Rule/Notice/NOFO: Administrative Updates to the United States Locational Requirement for Dispatching of United States Rail Operations Regulations
Federal Register/Notice: federalregister.gov
Description: This
rule makes administrative updates to FRA’s U.S. locational requirement for dispatching of U.S. rail operations regulations, including updating addresses that are no longer valid.
Part 241
241.9 Prohibition Against Extraterritorial Dispatching; Exceptions
Section 241.9(a) contains an erroneous reference to § 241.7(d) as § 241.7 does not have a paragraph (d). FRA is revising § 241.9(a) to refer to § 241.7, Waivers, generally. FRA is revising § 241.9(c)(1) to refer to the “Safety Management Team Railroad Administrator” instead of the “FRA Regional Administrator.” FRA is also revising § 241.9(c)(3) to remove the reference to appendix C and instead refer to FRA’s website ( https://railroads.dot.gov/ divisions/ regional-offices/ safety-management-teams) for the contact information for FRA safety management teams. These amendments are being made to ensure information gets to the relevant Safety Management Team.
241.11 Prohibition Against Conducting a Railroad Operation Dispatched by an Extraterritorial Dispatcher; Exceptions
Section 241.11(a) contains an erroneous reference to § 241.5(d) as § 241.5(d) does not exist. FRA is revising § 241.11(a) to refer to § 241.7, Waivers, generally. FRA is revising § 241.11(c)(1) to refer to the “Safety Management Team Railroad Administrator” instead of the “FRA Regional Administrator.” FRA is also revising § 241.11(c)(3) to remove the reference to appendix C and instead refer to FRA’s website ( https://railroads.dot.gov/ divisions/ regional-offices/ safety-management-teams) for the list of FRA safety management teams.
241.13 Prohibition Against Track Owner’s Requiring or Permitting Use of its Line for a Railroad Operation Dispatched by an Extraterritorial Dispatcher; Exceptions
FRA is revising § 241.13(a) to refer to § 241.7, Waivers, to be consistent with the revised language in § 241.9(a) and § 241.11(a). FRA is revising § 241.13(c)(1) to refer to the “Safety Management Team Railroad Administrator” instead of the “FRA Regional Administrator.”
241.15 Penalties and Other Consequences for Noncompliance
FRA is amending § 241.15(a) by replacing references to specific penalty amounts with general references to the minimum civil monetary penalty, ordinary maximum civil monetary penalty, and aggravated maximum civil monetary penalty. FRA is adding language to this section referring readers to 49 CFR part 209, appendix A, where FRA will continue to specify statutorily provided civil penalty amounts updated for inflation. FRA also incorporated a reference to https://railroads.dot.gov/ for a statement of agency civil penalty policy.
Appendix C Geographical Boundaries of FRA’s Districts and Addresses of FRA’s District Headquarters
FRA is removing 49 CFR part 241, appendix C, entirely. The contact information therein is outdated, and relevant information can instead be obtained on FRA’s public website ( https://railroads.dot.gov/ divisions/ regional-offices/ safety-management-teams).
APTA Staff Advisor: Taria Barron, tbarron@apta.com
