SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520, and its implementing regulations, 5 CFR part 1320, require Federal agencies to provide 60 days' notice to the public to allow comment on information collection activities before seeking OMB approval of the activities. See44 U.S.C. 3506, 3507; 5 CFR 1320.8 through 1320.12. Specifically, FRA invites interested parties to comment on the following ICR regarding: (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 for FRA to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information being collected; and (4) ways for FRA to minimize the burden of information collection activities on the public, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology. See44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A); 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1).

FRA believes that soliciting public comment may reduce the administrative and paperwork burdens associated with the collection of information that Federal regulations mandate. In summary, comments received will advance three objectives: (1) reduce reporting burdens; (2) organize 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. See44 U.S.C. 3501.

The summary below describes the ICR that FRA will submit for OMB clearance as the PRA requires:

Title: Use of Locomotive Horns at Highway-Rail Grade Crossings.

OMB Control Number: 2130-0560.

Abstract: FRA's locomotive horn use regulations (49 CFR part 222) prescribe standards for sounding locomotive horns when locomotives approach and pass through public highway-rail grade crossings. FRA collects information from railroads and public authorities to increase safety at public highway-rail grade crossings nationwide by requiring that locomotive horns be sounded when trains approach and pass through these crossings or by ensuring that a safety level, at least equivalent to that provided by routine locomotive horn sounding, exists for quiet zone corridors in which such routine horn sounding is silenced. FRA reviews applications by public authorities intending to establish new quiet zones by implementing alternative safety measures and approves the effectiveness rate assigned to them.

In this 60-day notice, FRA has made program changes and adjustments that decreased the previously approved burden hours from 7,253 to 7,232 hours and decreased the number of responses from 3,620 to 3,536. This decrease in burden, after a thorough review, is the result of the changes described in the sections summarized below:

• FRA published a final rule on July 1, 2025, titled Administrative Updates to the Use of Locomotive Horns at Public Highway-Rail Grade Crossings Regulations.^[1] FRA removed certified mail notification requirements and allows electronic submittal of applications and notifications to other parties and to FRA's Grade Crossing and ( printed page 38588) Trespasser Outreach Division. The estimated burdens for §§ 222.39, 222.43, 222.47 and 222.51 have been updated accordingly, decreasing burdens by 72 hours.

• Under § 222.51(c), which describes the process for reviewing the status of any quiet zone, FRA determined that the burden previously reported for public comments should be excluded because the submission of public comments in response to aFederal Register notice falls outside the PRA's definition of information under 5 CFR 1320.3(h)(4). Accordingly, FRA is removing the burden previously attributed to public comments from interested parties during FRA's review of the status of any quiet zone.
• Under § 222.55(b) and (d), which describes how interested parties may apply for approval from the Associate Administrator to demonstrate proposed new supplementary or alternative safety measures (SSMs/ASMs), FRA adjusted the burden estimates to reflect the number of hours and estimated average time required to compose the written request, increasing the burden by 40 hours. The increased burden hours reflect additional time needed, after the demonstration of proposed SSMs or ASMs, to gather all the necessary documentation and prepare the written application with the required information that must be included pursuant to § 222.55(d)(1) through (5).
• Lastly, under § 222.57(c), which establishes procedures for how parties can seek reconsideration of an Associate Administrator decision to terminate a quiet zone, and § 222.57(d), which establishes procedures for railroads to request reconsideration of an Associate Administrator decision to approve an application for approval of a proposed quiet zone, FRA determined that the estimated burden hours were not included in the previously reported burden. FRA has corrected the oversight by adding 9 burden hours.

Overall, program changes and adjustments decreased the total burden hours for this submission by 21 hours.

Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.

Affected Public: Businesses.

Form(s): N/A.

Respondent Universe: 754 railroads/645 public authorities.

Frequency of Submission: On occasion.

Reporting Burden:

( printed page 38591)

Total Estimated Annual Responses: 3,536.

Total Estimated Annual Burden: 7,232 hours.

Total Estimated Annual Burden Hour Dollar Cost Equivalent: $534,508.57.

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 that does not display a currently valid OMB control number.

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

90 FR 38587