§270.201. Filing and approval. — Inbound Citations

(1) Each railroad subject to this part shall adopt and fully implement a system safety program through a written SSP plan that, at a minimum, contains the elements in this section and in subpart E of this part. This SSP plan shall be approved by FRA under the process specified in § 270.201.

(b) A passenger rail operation required to submit an SSP plan under § 270.201 must also submit, together with the plan, a consultation statement that includes the following information:

(1) A detailed description of the process utilized to consult with directly affected employees;

(2) If the passenger rail operation could not reach agreement with its directly affected employees on the contents of its SSP plan, identification of any known areas of disagreement and an explanation of why it believes agreement was not reached; and

(3) A service list containing the name and contact information for either each international/national president and general chairperson of any non-profit employee labor organization representing a class or craft of the passenger rail operation's directly affected employees, or each non-profit employee labor organization primary point of contact the passenger rail operation and the non-profit employee labor organization agree on at the beginning of the consultation process. The service list must also contain the name and contact information for any directly affected employee who significantly participated in the consultation process independently of a non-profit employee labor organization. When a passenger rail operation submits its SSP plan and consultation statement to FRA pursuant to § 270.201, it must also simultaneously send a copy of these documents to all individuals identified in the service list.

(a) Following FRA's initial approval of the passenger rail operation's SSP plan pursuant to § 270.201, the passenger rail operation shall annually conduct an assessment of the extent to which:

(1) The system safety program is fully implemented;

(2) The passenger rail operation is in compliance with the implemented elements of the approved system safety program; and

(3) The passenger rail operation has achieved the goals set forth in § 270.103(c).

(1) A railroad shall submit an FRMP plan for approval to the FRA Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety and Chief Safety Officer at [email protected], no later than either the applicable timeline in § 270.201(a) for filing its SSP plan or July 13, 2023, whichever is later.

(2) FRA will notify each person identified in the SSP plan under § 270.201(a)(3) in writing whether the proposed plan has been approved by FRA, and, if not approved, the specific points in which the SSP plan is deficient. FRA will also provide this notification to each individual identified in the service list accompanying the consultation statement required under § 270.107(b).

(1) Once FRA approves a passenger rail operation's SSP plan pursuant to § 270.201(b), the risk-based hazard analysis methodology identified in paragraphs (p)(1)(i) through (iii) of this section shall be applied to identify and analyze hazards on the rail system and to determine the resulting risks. At a minimum, the aspects of the rail system that shall be analyzed include: Operating rules and practices, infrastructure, equipment, employee levels and schedules, management structure, employee training, and other aspects that have an impact on railroad safety not covered by railroad safety regulations or other Federal regulations.

(d) FRA shall review and approve or disapprove a railroad's FRMP plan and amendments to that plan under the process for reviewing SSP plans and amendments in § 270.201(b) and (c), respectively. FRA approval of a railroad's FRMP plan amends a railroad's SSP plan to include the FRMP plan as a component.

(2) A railroad shall submit updates to its FRMP plan to the FRA Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety and Chief Safety Officer at [email protected], under the process for amending its SSP plan in § 270.201(c).

(ii) A railroad's procedures for reviewing the FRMP as part of the annual internal assessment of its SSP under § 270.303 and for updating the FRMP plan under the process for amending its SSP plan under § 270.201(c).