Action
Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.
Summary
FRA announces the initiation of rulemaking on rail passenger equipment safety standards. FRA requests comment on the need for particular safety requirements and the costs, benefits, and practicability of such requirements. FRA anticipates this rulemaking will address the inspection, testing, and maintenance of passenger equipment; equipment design and performance criteria related to passenger and crew survivability in the event of a train accident; and the safe operation of passenger train service, supplementing existing railroad safety standards. FRA also announces the formation of a working group to assist FRA in developing this rule. FRA makes available preliminary safety concepts that have been placed before the working group. This notice is issued in order to comply with the Federal Railroad Safety Authorization Act of 1994, to respond to concerns raised by the General Accounting Office and the National Transportation Safety Board, to respond to public concerns, to respond to petitions for rulemaking, and to consider possible regulations derived from experience in application of existing standards.