 20590 (Telephone 202-493-6072).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FRA has received written comments submitted 
by interested parties related to various parts of the NPRM and written 
requests for a hearing regarding the NPRM. FRA is holding a public 
hearing to permit the exchange of information and concerns regarding 
FRA's proposed rule. The public hearing is meant to allow interested 
parties to fully develop and articulate the issues and concerns they 
have with the NPRM so that these concerns can be fully addressed in any 
final rule that is developed. Interested parties are invited to present 
oral statements and proffer evidence at the hearing. The hearing will 
be informal and will be conducted by a representative designated by FRA 
in accordance with FRA's Rules of Practice (49 CFR 211.25). The hearing 
will be a non-adversarial proceeding; as such, there will be no cross-
examination of persons presenting statements or proffering evidence. An 
FRA representative will make an opening statement outlining the scope 
of the hearing. After all initial statements have been completed, those 
persons wishing to make a brief rebuttal will be given the opportunity 
to do so in the same order in which the initial statements were made. 
Additional procedures, as necessary for the conduct of the hearing, 
will be announced at the hearing.
    On February 22, 2010, the comment period for the NPRM will reopen 
for fourteen (14) days so that FRA can make the public hearing 
transcript available for review and comment by the general public, 
interested parties can provide additional comments and documents 
related to the NPRM, and interested parties can provide responses to 
matters that arise at the public hearing.

Public Participation Procedures

    Any person wishing to participate in the public hearing should 
notify the FRA's Docket Clerk by mail, Michelle Silva, Office of Chief 
Counsel, FRA, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE., Room W31-109, Washington, DC 
20590, or e-mail ([email protected]), or at the fax number 202-
493-6068, at least five (5) working days prior to the date of the 
hearing. The notification should identify the party the person 
represents, and the particular subject(s) the person plans to address. 
The notification should also provide the Docket Clerk with the 
participant's mailing address and other contact information. FRA 
reserves the right to limit participation in the hearing by persons who 
fail to provide such notification.

Privacy Act

    FRA wishes to inform all potential commenters that anyone is able 
to search the electronic form of all comments received into any agency 
docket 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 (65 FR 19477-78) or 
you may visit http://www.regulations.gov/search/footer/privacyanduse.jsp.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on January 11, 2010.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program 
Development, Federal Railroad Administration.
[FR Doc. 2010-684 Filed 1-14-10; 8:45 am]
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