[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 43 (Friday, March 4, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12527-12528]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-04530]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Docket No. FRA-2022-0004]


Equivalent Protective Arrangements for Railroad Employees

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

ACTION: Notice of proposed guidance.

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SUMMARY: FRA proposes guidance for its grantees on protective 
arrangements that are required to protect employees impacted by certain 
projects financed by the Federal Government. FRA intends its final 
guidance (FRA Guidance) on this topic to inform its grantees on how to 
comply with statutory requirements for these protections in the 
performance of their grants.

DATES: Written comments on this proposed guidance must be received on 
or before April 18, 2022. Comments received after that date will be 
considered to the extent possible without incurring additional expense 
or delay.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by the docket number 
FRA-2022-0004 by using the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and docket number for this guidance. All comments received will be 
posted

[[Page 12528]]

without change to https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal 
information provided. Please see the Privacy Act heading in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document for Privacy Act 
information related to any submitted comments or materials.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read the proposed FRA Guidance, 
background documents, or comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kevin MacWhorter, Attorney Advisor, 
Office of the Chief Counsel, telephone: (202) 641-8727, email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 1976, pursuant to the Railroad 
Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (4R Act), 
representatives of the railroads and their employees agreed on ``[f]air 
and equitable arrangements'' to protect employees impacted by certain 
projects financed by the Federal Government. The Secretary of Labor 
adopted these protections in a letter to the Secretary of 
Transportation dated July 6, 1976. FRA has placed a copy of this letter 
and the accompanying protections in the docket for this guidance. In 
general, these protections provided that a railroad employee who is 
adversely affected by a project receiving certain financing from the 
Federal Government was entitled to receive a displacement allowance, 
and/or a dismissal allowance, among other benefits.
    Many of FRA's current discretionary grant programs, including the 
Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements Program and 
the Federal-State Partnership for State of Good Repair Program, are 
subject to the grant conditions described in section 22905(c) of title 
49, U.S.C. As relevant here, section 22905(c)(2)(B), requires grant 
applicants, for any grant for a project that uses rights-of-way owned 
by a railroad, to agree to comply with ``the protective arrangements 
that are equivalent to the protective arrangements established under'' 
the 4R Act. While this requirement is a condition of many FRA grants, 
it is not often applicable (as FRA's grants do not typically cause an 
adverse impact to railroad employees). With that said, FRA developed 
the FRA Guidance to assist grantees and to facilitate compliance with 
these important protections. Once final, FRA intends to include the FRA 
Guidance as an appendix to all new grant and cooperative agreements 
subject to section 22905(c)(2)(B), and grantees will be required to 
ensure the inclusion of the FRA Guidance, as applicable, in all 
contracts for the FRA-funded project. Costs incurred to comply with the 
FRA Guidance and in a manner consistent with 2 CFR part 200 are 
eligible for reimbursement under the applicable grant.
    Section 22905(c)(2)(B) specifically requires protective 
arrangements ``equivalent'' to those established under the 4R Act. As 
such, in the FRA Guidance, FRA did not deviate from the protections 
adopted by the Secretary of Labor in 1976. The FRA Guidance only seeks 
to clarify the protections and to ensure grant applicants understand 
them. FRA did not create new, or remove existing, protections. As 
noted, FRA has included a copy of the Secretary of Labor's letter and 
the accompanying protections in the docket to facilitate review of the 
FRA Guidance.
    The FRA Guidance describes both procedural and substantive 
protections. The substantive protections include dismissal and 
displacement allowances and moving assistance, among other items 
included in the original 4R Act protections. The procedural protections 
include opportunities for employees (or their representatives) to 
engage in negotiations with respect to application of the protections.

Privacy Act

    FRA may solicit comments from the public to better inform its 
guidance process. FRA posts these comments, without edit, including any 
personal information the commenter provides, to www.regulations.gov, as 
described in the system of records notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can 
be reviewed at www.dot.gov/privacy. In order to facilitate comment 
tracking and response, we encourage commenters to provide their name, 
or the name of their organization; however, submission of names is 
completely optional. Whether or not commenters identify themselves, all 
timely comments will be fully considered. If you wish to provide 
comments containing proprietary or confidential information, please 
contact the agency for alternate submission instructions.

Allison Ishihara Fultz,
Chief Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2022-04530 Filed 3-3-22; 8:45 am]
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