[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 37 (Thursday, February 25, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8785-8786]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-3865]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Docket No. FRA-2010-0005-N-3]


Agency Request for Emergency Processing of Collection of 
Information Associated With FRA's Positive Train Control Grant Program 
After Publication of Second Agency Federal Register Notice Concerning 
Solicitation of Applications for Positive Train Control Grant Funding

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

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[[Page 8786]]

SUMMARY: The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) hereby gives notice 
that it has submitted the following information collection request 
(ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Emergency 
Processing under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 
44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). FRA requests that OMB authorize the collection 
of information identified below on or before March 15, 2010, for 180 
days after the date of approval by OMB. A copy of this ICR, with 
applicable supporting documentation, may be obtained by calling FRA's 
Clearance Officers, Mr. Robert Brogan (tel. (202) 493-6292) or Ms. 
Kimberly Toone (tel. (202) 493-6132). These numbers are not toll-free. 
A copy of this ICR may also be obtained electronically by contacting 
Mr. Brogan at [email protected] or by contacting Ms. Toone at 
[email protected]. Comments and questions about the ICR identified 
below should be directed to the Office of Information and Regulatory 
Affairs (OIRA), Attn: FRA OMB Desk Officer, 725 17th St., NW., 
Washington, DC 20503. Comments and questions about the ICR identified 
below may also be transmitted electronically to OIRA at [email protected].

DATES: Comments should be submitted as soon as possible upon 
publication of this notice in the Federal Register.
    Title: Notice of Funding Availability and Solicitation of 
Applications for the Positive Train Control (PTC) Grant Program.
    OMB Control Number: 2130-New.
    Frequency: One-time.
    Affected Public: 50 Railroads.
    Form(s): SF-269, SF-270, SF-271.
    Estimated Total Annual Number of Responses: 250 (Grant Applications 
and Other Supporting Documents (Paper/Electronic)).
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 13,923 hours.
    Abstract: The Rail Safety Technology Program is a newly authorized 
program under the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (RSIA) (Pub. L. 
110-432; October 16, 2008). The program was directed by Congress and 
passed into law in the aftermath of a series of major rail accidents 
that culminated in an accident at Chatsworth, California, in 2008. 
Twenty-five people were killed and 135 people were injured in the 
Chatsworth accident. This event turned the Nation's attention to rail 
safety and the possibility that new technologies, such as PTC, could 
prevent such accidents in the future. The RSIA ordered installation of 
PTC by all Class I railroads on any of their mainlines carrying 
poisonous inhalation hazard (PIH) materials and by all passenger and 
commuter railroads on their main lines not later than December 31, 
2015.
    As part of the RSIA, Congress provided $50 million to FRA to award, 
in one or more grants, to eligible projects by passenger and freight 
rail carriers, railroad suppliers, and State and local Governments. 
Funds will be awarded to projects that have a public benefit of 
improved railroad safety and efficiency, with priority given to 
projects that make PTC technologies interoperable between railroad 
systems; projects that accelerate the deployment of PTC technology on 
high-risk corridors, such as those that have high volumes of hazardous 
material shipments; and for projects over which commuter or passenger 
trains operate, or that benefit both passenger and freight safety and 
efficiency.
    Funds provided under this grant program may constitute no more than 
80 percent of the total cost of a selected project, with the remaining 
costs funded from other sources. The funding provided under these 
grants will be made available to grantees on a reimbursement basis. FRA 
anticipates awarding grants to multiple eligible participants. FRA may 
choose to award a grant or grants within the available funds in any 
amount. Funding made available through grants provided under this 
program, together with funding from other sources that is committed by 
a grantee as part of a grant agreement, must be sufficient to complete 
the funded project and achieve the anticipated technology development. 
FRA will begin accepting grant applications 10 days after publication 
of the separate agency notice published in the Federal Register 
detailing the terms of the PTC Grant Program Funds Availability. 
Applications may be submitted until the earlier of December 31, 2010, 
or the date on which all available funds will have been committed under 
this program.
    FRA is applying to OMB for Emergency Clearance of this proposed 
information collection because of the highly complex technology 
involved. Reviewing railroad applications and awarding this funding as 
quickly as possible is essential to meeting FRA's mission and the RSIA 
PTC implementation deadline of December 15, 2015. FRA cannot reasonably 
comply with the normal OMB PRA Clearance procedures because of the time 
needed by FRA to review PTC grant fund applications and resolve 
technology issues, and because any delay in PTC implementation will 
cause FRA to miss the congressional statutory deadline. Also, normal 
OMB PRA Clearance procedures cannot be complied with because any delay 
of PTC implementation is likely to cause considerable public harm in 
terms of higher numbers of accidents/incidents and corresponding 
injuries/fatalities on train lines across the country that did not have 
the enhanced safety provided by PTC technologies on them as intended by 
Congress. Upon receiving the requested 6-month Emergency Clearance by 
OMB, FRA will follow the normal PRA procedures to obtain extended 
approval for this proposed information collection for the customary 3-
year period.

    Authority:  44 U.S.C. 3501-3520.

    Issued in Washington, DC on February 22, 2010.
Margaret B. Reid,
Associate Administrator, Office of Financial Management, Federal 
Railroad Administration.
[FR Doc. 2010-3865 Filed 2-24-10; 8:45 am]
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