82 FR 48148 - Railroad Safety Advisory Committee; Notice of Meeting

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 198 (October 16, 2017)

FRA announces a meeting of the RSAC, a Federal Advisory Committee that develops recommendations on railroad safety regulations and other railroad safety issues through a consensus process. The RSAC System Safety Task Force and Passenger Safety Working Group will meet October 30, 2017, to discuss petitions for reconsideration, and comments received in response to the petitions for reconsideration on the System Safety Program (SSP) final rule issued August 12, 2016, requiring commuter and intercity passenger railroads to develop and implement an SSP to improve the safety of their operations.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 198 (Monday, October 16, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48148-48149]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-22368]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Docket No. FRA-2000-7257, Notice No. 86]


Railroad Safety Advisory Committee; Notice of Meeting

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

ACTION: Notice of Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC) System 
Safety Task Force and Passenger Safety Working Group meeting.

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[[Page 48149]]

SUMMARY: FRA announces a meeting of the RSAC, a Federal Advisory 
Committee that develops recommendations on railroad safety regulations 
and other railroad safety issues through a consensus process. The RSAC 
System Safety Task Force and Passenger Safety Working Group will meet 
October 30, 2017, to discuss petitions for reconsideration, and 
comments received in response to the petitions for reconsideration on 
the System Safety Program (SSP) final rule issued August 12, 2016, 
requiring commuter and intercity passenger railroads to develop and 
implement an SSP to improve the safety of their operations.

DATES: The RSAC meeting is scheduled to commence at 9:00 a.m. on 
Monday, October 30, 2017, and will adjourn by 4:30 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The RSAC meeting will be held at the National Association of 
Home Builders, National Housing Center, located at 1201 15th Street 
NW., Washington, DC 20005. The meeting is open to the public on a 
first-come, first-served basis, and is accessible to individuals with 
disabilities. Sign- and oral interpretation can be made available if 
requested 10 calendar days before the meeting.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kenton Kilgore, RSAC Administrative 
Officer/Coordinator, FRA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Mailstop 25, 
Washington, DC 20590, (202) 493-6286; or Robert C. Lauby, Associate 
Administrator for Railroad Safety and Chief Safety Officer, FRA, 1200 
New Jersey Avenue SE., Mailstop 25, Washington, DC 20590, (202) 493-
6474.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Section 10(a)(2) of the Federal 
Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463), FRA is giving notice of a 
meeting of the RSAC. FRA is publishing this notice in the Federal 
Register as soon as practicable, which will not be at least 15 days 
prior to the RSAC meeting. FRA has determined that exceptional 
circumstances justify holding the RSAC meeting on October 30, 2017, as 
explained below. See 41 CFR 102-3.150. FRA believes that the public 
will have adequate notice of the meeting because this notice will be 
posted on FRA's public Web site and will be filed for public inspection 
by the Office of the Federal Register at least 15 days before the RSAC 
meeting.
    FRA published the SSP final rule on August 12, 2016. 81 FR 53850. 
On February 10, 2017, FRA stayed the SSP final rule's requirements 
consistent with the new Administration's guidance issued January 20, 
2017, to provide the Administration an adequate opportunity to review 
new and pending regulations (82 FR 10443). FRA thereafter extended the 
stay to provide additional time for review. See 82 FR 14476, March 21, 
2017; 82 FR 23150, May 22, 2017. The review includes petitions for 
reconsideration of the SSP final rule. FRA most recently stayed the 
final rule until December 4, 2017, to allow time for public outreach 
with interested parties to inform FRA's decisions on the issues raised 
in the petitions, and to complete review of the rule and the petitions 
(82 FR 26359). The October 30, 2017, RSAC meeting is necessary for FRA 
to receive input from industry and the public, and to discuss potential 
paths forward to respond to the petitions for reconsideration prior to 
FRA taking final action. FRA has previously made stakeholders aware 
that the RSAC meeting will be held on October 30, 2017 and interested 
persons have made plans accordingly. FRA believes that delaying the 
meeting any further would endanger its ability to receive vital public 
comment informing actions on the petitions under review and, therefore 
believes that providing less than 15 days notice for this meeting best 
serves the public interest and, with the mitigations applied here, is 
consistent with the exception for exceptional circumstances discussed 
above.
    The RSAC was established to provide advice and recommendations to 
FRA on railroad safety matters. The RSAC is composed of 59 voting 
representatives from 38 member organizations, representing various rail 
industry perspectives. In addition, there are non-voting advisory 
representatives from the agencies with railroad safety regulatory 
responsibility in Canada and Mexico, the National Transportation Safety 
Board, and the Federal Transit Administration. The diversity of the 
Committee ensures the requisite range of views and expertise necessary 
to discharge its responsibilities. See the RSAC Web site for details on 
prior RSAC activities and pending tasks at http://rsac.fra.dot.gov/. 
Please refer to the notice published in the Federal Register on March 
11, 1996 (61 FR 9740), for additional information about the RSAC.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on October 11, 2017.
Robert C. Lauby,
Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety, Chief Safety Officer.
[FR Doc. 2017-22368 Filed 10-13-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-06-P