Action
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM).
Summary
FRA is proposing to update its requirements issued in 1978 (``1978 standards'') for steam locomotive inspections and maintenance with new standards that represent the consensus recommendations of the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee's Tourist and Historic Working Group. The proposed standards would relax certain inspection requirements, while tightening others, to recognize and reflect the less frequent use of steam locomotives in today's national system of transportation. Significant changes would include: The creation of a ``service-day'' inspection system that directly relates inspection time periods to the actual use of the steam locomotive; the elimination of waivers for steam boilers, steam locomotives and their appurtenances, with certain exceptions; the inclusion of allowances which encourage the use of new technologies, such as non-destructive testing, for boiler testing and inspections; and the imposition of qualification requirements for individuals making certain repairs to steam locomotive boilers, steam locomotives and their appurtenances. Certain of the inspection standards would be left substantively intact but would be relocated to new sections and given new section numbers. Due to the magnitude of the changes proposed, the proposed standards would replace the 1978 standards in their entirety.