State Safety Oversight

<RULE> DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION <SUBAGY>Federal Transit Administration</SUBAGY> <CFR>49 CFR Part 674</CFR> <DEPDOC>[Docket No. FTA-2023-0008]</DEPDOC> <RIN>RIN 2132-AB42</RIN> <SUBJECT>State Safety Oversight</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Department of Transportation (DOT). <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Final rule. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is publishing a final rule for State Safety Oversight (SSO). This final rule implements new requirements of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (enacted as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)), removes outdated references, and simplifies notification requirements. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> The effective date of this rule is January 1, 2025. </EFFDATE> <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> For program matters, contact Loretta Bomgardner, Office of Transit Safety and Oversight, FTA, telephone (202) 577-5896 or <E T="03">loretta.bomgardner@dot.gov.</E> For legal matters, contact Richard Wong, Office of the Chief Counsel, telephone (202) 366-4011 or <E T="03">richard.wong@dot.gov.</E> Office hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Table of Contents</HD> <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">I. Executive Summary</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Purpose of Regulatory Action</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Statutory Authority</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Summary of Major Provisions</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. Benefits and Costs (Table)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">II. Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Response to Comments</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Section 674.5—Policy</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Section 674.7—Definitions</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Section 674.11—State Safety Oversight Program</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. Section 674.17—Use of Federal Financial Assistance</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">E. Section 674.19—Certification of a State Safety Oversight Program</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">F. Section 674.21—Withholding of Federal Financial Assistance for Noncompliance</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">G. Section 674.23—Confidentiality of Information</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">H. Section 674.25—Role of the State Safety Oversight Agency</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">I. Section 674.27—State Safety Oversight Program Standards</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">J. Section 674.29—Public Transportation Agency Safety Plans: General Requirements</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">K. Section 674.31—Triennial Audits: General Requirements</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">L. Section 674.33—Safety Event Notifications</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">M. Section 674.35—Investigations</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">N. Section 674.37—Corrective Action Plans</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">O. Section 674.39—State Safety Oversight Agency Annual Reporting to FTA</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">P. Section 674.41—Conflicts of Interest</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">Q. Regulatory Burden</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">R. Other Safety Topics</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">III. Section-by-Section Analysis</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IV. Regulatory Analyses and Notices</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Executive Summary</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD2">A. Purpose of Regulatory Action</HD> This final rule updates the existing regulations for state safety oversight of rail fixed guideway public transportation systems. In the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) (Pub. L. 112-141, July 6, 2012), Congress directed FTA to establish a comprehensive public transportation safety program, one element of which is the State Safety Oversight (SSO) Program. (See 49 U.S.C. 5329). Section 30012 of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), enacted as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) (Pub. L. 117-58, November 15, 2021), amended 49 U.S.C. 5329 and established new requirements for FTA's Public Transportation Safety Program. Consequently, FTA is revising 49 CFR part 674 to address requirements related to the BIL, remove requirements related to the initial establishment of this part, and clarify requirements of the existing part. <HD SOURCE="HD2">B. Statutory Authority</HD> Section 5329 of title 49, United States Code, includes several provisions that require FTA to establish a comprehensive public transportation safety program, the elements of which include a National Public Transportation Safety Plan; a training and certification program for Federal, state, and local transportation agency employees with safety responsibilities; Public Transportation Agency Safety Plans; and a strengthened State Safety Oversight Program. <HD SOURCE="HD2">C. Summary of Major Provisions</HD> This final rule makes the following changes to strengthen the existing SSO program: • Updates terminology to reflect current use across programs. • Clarifies existing requirements consistent with FTA expectations. • Removes language relating to the period of transition from 49 CFR part 659, FTA's previous SSO regulation, to 49 CFR part 674, the current SSO regulation. • Addresses BIL requirements. <HD SOURCE="HD2">D. Benefits and Costs</HD> The final rule requires additional oversight of safety-related activities of rail transit agencies (RTAs) by state safety oversight agencies (SSOAs). The rule also has additional costs for SSOAs and RTAs to comply with the requirements. Table 1 summarizes the economic effects of the rule over the first ten years of the rule (2025 to 2034) in 2022 dollars. The benefits of the increased oversight are unknown and unquantified. On an annualized basis, the rule will have costs of $11.0 million at a 7 percent discount rate (discounted to 2024), $10.9 million at 3 percent, and $10.9 million at 2 percent. <GPOTABLE COLS="5" OPTS="L2,i1" CDEF="s50,15,15,15,15"> <TTITLE>Table 1—Summary of Economic Effects, 2025-2034 </TTITLE> [$2022, discounted to 2024] <CHED H="1">Item</CHED> <ENT I="03">SSOA documentation of enforcement authority</ENT> <ENT>$118,140</ENT> <ENT>$16,820</ENT> <ENT>$13,446</ENT> <ENT>$12,894</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">SSOA oversight</ENT> <ENT>80,338,058</ENT> <ENT>8,093,373</ENT> <ENT>8,058,697</ENT> <ENT>8,050,279</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">SSOA safety event tracking</ENT> <ENT>183,879</ENT> <ENT>18,388</ENT> <ENT>18,388</ENT> <ENT>18,388</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">SSOA investigations</ENT> <ENT>7,355,168</ENT> <ENT>735,517</ENT> <ENT>735,517</ENT> <ENT>735,517</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">SSOA annual reporting to FTA</ENT> <ENT>609,755</ENT> <ENT>60,975</ENT> <ENT>60,975</ENT> <ENT>60,975</ENT> </ROW> <ROW RUL="n,s"> <ENT I="03">RTA investigations and reporting</ENT> <ENT>20,456,560</ENT> <ENT>2,045,656</ENT> <ENT>2,045,656</ENT> <ENT>2,045,656</ENT> </ROW> <ROW RUL="s"> <ENT I="05">Total costs</ENT> <ENT>109,061,560</ENT> <ENT>10,970,730</ENT> <ENT>10,932,680</ENT> <ENT>10,923,710</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Net benefits</ENT> <ENT>Unquantified</ENT> Totals may not sum due to rounding. </TNOTE> </GPOTABLE> <HD SOURCE="HD1">II. Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Response to Comments</HD> FTA published the State Safety Oversight NPRM on November 15, 2023 (88 FR 78269), with the public comment period closing on February 15, 2024. During this time, FTA received 27 unique and substantive comment submissions to the rulemaking docket. Commenters included SSOAs, RTAs, labor organizations, trade associations, and individuals. FTA has considered these comments and addresses them in the corresponding sections below. Some comments expressed support for the NPRM without advocating for specific changes, and FTA acknowledges those comments were received and considered. FTA reviewed all relevant comments and took them into consideration when developing the final rule. Below, the NPRM comments and responses are subdivided by their corresponding sections of the proposed rule and subject matter. <HD SOURCE="HD2">A. Section 674.5—Policy</HD> <E T="03">Comments:</E> FTA received comments from two SSOA commenters regarding § 674.5. One commenter questioned how FTA defines the terms “resources,” “qualified personnel,” and “complexity” and asked FTA to clearly define its expectations for SSOAs. Another commenter asked why FTA removed the first sentence in 674.5(b) related to funding of SSOAs. <E T="03">FTA Response:</E> FTA notes that these terms originate in statute and defining the terms is not necessary to carry out the statute, as evidenced by their use in the rule since 2016. As with previous regulatory action, FTA declines to establish formal definitions for these terms to avoid conflicts in instances where associated statutes or regulations are revised. FTA notes that SSOAs have differing levels of State-based authority and resources to oversee the safety of the rail fixed guideway public transportation systems in their State. Further, FTA notes that the number, size, and complexity of rail fixed guideway public transportation systems that SSOAs oversee vary across States. The language in § 674.5(a) ensures the SSO program is not a “one size fits all” program and instead provides States the flexibility to establish an SSOA sized and resourced to meet the State's oversight needs. Ultimately, as defined at § 674.19, the FTA Administrator may issue or deny certification of an SSOA based on an assessment of whether the SSOA has the authority, resources, and expertise to oversee the number, size, and complexity of the rail fixed guideway public transportation systems that operate within the State. In response to the comment regarding the proposed removal of the first sentence in § 674.5(b), FTA removed the first sentence in subsection (b) because the availability of funding is addressed in § 674.17(a) and is not necessary to repeat here. <HD SOURCE="HD2">B. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 225k characters. Full document text is stored and available for version comparison. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━