03-8522. Railroad Safety Advisory Committee; Notice of Meeting

AGENCY:

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

ACTION:

Notice of Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (“ARSAC”) meeting.

SUMMARY:

FRA announces the next meeting of the RSAC, a Federal Advisory Committee that develops railroad safety regulations through a consensus process. The meeting will address a wide range of topics, including possible adoption of specific recommendations for regulatory action.

DATES:

The meeting of the RSAC is scheduled to commence at 9:30 a.m. and conclude at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, May 20, 2003.

ADDRESSES:

The meeting of the RSAC will be held at the Washington Plaza, 10 Thomas Circle, NW., Washington, DC 20005, [phone]. 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:

Trish Butera, or Lydia Leeds, RSAC Coordinators, FRA, 1120 Vermont Avenue, NW., Stop 25, Washington, DC 20590, [phone]/6213 or Grady Cothen, Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program Development, FRA, 1120 Vermont Avenue, NW., Mailstop 25, Washington, DC 20590, [phone].

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 Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (“ARSAC”). The meeting is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. and conclude at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, May 20, 2003. The meeting of the RSAC will be held at the Washington Plaza, 10 Thomas Circle, NW., Washington, DC 20005, [phone]. All times noted are eastern standard time.

RSAC was established to provide advice and recommendations to the FRA on railroad safety matters. The Committee consists of 48 individual voting representatives and five associate representatives drawn from among 32 organizations representing various rail industry perspectives, two associate representatives from the agencies with railroad safety regulatory responsibility in Canada and Mexico and other diverse groups. Staffs of the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Transit Administration also participate in an advisory capacity.

The RSAC meeting topics will include a final briefing on a draft Cab Noise NPRM, if available as a consensus recommendation from the Cab Working Conditions Working Group, in anticipation of a forthcoming mail ballot. The committee will be asked to accept a task for revision and supplementation of Safety Standards for Rail Passenger Service. Finally, FRA will introduce to the Committee a requirement concerning a new Congressionally-mandated study of the cost and benefits of Positive Train Control (PTC) that appears to fall within existing task statements (Nos. 97-4 and 97-5); and the Committee will be asked to authorize consideration of this issue by the PTC Working Group.

In addition to these items of business, the Committee will receive briefings on the following topics: Security update; hazardous materials transportation next steps; development of a new Highway-Rail Crossing/Action Plan; Transport Canada's programs for highway-rail crossing safety and access control; and the Safety Assurance and Compliance Program.

See the RSAC Web site for details on pending tasks at: http://rsac.fra.dot.&​fnl;​gov/​. Please refer to the notice published in the Federal Register on March 11, 1996 (61 FR 9740), for more information about the RSAC.

Issued in Washington, DC, on April 3, 2003.

George A. Gavalla,

Associate Administrator for Safety.