WASHINGTON— The Federal Railroad Administration this month issued its largest ever simultaneous push to update or slash regulations that it views as overly burdensome.
On July 1, the FRA published a list of 57 deregulatory actions in the Federal Register. Twenty-one are Notices of Proposed Rulemaking, while the remaining three dozen are final rules. Many of the proposed changes are administrative tweaks.
“The FRA is issuing a series of deregulatory actions that will update, rescind, or amend burdensome regulations to enhance safety, encourage innovation, and bring safe railroading practices into the 21st Century,” spokesman Warren Flatau said in an email. “Many of these proposals would remove outdated requirements that no longer reflect modern technologies and codify longstanding FRA Safety Board waivers. This includes things like allowing railroads to satisfy accident/incident reporting recordkeeping requirements by electronically posting a listing of all injuries and occupational illnesses.”
The Association of American Railroads notes that most of the changes are small potatoes.
In May, AAR outlined its key regulatory priorities in comments filed with the Department of Transportation. AAR urged the Department to withdraw the proposed two-person crew rule, update track inspection regulations, finalize signal technology rule revisions, and advance air brake reform.
“While most of the 57 rule changes were not part of those comments, the need to update FRA regulations across the board to reflect advancements in the rail industry and new technologies is clear and long overdue,” spokeswoman Jessica Kahanek said in an email.
“As FRA considers its next phase of regulatory reform, railroads encourage the FRA to pursue regulatory updates that are data-driven, innovation-oriented, and designed to reduce unnecessary burdens,” she adds. “Such reforms will help meaningfully reduce the regulatory burden, ensure regulations keep pace with technological advancements, and enhance safety across the rail network.”
The Transportation Trades Division of the AFL-CIO was critical of the FRA’s actions.
“As America’s largest transportation labor federation, representing freight and passenger rail workers, we are alarmed by the FRA’s efforts to deregulate the industry. Following the East Palestine derailment, Vice President Vance put it best: we have allowed the rail industry to socialize the risk of their business while privatizing the rewards. Time and time again, we have seen that self-regulation does not work,” the labor organization said in an email. “There must be uniform safety rules and minimum safety standards, paired with strong enforcement mechanisms, to ensure that all railroads meet a necessary level of public safety. While we all want a 21st Century rail system, rolling back federal safety rules moves us farther away from that goal. It’s a 19th Century playbook from the robber baron era, when worker safety was disregarded in the name of profits, and undermines the safe, modern, and innovative approach we should all strive for today.”
FRA estimates the deregulatory actions will result in a cost savings of at least $153.9 million over a 10-year timeframe.
