[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 207 (Thursday, October 27, 2022)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 65021-65022]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-23418]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

49 CFR Part 218

[Docket No. FRA-2021-0032, Notice No. 3]
RIN 2130-AC88


Train Crew Size Safety Requirements

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

ACTION: Proposed rulemaking; announcement of public hearing and 
extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: On July 28, 2022, FRA published a notice of proposed 
rulemaking (NPRM) that would establish minimum safety requirements for 
the size of train crews, depending on the type of operation. FRA is 
announcing a public hearing to allow interested persons the opportunity 
to provide comments on the proposal. FRA is also announcing a second 
extension of the comment period, providing an 86-day extension to the 
original comment period, to allow time for interested parties to submit 
comments on the proposal or in response to views or information 
provided at the public hearing.

DATES: 
    (1) A public hearing will be held on December 14, 2022, from 9:30 
a.m. (ET) to 4 p.m. (ET) in Washington, DC and through one or more 
internet links.
    (2) Comments: The comment period for the proposed rule published 
Jul. 28, 2022, at 87 FR 45564, is extended. Comments on the proposed 
rule or in response to views or information provided at the public 
hearing should be received on or before December 21, 2022. FRA will 
consider comments received after that date to the extent practicable.

ADDRESSES: 
    Public Hearing: The public hearing will allow for participation in-
person or virtually. For those participants that prefer to appear in 
person, the public hearing will be held at the National Association of 
Home Builders, located at 1201 15th Street NW, Washington, DC 20005. 
For those participants wishing to make a statement at the public 
hearing, either in-person or virtually, please contact FRA as described 
under the Public Participation Procedures heading in the SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION section of this document. Any person who wants to 
participate or observe the public hearing virtually can visit 
www.railroads.dot.gov/train-crew-staffing-nprm for the web address and 
hyperlink.
    Comments: Comments related to Docket No. FRA-2021-0032 may be 
submitted by going to https://www.regulations.gov and following the 
online instructions for submitting comments.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name, docket 
number (FRA-2021-0032), and Regulatory Identification Number (RIN) for 
this rulemaking (2130-AC88). All comments received will be posted 
without change to https://www.regulations.gov; this includes any 
personal information. 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 background documents or 
comments received, go to https://www.regulations.gov and follow the 
online instructions for accessing the docket.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kevin Lewis, Operating Crew 
Certification Specialist, Federal Railroad Administration, telephone: 
918-557-0651, email: [email protected]; or Alan Nagler, Senior 
Attorney, Federal Railroad Administration, telephone: 202-493-6038, 
email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Interested parties are invited to present 
statements and to offer information and views at the hearing. The 
hearing will be informal and will be conducted by a representative FRA 
designates under FRA's Rules of Practice (49 CFR 211.25). The hearing 
will be a non-adversarial proceeding. Therefore, there will be no 
cross-examination of persons presenting statements or offering 
information. An FRA representative will make an opening statement 
outlining the scope of the hearing. After all initial statements are 
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. FRA will announce any additional procedures 
necessary at the hearing. The purpose of this hearing is to receive 
comments in response to an NPRM that requested public comment on a 
potential train crew size safety requirements rulemaking. 87 FR 45564 
(Jul. 28, 2022). There will be a court reporter to record and 
transcribe comments presented verbatim at the hearing. FRA will add the 
verbatim transcript of the discussions to the public docket in this 
proceeding.

Public Participation Procedures

    Any person: (1) wishing to attend the hearing in person, (2) make a 
statement at the hearing either in-person or virtually, or (3) both, 
should notify FRA by contacting Mr. Patrick Hogan, Transportation 
Analyst, by email at [email protected], no later than December 9, 
2022, providing the following information, as applicable:
    (a) The name, affiliation or party represented, email address, and 
phone number of the participant.
    (b) Whether the participant is attending in person or virtually.
    (c) The subject(s) of the statement and/or presentation wishes to 
make, and the amount of time requested.
    (d) A copy of the oral statement and/or presentation.
    FRA reserves the right to limit participation in the hearing of 
persons who fail to follow the public participation procedures as 
outlined above. FRA also reserves the right to limit the duration of 
presentations, as necessary, to afford all persons the opportunity to 
speak or to limit participation in the hearing of persons who exceed 
their allotted time or who discuss topics or issues outside the scope 
of the proposed rulemaking. Further, FRA reserves the right to limit 
in-person attendance at the hearing, as space is limited; preference in 
attendance will be provided to persons requesting to present statements 
in person.
    FRA is committed to providing equal access to this meeting for all 
participants. If you need alternative formats or other reasonable 
accommodations to participate in this meeting, either in-person or 
virtually, please contact FRA Program Analyst Mr. Kenton Kilgore via 
email at [email protected] no later than December 5, 2022.

[[Page 65022]]

Extension of Comment Period

    FRA previously extended the original comment period for the 
proposed rule by 67 days to December 2, 2022. 87 FR 57863 (Sep. 22, 
2022). FRA is further extending the comment period an additional 19 
days to December 21, 2022, to allow time for interested parties to 
submit written comments on the proposal or in response to views or 
information provided at the public hearing.

Privacy Act

    In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits comments from the 
public to better inform its rulemaking process. DOT posts these 
comments, without edit, to www.regulations.gov, under docket number 
FRA-2021-0032, as described in the system of records notice, DOT/ALL-14 
FDMS, accessible through https://www.transportation.gov/privacy. 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.

    Issued in Washington, DC.
Amitabha Bose,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2022-23418 Filed 10-26-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P