Federal Railroad Administration Accident/Incident Investigation Policy for Gathering Information and Consulting With Stakeholders; Correction
On October 1, 2024, FRA published a final rule amending its Accident/Incident Regulations governing reporting, classification, and investigations to codify FRA's policy for gath...
Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION:
Final rule; correction.
SUMMARY:
On October 1, 2024, FRA published a final rule amending its Accident/Incident Regulations governing reporting, classification, and investigations to codify FRA's policy for gathering information from, and consulting with, stakeholders during an accident/incident investigation. The published final rule contains errors in the preamble text. FRA is correcting those errors so that the final rule conforms to FRA's intent.
DATES:
Effective on November 15, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Senya Waas, Senior Attorney, Office of the Chief Counsel, FRA, telephone: 202-875-4158 or email:
senyaann.waas@dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
In FR document 2024-22326 beginning on page 79767 in the
Federal Register
of October 1, 2024, make the following corrections:
1. On page 79767, in the first and second columns, correct the
DATES
section to read:
DATES:Effective date:
This final rule is effective on November 15, 2024, unless FRA receives adverse, substantive comment by October 31, 2024. If no adverse, substantive comments are received, FRA will publish a notice in the
Federal Register
indicating that no adverse comment was received and confirming that the rule will become effective on November 15, 2024.
2. On page 79768, in the first column, correct the first paragraph to read:
FRA is publishing this rule without a prior proposed rule under FRA's direct final rulemaking procedures in 49 CFR 211.33 because it views this as a noncontroversial action that generally codifies FRA's current process for accident/incident investigations. Under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), an agency may waive the normal notice and comment procedures if the action is a rule of agency organization, procedure, or practice. 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(A). Additionally, under the APA, an agency may waive notice and comment procedures when the agency for good cause finds that notice and public procedure are impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest. 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B). As noted above, this rule would codify FRA's procedures for accident/incident investigations and FRA has already worked with stakeholders (both labor and the rail organizations) to develop the Policy Document which is posted on FRA's website. Accordingly, FRA finds that notice and comment are unnecessary and anticipates no adverse, substantive comment on any of the provisions of the rule. If FRA receives an adverse, substantive comment on any of the provisions, it will publish in the
Federal Register
a timely withdrawal, informing the public that the direct final rule will not take effect.
3. In the
Section-by-Section Analysis,
on page 79769, in the 2nd column, correct the fourth paragraph to read:
Previous paragraphs (b), (c), (d), (e), and (f) remain substantively unchanged but are being redesignated as paragraphs (a)(2) through (6).
4. Under
Regulatory Impact and Notices,
on page 79770, correct table 1 to read as follows:
( printed page 85451)
Table 1—Total Costs of the Direct Final Rule
[2023 Dollars] *
Year
Total
stakeholder
costs
Total
government
costs
Total costs
Discounted
7%
Discounted
3%
Discounted
2%
1
$97,922
$19,753
$117,675
$117,675
$117,675
$117,675
2
97,922
10,541
108,463
101,367
105,304
106,336
3
97,922
10,541
108,463
94,736
102,237
104,251
4
97,922
10,541
108,463
88,538
99,259
102,207
5
97,922
10,541
108,463
82,746
96,368
100,203
6
97,922
10,541
108,463
77,333
93,561
98,238
7
97,922
10,541
108,463
72,273
90,836
96,312
8
97,922
10,541
108,463
67,545
88,190
94,424
9
97,922
10,541
108,463
63,126
85,622
92,572
10
97,922
10,541
108,463
58,997
83,128
90,757
Total
979,220
114,622
1,093,842
824,336
962,180
1,002,975
Note:
This table and some others throughout this analysis may not sum due to rounding.
* All figures are presented in a 2023 base year unless otherwise noted.
5. Under
Regulatory Impact and Notices,
on page 79774, correct the paragraph before table 13 and the table to read as follows:
Total Costs
FRA estimates a total 10-year cost of $0.9 million (PV, 2 percent) to stakeholders for this rule. Table 13 displays the total costs to stakeholders for this final rule.
Table 13—Total 10-Year Cost to Stakeholders
Year
Travel
Investigation
participation
Document
submission
Total
stakeholder
costs
Discounted
7%
Discounted
3%
Discounted
2%
1
$29,215
$56,861
$11,846
$97,922
$97,922
$97,922
$97,922
2
29,215
56,861
11,846
97,922
91,516
95,070
96,002
3
29,215
56,861
11,846
97,922
85,529
92,301
94,120
4
29,215
56,861
11,846
97,922
79,934
89,613
92,274
5
29,215
56,861
11,846
97,922
74,704
87,002
90,465
6
29,215
56,861
11,846
97,922
69,817
84,468
88,691
7
29,215
56,861
11,846
97,922
65,250
82,008
86,952
8
29,215
56,861
11,846
97,922
60,981
79,620
85,247
9
29,215
56,861
11,846
97,922
56,991
77,301
83,575
10
29,215
56,861
11,846
97,922
53,263
75,049
81,937
Total
292,150
568,610
118,460
979,220
735,907
860,354
897,185
6. Under
Regulatory Impact and Notices,
on page 79774, correct the paragraph above table 14 and the table to read as follows:
Total Costs
FRA estimates a total 10-year cost of $0.1 million (PV, 2 percent) to FRA for this rule. Table 14 displays the total costs to FRA for this final rule.
Table 14—Total 10-Year Cost to FRA
Year
Notifications
Outreach/training
Documentation
review
Document
sharing site
Total
government
costs
Discounted
7%
Discounted
3%
Discounted
2%
1
$929
$631
$6,311
$11,882
$19,753
$19,753
$19,753
$19,753
2
929
631
6,311
2,670
10,541
9,851
10,234
10,334
3
929
631
6,311
2,670
10,541
9,207
9,936
10,132
4
929
631
6,311
2,670
10,541
8,605
9,647
9,933
5
929
631
6,311
2,670
10,541
8,042
9,366
9,738
6
929
631
6,311
2,670
10,541
7,516
9,093
9,547
7
929
631
6,311
2,670
10,541
7,024
8,828
9,360
8
929
631
6,311
2,670
10,541
6,564
8,571
9,177
9
929
631
6,311
2,670
10,541
6,135
8,321
8,997
10
929
631
6,311
2,670
10,541
5,734
8,079
8,820
Total
9,290
6,310
63,110
35,912
114,622
88,431
101,828
105,791
( printed page 85452)
7. Under
Regulatory Impact and Notices,
on page 79775, correct the paragraph above table 15 and the table to read as follows:
Total Costs
FRA estimates a total 10-year cost of $1.0 million (PV, 2 percent) for this direct final rule, shown in Table 15.
Use this for formal legal and research references to the published document.
89 FR 85450
Web Citation
Suggested Web Citation
Use this when citing the archival web version of the document.
“Federal Railroad Administration Accident/Incident Investigation Policy for Gathering Information and Consulting With Stakeholders; Correction,” thefederalregister.org (October 28, 2024), https://thefederalregister.org/documents/2024-24967/federal-railroad-administration-accident-incident-investigation-policy-for-gathering-information-and-consulting-with-sta.