[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 139 (Friday, July 21, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47233-47234]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-15437]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Docket No. FRA-2023-0002-N-17]


Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment 
Request

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

ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) and its 
implementing regulations, FRA seeks approval of the Information 
Collection Request (ICR) abstracted below. Before submitting this ICR 
to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval, FRA is 
soliciting public comment on specific aspects of the activities 
identified in the ICR.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
September 19, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed ICR 
should be submitted on regulations.gov to the docket, Docket No. FRA-
2023-0002. All comments received will be posted without change to the 
docket, including any personal information provided. Please refer to 
the assigned OMB control number (2130-NEW) in any correspondence 
submitted. FRA will summarize comments received in response to this 
notice in a subsequent notice and include them in its information 
collection submission to OMB for approval.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Arlette Mussington, Information 
Collection Clearance Officer, at email: [email protected] or 
telephone: (571) 609-1285 or Ms. Joanne Swafford, Information 
Collection Clearance Officer, at email: [email protected] or 
telephone: (757) 897-9908.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520, and its 
implementing regulations, 5 CFR part 1320, require Federal agencies to 
provide 60-days' notice to the public to allow comment on information 
collection activities before seeking OMB approval of the activities. 
See 44 U.S.C. 3506, 3507; 5 CFR 1320.8 through 1320.12. Specifically, 
FRA invites interested parties to comment on the following ICR 
regarding: (1) whether the information collection activities are 
necessary for FRA to properly execute its functions, including whether 
the activities will have practical utility; (2) the accuracy of FRA's 
estimates of the burden of the information collection activities, 
including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used to 
determine the estimates; (3) ways for FRA to enhance the quality, 
utility, and clarity of the information being collected; and (4) ways 
for FRA to minimize the burden of information collection activities on 
the public, including the use of automated collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology. See 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A); 5 
CFR 1320.8(d)(1).
    FRA believes that soliciting public comment may reduce the 
administrative and paperwork burdens associated with the collection of 
information that Federal statutes and regulations mandate. In summary, 
FRA reasons that comments received will advance three objectives: (1) 
reduce reporting burdens; (2) organize information collection 
requirements in a ``user-friendly'' format to improve the use of such 
information; and (3) accurately assess the resources expended to 
retrieve and produce the information requested. See 44 U.S.C. 3501.
    The summary below describes the ICR that FRA will submit for OMB 
clearance as the PRA requires:
    Title: Class I Freight-Train Length Reporting.
    OMB Control Number: 2130-NEW.
    Abstract: On May 2, 2023, FRA issued Safety Advisory 2023-03, 
``Accident Mitigation and Train Length,'' (Safety Advisory) to ensure 
railroads and railroad employees are aware of the potential 
complexities associated with operating longer trains and to recommend 
that they take appropriate measures to address those complexities to 
ensure the safe operation of such trains.\1\ The Safety Advisory cited 
three significant incidents that occurred since 2022 involving trains 
with more than 200 cars, each approximately more than 10,000 feet in 
length and weighing more than 17,000 trailing tons, where train 
handling and train makeup is believed to have caused, or contributed 
to, the incidents. In the Safety Advisory, FRA explained that the 
operation of these longer trains presents different, more complex, 
operational challenges, which can be exacerbated by the weight and 
makeup of trains. Consequently, FRA recommended that railroads review 
their operating rules and existing locomotive engineer certification 
programs to address operational complexities of train length, take 
appropriate action to prevent the loss of communications between end-
of-train devices, and mitigate the impacts of long trains on blocked 
crossings.\2\
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    \1\ 88 FR 27570.
    \2\ Id.
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    In the Safety Advisory, FRA also explained that in 2019, the U.S. 
Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report finding that 
freight-train length, particularly for Class I railroads, increased in 
recent years.\3\ GAO was only able to procure

[[Page 47234]]

limited data from some of the Class I railroads but, one Class I 
railroad provided data indicating an average train length of 6,100 feet 
and a second Class I railroad provided data indicating an average train 
length of 7,500 feet.\4\ These data represent an increase in the 
average length of a train of about 25 percent for both railroads over a 
10-year period.\5\ Each Class I railroad reportedly told GAO that they 
operate some longer trains, with one railroad operating a train on a 
regular basis that was over 12,000 feet long and another railroad 
operating a train on a regular basis that was over 16,000 feet long.\6\ 
These same railroads responded that trains over 10,000 feet long were 
only 1 to 2 percent of their total train-miles.\7\
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    \3\ Id. (citing GAO's May 2019 report titled RAIL SAFETY: 
Freight Trains Are Getting Longer, and Additional Information is 
Needed to Assess Their Impact, GAO-19-443 (available at https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-19-443.pdf).
    \4\ Id. at 11.
    \5\ Id.
    \6\ Id. at 12.
    \7\ Id.
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    In the Safety Advisory, FRA also acknowledged that it was in the 
process of conducting research on the operational complexities of 
longer trains, including air brake system performance and resulting 
train dynamics.\8\ The Safety Advisory also noted that in response to a 
statutory requirement, FRA entered into an agreement with the National 
Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NAS) to examine 
factors associated with the operation of freight trains longer than 
7,500 feet. FRA notes, however, that any data collected from the 
industry in the course of these studies is likely to be limited in the 
same way that the GAO was only able to procure limited data for its 
report.\9\
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    \8\ https://railroads.dot.gov/sites/fra.dot.gov/files/2022-2/2023_RDT_CurrentProjects_complete_FINAL.pdf.
    \9\ Information about NAS's study and its meeting agendas are 
available at https://www.nationalacadameies.org/our-work/impacts-of-trains-longer-than-7500-feet. The study was required by the 
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Public Law 117-58, 22422, 35 
Stat. 751 (2021).
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    As a next step, FRA is initiating a new ICR to gather train length 
data from Class I freight railroads as the safety concerns of long 
trains is largely an issue particular to these railroads.\10\ 
Specifically, the proposed information collection would require Class I 
freight railroads to provide FRA, on a monthly basis, with data 
regarding the total number of trains operated, the total number of cars 
in those trains, as well as the total trailing tonnage in specified 
train length categories (e.g., less than or equal to 7,500 feet, 
greater than 7,500 feet). In addition, FRA proposes to collect data 
from the Class I freight railroads that may inform potential 
complexities and safety concerns associated with operating longer 
trains, such as the number of emergency events, the number of 
communication event losses, the number of broken knuckles, the number 
of air hose separations, the number of PTC enforcements, and the number 
of locomotive engineer revocations under 49 CFR part 240. The requested 
data will be collected monthly using an Excel-based form (Form FRA F 
6180.277).
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    \10\ This ICR is limited to Class I railroads.
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    This data collection is necessary to allow objective findings to be 
made that can be used to either justify the status quo or to provide 
justification for further recommendations or agency action. Of note, 
FRA is seeking to collect data on train length on an ongoing basis, as 
opposed to this being a one-time study. FRA will use the collected data 
to establish an initial baseline for the length of trains operating 
within the U.S. rail system as well as to determine if train lengths 
are changing over time. FRA may also use the collected data in future 
analyses to better understand the impact of train length on safety 
(e.g., to determine whether trains of certain lengths are 
disproportionately involved in certain type of accidents/incidents or 
other undesired events such as loss of communications or train 
stalling).
    FRA has incorporated several measures to minimize the respondents' 
paperwork burden in this proposed collection. For example, to avoid 
duplicating efforts, FRA is not asking railroads to provide train 
length information for any FRA-reportable accident or incident for 
which a form F6180.54 is filed. Instead, for any train involved in an 
accident for which a form F6180.54 is filed, FRA will review train 
length data collected on that form and will not seek to collect the 
same data proposed in this collection.
    As delegated by Congress to the Secretary of the Department of 
Transportation, FRA has broad statutory authority to oversee matters 
related to rail safety.\11\ As noted in the Safety Advisory, the 
greater operational complexities associated with longer trains 
necessitate that railroads take appropriate safety measures to manage 
their potentially more complex in-train forces. This proposed 
collection is another component of FRA's ongoing research to closely 
monitor and analyze the impact of train length on rail safety.
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    \11\ 49 U.S.C. 20103(a).
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    Type of Request: Approval of a new collection of information.
    Affected Public: Businesses.
    Form(s): FRA F Form 6180.277.
    Respondent Universe: Class I freight railroads.
    Frequency of Submission: Monthly/recurring.
    Reporting Burden:
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    \12\ The average burden also includes time for reviewing the 
provided instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering, 
and maintaining necessary data, and completing and reviewing the 
information collection.
    \13\ The dollar equivalent cost is derived from the Surface 
Transportation Board's 2022 Full Year Wage A&B data series for 
railroad workers. The wage rate of $85.93 per hour includes a 75-
percent overhead charge.

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                                                                               Total annual     Average time
                                                   Respondent universe          responses       per response     Total annual     Total cost equivalent
                                                                                (reports)      \12\  (hours)     burden hours
                                                                                        (A)              (B)                (C) = A * B          (D) = C * wage rate \13\
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Form FRA F 6180.277........................  Class I railroads.............              72                8              576                   $49,496
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    Total Estimated Annual Responses: 72 reports.
    Total Estimated Annual Burden: 576 hours.
    Total Estimated Annual Burden Hour Dollar Cost Equivalent: $49,496.
    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 that does not display a currently valid OMB control 
number.
    Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520.

Allison Ishihara Fultz,
Chief Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2023-15437 Filed 7-20-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P