
[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 232 (Friday, December 3, 2010)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 75448-75449]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-30366]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

49 CFR Parts 209, 213, 214, 215, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 
224, 225, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 238, 
239, 240, and 241

[Docket No. FRA-2006-25274, Notice No. 3]
RIN 2130-ZA00


Revised Proposal for Revisions to the Schedules of Civil 
Penalties for a Violation of a Federal Railroad Safety Law or Federal 
Railroad Administration Safety Regulation or Order; Reopening and 
Extending the Comment Period

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

[[Page 75449]]


ACTION: Reopening and extending the comment period.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Due to comments received from the Association of American 
Railroads (AAR) during the initial comment period, FRA is reopening the 
comment period for its proposal published on September 21, 2010. The 
proposal, if adopted, would amend, line by line, FRA's schedules of 
civil penalties issued as appendices to FRA's rail safety regulations, 
as well as other guidance. AAR stated in its comments on the proposal 
that FRA did not give the railroad industry adequate time to review all 
the penalties listed in the proposal to determine if they match the 
severity-scale criteria, which are also listed in the proposal. 
Therefore, FRA is reopening and extending the comment period in order 
to allow AAR more time to review the penalties in the severity scale 
and to identify and comment more fully on which individual penalties do 
not in its opinion satisfy the severity-scale criteria. FRA also seeks 
further comments from other interested parties that were unable to 
comment during the initial comment period. The comment period is 
reopened until February 1, 2011.

DATES: Written comments must be received by February 1, 2011. Comments 
received after that date will be considered to the extent possible 
without incurring additional delay or expense.

ADDRESSES: Comments: Comments related to this Docket No. FRA 2006-
25274, Notice No. 3, may be submitted by any of the following methods:
     Fax: 202-493-2251.
     Mail: U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket 
Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590.
     Hand Delivery: U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket 
Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and 
docket number or Regulatory Identification Number (RIN) for this 
rulemaking. Note that all comments received will be posted without 
change to http://www.regulations.gov including any personal information 
provided.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received go to http://www.regulations.gov at any time or to 
U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket Operations, M-30, West 
Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., 
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ron Hynes, Director, Office of Safety 
Compliance and Assurance, Office of Railroad Safety, FRA, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590 (telephone 202-493-6404), 
ronald.hynes@dot.gov; or Brian Roberts, Trial Attorney, Office of Chief 
Counsel, FRA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Mail Stop 10, Washington, DC 
20590 (telephone 202-493-6052), brian.roberts@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FRA's proposal to amend, line by line, FRA's 
schedules of civil penalties as well as other guidance was published on 
September 21, 2010 (75 FR 57598). The initial comment period closed on 
October 21, 2010. During this 30-day comment period, FRA received 
comments from both AAR and The American Short Line and Regional 
Railroad Association. In its comments, AAR provided examples of 
penalties in the proposal that it believed did not match the severity-
scale criteria. However, AAR also stated that FRA did not give it 
adequate time to review all the penalties in the proposal and determine 
whether they matched the severity-scale criteria. Therefore, FRA is 
reopening the comment period to allow AAR an opportunity to comment on 
these perceived inconsistencies more fully. FRA will address all other 
comments made during the initial and additional comment period in the 
final statement of agency policy.
    Privacy Act: FRA wishes to inform all potential commenters that 
anyone is able to search the electronic form of all comments received 
into any agency docket by the name of the individual submitting the 
comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf of an 
association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's 
complete Privacy Act Statement in the edition of the Federal Register 
published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477-78), or you may visit http://regulations.gov/search/footer/privacyanduse.jsp.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on November 29, 2010.
Karen J. Rae,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2010-30366 Filed 12-2-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P


