[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 102 (Tuesday, May 30, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24775-24778]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-11090]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Docket No. FRA 2017-0002-N-18]


Agency Request for Regular Processing of Collection of 
Information by the Office of Management and Budget

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) and its 
implementing regulations, this document provides notice that FRA is 
submitting an Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) to collect information on railroads' 
implementation of positive train control (PTC) systems on a quarterly 
form entitled the Quarterly PTC Progress Report Form (Form FRA F 
6180.165). On June 20, 2016, following the required notice and comment 
period, including a public meeting with industry stakeholders, OMB 
approved the Quarterly PTC Progress Report Form (Form FRA F 6180.165) 
for a period of 12 months, expiring June 30, 2017. After OMB's initial 
approval, FRA made three minor modifications to Form FRA F 6180.165, as 
described below. FRA sought public comment on the proposed revisions 
during a period of 60 days, ending May 15, 2017. FRA requests regular 
processing and OMB authorization for 3 years to collect the information 
on revised Form FRA F 6180.165, as identified below, beginning 30 days 
after publication of this notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Robert Brogan, Office of Railroad 
Safety, Planning and Evaluation Division, RRS-21, FRA, 1200 New Jersey 
Avenue SE., Mail Stop 17, Washington, DC 20590 (telephone: (202) 493-
6292) or Ms. Kimberly Toone, Office of Information Technology, RAD-20, 
FRA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Mail Stop 35, Washington, DC 20590 
(telephone: (202) 493-6132). These telephone numbers are not toll-free. 
Comments or questions about any aspect of this ICR should be directed 
to OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attn: FRA OMB 
Desk Officer.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Public Participation

    On March 14, 2017, FRA published a notice in the Federal Register 
seeking public comment on proposed revisions to its Quarterly PTC 
Progress Report Form (Form FRA F 6180.165 or Form). 82 FR 13717. The 
PRA and its implementing regulations require Federal agencies to 
provide 60-days' notice to the public to solicit comment on information 
collection activities before seeking OMB's approval, reinstatement, or 
renewal of those activities. See 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A); 5 CFR 
1320.8(d)(1), 1320.10(e)(1), 1320.12(a). The comment period closed on 
May 15, 2017. FRA did not receive any comments in response to its March 
14, 2017 notice.

II. Background on the Quarterly PTC Reporting Requirement

    The Positive Train Control Enforcement and Implementation Act of 
2015 (PTCEI Act) requires FRA to conduct compliance reviews at least 
annually to ensure each railroad subject to the statutory mandate to 
implement a positive train control (PTC) system is complying with its 
Revised PTC Implementation Plan (PTCIP). 49 U.S.C. 20157(c)(2). To 
enable FRA to meet this statutory mandate, the PTCEI Act requires 
railroads to provide information to FRA that FRA determines is 
necessary to adequately conduct such compliance reviews. 49 U.S.C. 
20157(c)(2).
    Under its statutory and regulatory investigative authorities, FRA 
currently requires, and seeks to continue requiring, each railroad 
subject to the PTC system mandate to submit Quarterly PTC Progress 
Reports (Form FRA F 6180.165) on its PTC system implementation 
progress. See 49 U.S.C. 20157(c)(2); see also 49 U.S.C. 20107; 49 CFR 
236.1009(h); 49 CFR 1.89. Specifically, in addition to the Annual PTC 
Progress Report (Form FRA F 6180.166) due each March 31 under 49 U.S.C. 
20157(c)(1), railroads must provide Quarterly PTC Progress Reports 
covering the preceding three-month period and submit the completed 
Forms to FRA on the dates in the following table until full PTC system 
implementation is completed:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                              Due dates for quarterly
             Coverage period                          reports
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q1 January 1-March 31....................  April 30.
Q2 April 1-June 30.......................  July 31.
Q3 July 1-September 30...................  October 31.
Q4 October 1-December 31.................  January 31.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Each railroad must submit its quarterly progress reports on Form FRA F 
6180.165 using FRA's Secure Information Repository (SIR) at https://sir.fra.dot.gov.
    FRA has determined that quarterly reporting is necessary for FRA to 
effectively monitor industry's implementation of PTC systems and to 
meet the statutory mandate to conduct compliance reviews at least 
annually to ensure each railroad is complying with its Revised PTCIP. 
See 49 U.S.C. 20157(c)(2). The annual reports (which contain five more 
sections than the quarterly reports) are due by March 31 each year 
under the PTCEI Act and retrospectively describe railroads' PTC system 
implementation progress for the entire preceding calendar year. The 
quarterly reports, on the other hand, show FRA individual railroad's 
PTC system implementation progress in as close to real time as possible 
for the current calendar year, enabling FRA to identify railroads not 
on track to meet the core implementation milestones they set in their 
Revised PTCIPs. FRA specifically chose quarterly reports in

[[Page 24776]]

lieu of the monthly reports, which OMB previously approved under OMB 
Control No. 2130-0553 to monitor industry progress implementing PTC 
systems, to minimize the burden on industry. See 81 FR 28140 (May 9, 
2016). The structure of the quarterly report form enables railroads to 
complete the more comprehensive Annual PTC Progress Reports (Form FRA F 
6180.166) in a clear and efficient manner. The frequency of quarterly 
reporting allows FRA to actively monitor railroads' implementation 
progress and identify railroad-specific and industry-wide roadblocks 
and obstacles to full PTC system implementation and to provide 
technical assistance early enough for such assistance to be effective. 
The quarterly reports also enable FRA to determine which railroads are 
at risk of not meeting the statutory deadline for PTC system 
implementation and the multiple statutory criteria required to obtain 
FRA approval of a deadline extension beyond December 31, 2018, but no 
later than December 31, 2020, for certain non-hardware, operational 
aspects of PTC system implementation. Moreover, the quarterly reports 
enable FRA to provide the public and Congress with data-driven status 
reports on industry's progress implementing this critical, life-saving 
technology four times per year. Because of the quarterly reporting 
requirement, FRA has been able to respond to urgent requests from 
members of Congress and the White House about railroads' up-to-date PTC 
system implementation progress following certain fatal accidents.
    Congress made it clear in the PTCEI Act and the Fixing America's 
Surface Transportation Act that enforcement is FRA's main oversight 
tool for ensuring each railroad subject to the PTC system statutory 
mandate implements a PTC system consistent with its Revised PTCIP and 
by the new statutory deadline. 49 U.S.C. 20157(e)(1)-(4). FRA needs the 
quarterly reports to conduct the compliance reviews the PTCEI Act 
mandates and, when necessary, to initiate well-supported enforcement 
action against a railroad. In the PTCEI Act, Congress required each 
railroad to provide detailed implementation information in its Revised 
PTCIP, including milestones for spectrum acquisition, employee 
training, and hardware installation, with totals separated by each 
major hardware category. 49 U.S.C. 20157(a)(2)(A)(iii). The PTCEI Act 
requires each railroad to comply with its Revised PTCIP, including its 
milestones, and FRA is authorized to assess a civil penalty for any 
failure to meet those milestones. 49 U.S.C. 20157(a)(2)(D), (e)(2), 49 
CFR 1.89.
    By statute, railroads are required to provide FRA with any 
information FRA deems necessary to adequately conduct its compliance 
reviews. See 49 U.S.C. 20157(c)(2). PTC systems are required to be 
implemented on over 60,000 miles of the 140,000-mile U.S. rail network. 
And, while FRA will perform random audits of PTC system implementation, 
FRA inspectors cannot feasibly inspect every mile of the U.S. rail 
network at different points in time to determine where the hardware of 
PTC systems, for example, has and has not been installed and to confirm 
that individual railroads are implementing PTC systems as each stated 
it would in its statutorily-mandated revised PTCIP. See 49 U.S.C. 
20157(a)(2)(D), (c)(2), (e). Therefore, FRA has reasonably determined 
that Quarterly PTC Progress Reports are necessary for FRA to perform 
the Congressionally-mandated compliance reviews. And, indeed, as 
discussed further below in the proposed changes to the Quarterly PTC 
Progress Report Form, Congress has implicitly agreed with FRA's 
determination this form is necessary by requesting that FRA collect 
additional information.

II. Proposed Revisions to the Quarterly PTC Progress Report

    On June 20, 2016, OMB approved the Quarterly PTC Progress Report 
(Form FRA F 6180.165) for a period of one year, expiring on June 30, 
2017. The current Quarterly PTC Progress Report Form, as approved 
through June 30, 2017, can be accessed and downloaded in FRA's eLibrary 
at: https://www.fra.dot.gov/eLib/details/L17365. The approved quarterly 
form took into account the Association of American Railroads' (AAR) 
written comments on behalf of itself and its member railroads; the 
American Public Transportation Association's (APTA) written comments on 
behalf of Northeast Illinois Commuter Rail System (Metra), the Utah 
Transit Authority, the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District 
of Oregon, and the Fort Worth Transportation Authority; and industry 
stakeholders' comments during FRA's public meeting on April 19, 2016, 
which included representatives from, and members of, AAR, APTA, the 
American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association, and several 
individual railroad representatives. FRA published minutes from the 
meeting on www.regulations.gov under Docket No. FRA 2016-0002. For a 
summary of the oral and written comments and FRA's responses to the 
comments, please see 81 FR 28140 (May 9, 2016).
    As FRA described in its March 14, 2017, notice, FRA proposes three 
minor modifications to the Quarterly PTC Progress Report Form (Form FRA 
F 6180.165, OMB Control No. 2130-0553; OMB Approval Expires June 30, 
2017).
    First, FRA proposes removing a now inapplicable instruction from 
page 1 of the quarterly form, which stated,

    * Please note that FRA did not require a Q1 progress report to 
be submitted in April 2016. For 2016, the Q1 and Q2 reports are both 
due in the same form on July 31, 2016.

FRA delayed the due date for submitting the first 2016 quarterly report 
to allow time for the normal 60 days of notice and public comment to 
FRA and additional 30 days of public comment to OMB while it underwent 
OMB review as the PRA and its concomitant regulations require. Because 
that due date extension applied only in 2016, FRA proposes removing 
that note from page 1 of the form and retaining the standard quarterly 
due dates below:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                              Due dates for  quarterly
             Coverage period                          reports
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q1 January 1-March 31....................  April 30.
Q2 April 1-June 30.......................  July 31.
Q3 July 1-September 30...................  October 31.
Q4 October 1-December 31.................  January 31.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In addition, FRA proposes making the following two changes to 
Section 1 of the form (Summary Section) to clarify the section and 
respond to a Congressional request that FRA collect certain additional 
information:
    (i) To ensure clarity and consistent interpretations by 
respondents, FRA proposes adding instructions to the existing Summary 
Section row entitled, ``Route Miles in Testing or Revenue Service 
Demonstration,'' as a footnote. The current Summary Section in the 
Quarterly PTC Progress Report requires railroads to provide the 
following information:

[[Page 24777]]



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                              Total quantity
                           Category                               Cumulative quantity        required for PTC
                                                                   completed to date          implementation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Locomotives Fully Equipped and PTC Operable...................
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Installation/Track Segments Completed.........................
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Radio Towers Fully Installed and Equipped.....................
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Employees Trained.............................................
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Route Miles in Testing or Revenue Service Demonstration.......
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Route Miles in PTC Operation..................................
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In the Summary Section of the Quarterly PTC Progress Reports 
railroads have submitted to date, some railroads have improperly listed 
the same number of miles in the ``Route Miles in Testing or Revenue 
Service Demonstration'' and ``Route Miles in PTC Operation'' fields, 
under the heading ``Cumulative Quantity Completed To Date.'' This makes 
it impossible for FRA to know if the railroad is still conducting PTC 
testing (i.e., field testing or Revenue Service Demonstration (RSD)) on 
those route miles or if the railroad is operating the PTC system in 
revenue service on those route miles. This prevents FRA from compiling 
data in its database and using it for the statutorily mandated 
compliance reviews. To clarify the scope of those two rows and simplify 
the reporting process, FRA proposes adding the following explanatory 
instructions as a footnote to the row entitled, ``Route Miles in 
Testing or Revenue Service Demonstration'':

    Enter the cumulative number of route miles where PTC technology 
is currently undergoing field testing or Revenue Service 
Demonstration. Railroads must only identify in the ``Route Miles in 
Testing or Revenue Service Demonstration'' field any route miles 
that are still currently undergoing PTC field testing or Revenue 
Service Demonstration (e.g., in a case where FRA granted a railroad 
provisional revenue service operations authorization for only a 
portion of its network but the railroad is still conducting field 
testing or Revenue Service Demonstration elsewhere in its network). 
Once a railroad has received written authorization from FRA to 
operate its PTC system in revenue service (through either 
provisional operations authorization under 49 U.S.C. 20157(h)(2) or 
PTC System Certification under 49 U.S.C. 20157(h)(1)), the railroad 
must identify any miles where a PTC system is being operated in 
revenue service in the ``Route Miles in PTC Operation'' field. If a 
railroad is operating the PTC system in revenue service and has 
completed all field testing and Revenue Service Demonstration, it 
may write ``Complete'' in the ``Route Miles in Testing or Revenue 
Service Demonstration'' fields.

    (ii) In September 2016, when reviewing data collected in the OMB-
approved Quarterly PTC Progress Report (Form FRA F 6180.165), staff 
from the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation requested that FRA also collect information to directly 
show each railroad's progress towards completing the RSD criteria under 
49 U.S.C. 20157(a)(3)(B)(vi)-(vii). Specifically, to receive an 
extension beyond December 31, 2018, but no later than December 31, 
2020, for certain non-hardware, operational aspects of PTC system 
implementation, a railroad must complete each of the statutory 
prerequisites under 49 U.S.C. 20157(a)(3)(B), including one 
prerequisite that differs depending on whether a railroad is or is not 
a Class I railroad or Amtrak. 49 U.S.C. 20157(a)(3)(B)(vi)-(vii). For 
Class I railroads and Amtrak, one of the statutory prerequisites is 
that the railroad must have ``implemented a [PTC] system or initiated 
[RSD] on the majority of territories, such as subdivisions or 
districts, or route miles'' the railroad owns or controls that are 
required to have operations governed by a PTC system. 49 U.S.C. 
20157(a)(3)(B)(vi). For other railroads (railroads that are not Class I 
railroads or Amtrak), one of the statutory prerequisites is that the 
entity must have initiated RSD on at least 1 territory required to have 
PTC-governed operations, or met any other criteria FRA established. 49 
U.S.C. 20157(a)(3)(B)(vii). To be clear, by law, Congress authorizes 
FRA to establish alternative RSD criteria only for entities that are 
not Class I railroads or Amtrak. Id. At this time, FRA has established 
alternative RSD criteria for only one commuter railroad.
    The Summary Section in the current Quarterly PTC Progress Report, 
approved through June 30, 2017, asks railroads to report route miles in 
``Testing or Revenue Service Demonstration.'' However, that does not 
directly indicate whether or not the railroad has satisfied the above 
criteria because, for example, those route miles might refer to a 
combination of route miles in field testing and route miles in RSD, and 
also it does not provide any information about the number of 
territories where the railroad has initiated RSD and how many 
territories are required to have operations governed by a PTC system. 
Similarly, the drop-down menu in Section 4 regarding the overall 
current status of track segments has a ``Testing'' option, which 
provides only an overview of whether that railroad is currently doing 
either field testing or RSD in the track segment, but does not 
differentiate between field testing and RSD, as there might be various 
stages of testing occurring in a particular track segment.
    Rather than substantially changing the existing Summary Section and 
Section 4 of the form, and thus requiring railroads to deviate from the 
procedures and formulas they already have in place for quarterly 
reporting, FRA proposes simply adding one new row to the Summary 
Section and leaving the rest of the form and fields unchanged.
    Specifically, to address the request from Congressional staff, FRA 
proposes adding a new row in the Summary Section entitled, 
``Territories Where Revenue Service Demonstration Has Been Initiated.'' 
The table headings, ``Cumulative Quantity Completed To Date'' and 
``Total Quantity Required for PTC Implementation'' would remain in 
place in the Summary Section. FRA proposes adding a footnote after the 
word ``Territories'' in the new row to define a territory as ``an 
entire installation/track segment as identified in the railroad's PTCIP 
(e.g., a track segment, territory, subdivision, district, etc.),'' 
consistent with 49 U.S.C. 20157(a)(3)(B)(vi), 49 CFR part 236, subpart 
I, and other footnotes in the quarterly form. FRA estimates the 
additional burden for this new row would be approximately thirty 
minutes on average for Class I, Class II, large

[[Page 24778]]

passenger, and medium passenger railroads and approximately fifteen 
minutes on average for Class III, terminal, and small passenger 
railroads. The burden is low because it is a high-level question that 
would require a railroad to state only the number of territories where 
it has initiated RSD and the number of territories required to have 
operations governed by a PTC system, both of which are readily known by 
and available to respondent railroads.
    Finally, FRA has made one additional formatting change, which 
reduces the length of the form. FRA removed the final page from the 10-
page Appendix B, entitled ``Additional Rows for Installation/Track 
Segment Progress--Current Status,'' as that page was not necessary for 
any of the 41 reporting railroads to complete based on the number of 
railroads' track segments.

III. Overview of Information Collection

    The associated collection of information is summarized below.
    Title: Quarterly Positive Train Control Progress Report Form.
    OMB Control Number: 2130-0553.
    Form Number(s): FRA F 6180.165.
    Affected Public: Businesses.
    Frequency of Submission: On occasion.
    Respondent Universe: 41 Railroad Carriers.
    Reporting Burden:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                   Average time
   Quarterly PTC progress report     Respondent  universe       Total annual       per response    Total annual
                                                                 responses          (in hours)     burden hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Form FRA F 6180.165...............  41 Railroads.........  164 Reports/Forms....           21.60           3,543
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    FRA notes that the 21.60-hour estimate is an average for all 
railroads. FRA estimated the quarterly reporting burden is 
approximately 40.5 hours for the 11 Class I and large passenger 
railroads per quarterly form, approximately 27.5 hours for the 11 Class 
II and medium passenger railroads per quarterly form, and approximately 
7.25 hours for the 19 Class III, terminal, and small passenger 
railroads per quarterly form.
    Total Estimated Annual Responses for Form FRA F 6180.165: 164.
    Total Estimated Annual Burden for Form FRA F 6180.165: 3,543 hours.
    Total Estimated Annual Responses for Entire Information Collection: 
147,776.
    Total Estimated Annual Burden for Entire Information Collection: 
3,126,102.
    Status: Regular Review.
    For the reasons outlined above, FRA requests regular processing and 
OMB authorization to collect the information on the revised Quarterly 
PTC Progress Report Form (Form FRA F 6180.165), 30 days after 
publication of this notice for a period of 3 years.
    Under 44 U.S.C. 3507(a) and 5 CFR 1320.5(b) and 1320.8(b)(3)(vi), 
FRA informs all interested parties that it may not conduct or sponsor, 
and a respondent is not required to respond to, a collection of 
information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

    Authority:  44 U.S.C. 3501-3520, 49 U.S.C. 20157(c)(2).

John Seguin,
Acting Chief Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2017-11090 Filed 5-26-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-06-P