80 FR 23069 - Notification of Modification of Information Collection Requirements; Comment Request

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 79 (April 24, 2015)

Consistent with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and its implementing regulations, this document provides notice of FRA's intent to modify the existing instructions applicable to one currently approved information collection reporting form (Form FRA F 6180.54, Rail Equipment Accident/Incident Report). For a projected five-year period, FRA seeks to gather additional data on Form FRA F 6180.54 concerning rail cars carrying petroleum crude oil (crude oil) in any train involved in an FRA reportable accident. At present, railroads do not report this specific information to FRA on Form FRA F 6180.54, but rather aggregate crude oil information with information about all other hazardous materials being transported. This new reporting requirement will help FRA capture more specific information on accidents that involve trains transporting crude oil and provide FRA an opportunity to better address risks to railroad safety and the general public.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 79 (Friday, April 24, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23069-23071]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-09486]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Docket No. FRA-2015-0007-N-2]


Notification of Modification of Information Collection 
Requirements; Comment Request

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

ACTION: Notice and comment request.

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SUMMARY: Consistent with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and its 
implementing regulations, this document provides notice of FRA's intent 
to modify the existing instructions applicable to one currently 
approved information collection reporting form (Form FRA F 6180.54, 
Rail Equipment Accident/Incident Report). For a projected five-year 
period, FRA seeks to gather additional data on Form FRA F 6180.54 
concerning rail cars carrying petroleum crude oil (crude oil) in any 
train involved in an FRA reportable accident. At present, railroads do 
not report this specific information to FRA on Form FRA F 6180.54, but 
rather aggregate crude oil information with information about all other 
hazardous materials being transported. This new reporting requirement 
will help FRA capture more specific information on accidents that 
involve trains transporting crude oil and provide FRA an opportunity to 
better address risks to railroad safety and the general public.

DATES: Comments are requested no later than June 23, 2015. Comments 
received after that date will be considered to the extent possible 
without incurring additional expense or delay.

ADDRESSES: Comments: Comments related to Docket No. FRA-2015-0007-N-2, 
Notice No. 2, may be submitted by any of the following methods:
     Web site: The Federal eRulemaking Portal, 
www.regulations.gov. Follow the Web site's online instructions for 
submitting comments.
     Fax: 202-493-2251.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Room W12-140, Washington, 
DC 20590.
     Hand Delivery: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department 
of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Room W12-140 on the 
Ground level of the West Building, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name, docket 
name, and docket number. Note that all comments received will be posted 
without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal 
information provided. Please see the Privacy Act heading in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document for Privacy Act 
information related to any submitted comments or materials.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov at any time or 
visit the Docket Management Facility at the address noted in the 
ADDRESSES section of this notice, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kebo Chen, Staff Director, Railroad 
Safety Information Management Division, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Railroad 
Safety, Mail Stop 25, West Building 3rd Floor, 1200 New Jersey Avenue 
SE., Washington, DC 20590 (telephone: 202-493-6079); or Sara Mahmoud-
Davis, Trial Attorney, U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal 
Railroad Administration, Office of Chief Counsel, Mail Stop 10, West 
Building 3rd Floor, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 
(telephone: 202-366-1118).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In light of recent rail accidents involving 
trains transporting crude oil, FRA intends to modify the existing 
instructions on Form FRA F 6180.54 titled Rail Equipment Accident/
Incident Report (the Form) to gather data concerning rail cars carrying 
crude oil in trains involved in reportable accidents. Specifically, for 
a projected five-year period, FRA intends to utilize the Form's Special 
Study Block 49b to collect the following information regarding trains 
involved in FRA reportable accidents: (1) The number of rail cars 
carrying crude oil; (2) the number of cars damaged or derailed carrying 
crude oil; and (3) the number of cars releasing crude oil.
    The rail transportation of crude oil, a Class 3 flammable liquid 
hazardous material, is subject to the Federal hazardous material 
transportation regulations (49 CFR parts 171-180) the Pipeline and 
Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) promulgated and FRA's 
rail safety regulations. Although railroads are currently required to 
report to both PHMSA and FRA certain information on any release of a 
regulated hazardous material that occurs during the rail transportation 
of the commodity, they are not required to report certain commodity 
specific information. Information railroads are not currently required 
to report includes the number of rail cars carrying crude oil, the 
number of those cars that are damaged and/or derailed in an accident, 
and the number of those cars that release crude oil as a result of a 
reportable accident.
    FRA has solicited input from members of the railroad industry to 
explain the type of data needed and obtain their views. To the extent 
possible, FRA's proposal takes into consideration the industry's 
feedback.
    The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13, sec. 2, 109 
Stat. 163 (1995) (codified as revised at 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), and its 
implementing regulations, 5 CFR part

[[Page 23070]]

1320, require Federal agencies to provide 60-days' notice to the public 
for comment on information collection activities before seeking 
approval for reinstatement or renewal by OMB. 44 U.S.C. 35069(c)(2)(A); 
5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1), 1320.10(e)(1), 1320.12(a). Here, FRA is seeking 
public comment on its proposal to modify the instructions of the Form 
to utilize Special Study Block 49b to gather the specified data. A copy 
of FRA's proposed modified instructions is published as an attachment 
to this notice.
    FRA seeks to modify these instructions as it explained in the 
preamble to FRA's 1996 final rule on Railroad Accident Reporting. See 
61 FR 30947, Jun. 18, 1996. Specifically, the preamble to that final 
rule provides that:

    The Rail Equipment Accident/Incident Report (Form FRA F 6180.54) 
contains two SSBs in block ``49.'' As the need arises, FRA will 
notify the railroads in writing, or if appropriate, through 
publication in the Federal Register, of the purpose and the type of 
information that is to be collected. FRA will be as specific as 
possible in order to minimize both costs and the amount of time 
associated with the collection of this new information. Each SSB has 
20 characters in order to standardize the data structure for 
computer files. FRA believes the SSBs will prove extremely valuable 
in collecting information to help FRA identify and evaluate issues 
of safety concern as well as other non-safety issues as the need 
arises.

    FRA invites interested parties to comment on the following: (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 FRA can enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information being collected; and (4) ways FRA can minimize the burden 
of information collection activities on the public by automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology (e.g., permitting electronic 
submission of responses). See 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)(i) through (iv); 
5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1)(i) through (iv). FRA believes that soliciting public 
comment will promote its efforts to reduce the administrative and 
paperwork burdens associated with the collection of information Federal 
regulations mandate. In summary, FRA reasons that comments received 
will advance three objectives: (1) Reduce reporting burdens; (2) ensure 
that it organizes 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 
information requested. See 44 U.S.C. 3501.
    Below is a brief summary of the currently approved information 
collection activities and burdens associated with that information 
collection that FRA seeks to slightly modify with the instructions 
attached. FRA intends to revise the Form's instructions only. FRA is 
not changing the data elements of the Form and believes there will be 
no change in the number of responses. FRA estimates there will be a 
minor change in: (1) The burden time per response for the Form where 
respondents utilize the Special Study Blocks; (2) the total burden 
hours for the Form; and (3) the total burden hours for the entire 
currently approved information collection. FRA requests a revision to 
the current approval for the reasons listed in the summary above.
    Title: Accident/Incident Reporting and Recordkeeping.
    OMB Control Number: 2130-0500.
    Abstract: The collection of information is due to FRA's accident 
reporting regulations set forth in 49 CFR part 225 which require 
railroads to submit monthly reports summarizing collisions, 
derailments, and certain other accident/incidents involving damages 
above a certain dollar threshold, as well as certain injuries to 
passengers, employees, and other persons on railroad property 
(including those which are railroad work-related). Because the 
reporting requirements and information needed regarding each category 
are unique, a different form is used for each category. FRA is 
modifying the instructions for one of the three referenced agency forms 
to request that the ``Special Study Block'' (SSB) of Form FRA F 6180.54 
to be used to capture (with coded letters) information pertaining to 
accidents that involve crude oil.
    Form Number(s): FRA F 6180.54.
    Affected Public: Businesses.
    Frequency of Submission: On occasion.
    Estimated Total Responses: 2,500 (Form FRA F 6180.54: 1,400 forms 
will take approximately 2 hours to complete; 600 forms utilizing the 
three Special Study Blocks will require an additional 1 minute each or 
a total of 3 extra minutes to complete for a total average burden time 
of approximately 2 hours and 3 minutes per form; 500 forms will take 
approximately 1 hour to complete. This total estimate of 2,500 
responses is unchanged from the previous total number of responses for 
this form approved by OMB on July 2, 2014.).
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 4,530 hours (for Form FRA F 6180.54; 
a total increase of 30 hours from the previous OMB-approved burden 
estimate of 4,500 hours).
    Total Estimated Burden: 39,058 hours (for entire information 
collection, includes previous OMB-approved burden of 39,028 hours and 
30 additional hours for Form FRA F 6180.54 utilizing Special Study 
Blocks).
    Status: Revision of the Current Approval.
    Pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 3507(a) and 5 CFR 1320.5(b), 
1320.8(b)(3)(vi), 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 unless it displays a currently valid OMB 
control number.
    Privacy Act: In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits 
comments from the public to better inform its rulemaking process. DOT 
posts these comments, without edit, including any personal information 
the commenter provides, to www.regulations.gov, as described in the 
system of records notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at 
www.dot.gov/privacy.

    Authority:  44 U.S.C. 3501-3520.

Attachment to Federal Register Notice

    Listed below are proposed changes to the instructions for Form FRA 
F 6180.54 (Rail Equipment Accident/Incident Report). FRA is not 
proposing changes to any other Accident/Incident Report Form. The 
proposed changes specify the type of information FRA desires to capture 
in the Special Study Block (SSB) Block ``B'' (Block 49b) about train 
accidents involving trains transporting petroleum crude oil (crude 
oil). FRA proposes to revise the instructions for completing Block 49b 
on Form FRA F 6180.54 (the Form) to include the following:

General Definition

    Crude Oil--Petroleum crude oil, a regulated hazardous material 
(HAZMAT), classified as a Class 3 flammable liquid under the applicable 
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) 
regulations. See 49 CFR 172.101.
Specific Codes and Definitions
    The Number of Cars Carrying Crude Oil--When the train for which 
this report is being prepared contained cars carrying crude oil, 
including cars carrying any residue amounts of crude oil, the number of 
those cars. (Code = AAA)

[[Page 23071]]

    The Number of Crude Oil Cars Damaged/Derailed--When the train for 
which this report is being prepared contained cars carrying crude oil, 
including cars carrying any residue amounts of crude oil, the number of 
those cars that were damaged or derailed, including a derailment of 
only one wheel. (Code = BBB)
    The Number of Cars Releasing Crude Oil--When the train for which 
this report is being prepared contained cars carrying crude oil, 
including cars carrying any residue amounts of crude oil, the number of 
those cars that released any portion of their contents (i.e., leaks of 
any type and amount), including vapor. (Code = CCC)

Selected Instructions for Completing the Form

    The current instructions in the FRA Guide for Preparing Accident/
Incident Reports (Published May 23, 2011) (Reporting Guide) for 
completing Blocks 8 (Cars Carrying HAZMAT [Hazardous Material]), 9 
(HAZMAT Cars Damaged/Derailed), 10 (Cars Releasing HAZMAT), 11 (People 
Evacuated), and 52 (Narrative Description) remain unchanged. Crude oil 
is a regulated HAZMAT. Accordingly, shipments of crude oil will be 
aggregated with other HAZMAT in the train in blocks 8, 9, and 10. Block 
11, People Evacuated, remains unchanged. Detailed instructions for 
completing these blocks are provided in the Reporting Guide.
    The format for Block 49b is--AAA-BBB-CCC--a total of eleven 
characters including the dashes to indicate the number of crude oil 
cars in the train as specified below:
     AAA is the count of the Number of Cars Carrying Crude Oil 
(similar to block 8, but limited to cars carrying crude oil and with 
leading zeros).
     BBB is the count of the Number of Crude Oil Cars Damaged/
Derailed (similar to block 9, but limited to cars carrying crude oil 
that were damaged/derailed and with leading zeros).
     CCC is the count of the Number of Cars Releasing Crude Oil 
(similar to block 10, but limited to the number of cars releasing crude 
oil and with leading zeros).
    When there is no crude oil in the train and the equipment in the 
train meets the qualification of Type of Equipment listed below under 
section ``Applicability'' on the Form (i.e., the equipment qualifies as 
a freight train, work train, single car, cut of cars, or yard/switching 
equipment), Block 49b must be coded as ``000-000-000.''
    All other rules for reporting HAZMAT releases and injuries apply, 
regardless of HAZMAT commodity involved, including the description of 
the hazardous material released in Form FRA F 6180.54 Block 52 (i.e., 
Narrative Description by name or Standard Transportation Commodity Code 
(STCC)), identification of the initial and number of any car releasing 
hazardous materials, and identification of the name and quantity of 
hazardous material released. Further instructions are provided in the 
Reporting Guide.
    Additionally, the number of fatalities and injuries resulting from 
direct exposure to the released substance would still need to be 
reported in Blocks 46, 47, and 48 on the Form FRA F 6180.54 and in 
Block 5q (Exposure to Hazmat) on the Railroad Injury and Illness 
Summary (Continuation Sheet) Form FRA F 6180.55a.

Applicability

    Whenever block 25 (Type of Equipment) on the Form FRA F 6180.54 is 
equal to 1 (Freight Train), or 4 (Work Train), or 5 (Single Car), or 6 
(Cut of Cars), or 7 (Yard/switching), then the required information on 
crude oil in the train must be completed in Block 49b.
    Special Study Block 49b Reporting Example: A train carrying three 
cars of corrosive acid and four cars of crude oil is involved in an FRA 
reportable train accident, as described--one of the cars carrying the 
corrosive acid is damaged with no release of product; two cars carrying 
crude oil are damaged; one of these cars releases crude oil; and there 
is an evacuation of 25 people, including an injury to a railroad 
employee due to direct exposure and injury to another employee as a 
result of the accident, but not related to the release. Accordingly, on 
the Form FRA F 6180.54 the following information must be entered:
    Block 8 enter ``7'' (representing the 3 cars carrying corrosive 
acid and the 4 cars carrying crude oil);
    Block 9 enter ``3'' (representing the 1 car derailed carrying 
corrosive acid, 2 cars damaged carrying crude oil);
    Block 10 enter ``1'' (representing no corrosive acid released, 1 
car releasing crude oil);
    Block 11 enter ``25'' (representing the 25 people who were 
evacuated during the cleanup);
    Block 46 (Nonfatal) enter ``2'' (representing the 2 employees 
injured);
    Block 49b enter ``004-002-001'' (representing the 4 cars in the 
train carrying crude oil, the 2 crude oil cars damaged/derailed, and 
the 1 crude oil car that released product); and Block 52 (Narrative 
Description) enter a description of the accident in accordance with the 
Reporting Guide instructions for block 52. For this example, the 
narrative would include, but not be limited to, the initial and number 
of the one car that released the crude oil, the name of the HAZMAT 
released (or STCC) (i.e., crude oil), the quantity of crude oil 
released, the number of fatalities and injuries resulting from a direct 
exposure to the released substance (i.e., the one railroad employee 
injury as a result of direct exposure to the released crude oil), and 
an estimate of the size of the affected area evacuated and the length 
of the evacuation. If, in this example, the cars carrying corrosive 
acid released any hazardous materials, in accordance with the Reporting 
Guide, the initial and number of any car releasing that material, as 
well as the name and quantity of that material released would also need 
to be identified in this block.
    On the related Form FRA F 6180.55a, for the employee injured due to 
exposure to HAZMAT enter ``Y'' in Block 5q. On another Form FRA F 
6180.55a, for the employee injured, not due to exposure, enter ``N'' in 
Block 5q.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on April 17, 2015.
Brenda Moscoso,
Director, Office of Safety Analysis.
[FR Doc. 2015-09486 Filed 4-23-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-06-P