Summer 2000
Volume 107 - No. 2
Summer 2000
Volume 107 - No. 2
BLE Focus
How the Process Works
Why did we choose to place stacks of paper on the cover of this issue?
Because each year the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers generates reams of paperwork and documents as part of the regulatory process. In this issue of the Locomotive Engineers Journal, we have chosen to spotlight some of the regulatory issues that the BLE is working on in order to improve the lives, safety and working conditions of our members. And in case you were wondering, yes, we do recycle all of that paper.
The BLE works with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) on many regulatory issues of concern to our members. The most recent issues that we have been working on include cab working conditions, positive train control systems, remote control locomotives and event recorders.
The issues are being taken up through the Rail Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC) and other rulemaking venues under FRA's jurisdiction.
The FRA created the RSAC in 1996. The group is comprised of representatives from suppliers, rail labor, railroads, FRA and other interested parties. The "full" RSAC meets several times each year to assign and chart progress on rulemakings that arise from safety issues recommended by the group's members. The process is driven by consensus, which relies upon study, facts, compromise, and a view as to how the outcome contributes to the enhancement of safety. Proposed rules adopted by the RSAC are then forwarded to the Federal Railroad Administrator for consideration.
The FRA is a part of the Department of Transportation (DOT). The DOT was established by an act of Congress, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on October 15, 1966. Its first secretary, Alan S. Boyd, took office on January 16, 1967. The department's first official day of operation was April 1, 1967.
The mission of the DOT, a cabinet-level executive department of the United States government, is to develop and coordinate policies that will provide an efficient and economical national transportation system, with due regard for need, the environment, and the national defense.
It is the primary agency in the federal government with the responsibility for shaping and administering policies and programs to protect and enhance the safety, adequacy, and efficiency of the nation's transportation system and services.
In addition to the RSAC, FRA has many other ways to address safety issues affecting the general public and railroad workers. The Railroad Safety Act of 1970 and subsequent amendments authorize these broad powers. Occasionally, such as in the regulation on Certification and Qualification of Locomotive Engineers, the Congress of the United States will direct the Secretary of Transportation (who, in turn, assigns the task to FRA) to write a rule.
FRA always has the final say on any rulemaking, whether it originates in the RSAC or some other process. Because the BLE has a vital interest in all safety regulations and our members are impacted by most of the proceedings at FRA, we devote much work and allocate many resources to RSAC and other forums established by FRA.
Some of the RSAC tasks have come from recommendations made by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). They have included Positive Train Control (PTC), changes in event recorders, Power Brake revisions (2-way end-of-train devices) and crashworthiness of locomotives.
PTC and crashworthiness issues have been supported by comprehensive studies that were provided to Congress by FRA. PTC was addressed in the 1994 Report to Congress on Railroad Communications and Positive Train Control. The issue came up again in the recently released Report of RSAC to the FRA entitled "Implementation of Positive Train Control," which was the work of the "Data and Implementation Task Force" of the PTC RSAC.
Crashworthiness of locomotives was analyzed in a 1996 Report to Congress on Locomotive Crashworthiness and Cab Working Conditions.
© 2000 Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers