drfPTC Status Questionnaire Part AII

SUPPORTING JUSTIFICATION – Part A

Positive Train Control (PTC) Implementation Status Update; OMB No. 2130-NEW

Form Number FRA F 6180.162

Summary of Submission

• This submission is a new collection of information requesting Emergency processing and prompt approval by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the proposed collection of information titled Positive Train Control (PTC) Implementation Status Update.

• FRA is requesting Emergency processing approval for this proposed information collection by July 24, 2015, because FRA cannot reasonably comply with normal clearance procedures on account of use of normal clearance procedures is reasonably likely to disrupt the collection of information. FRA cannot delay this collection of information until it has allowed for 90-days of public comment as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) for non-emergency collections because of the looming PTC implementation deadline for affected railroads. Under the Congressionally mandated and FRA regulatory deadlines, all covered passenger railroads are required to implement Positive Train Control (PTC) on their entire systems by December 31, 2015 (less than six months from now). FRA needs the immediate and continuous information to be provided by the proposed PTC census questionnaire to determine the implementation status of PTC on each of the affected 38 passenger railroads in order to assist them in meeting the statutory and regulatory deadline of December 31. FRA is, therefore, requesting OMB approval of this proposed collection of information four (4) days after the required Notice is published in the Federal Register on July 20, 2015. Moreover, as the recent Amtrak derailment at Frankford Junction just outside Philadelphia, PA, and other recent accidents vividly illustrate, rail safety throughout the country is at stake and will be enhanced by timely implementation of PTC.

• The total number of burden hours requested for this submission is 76 hours.

• The total number of responses requested for this submission is 456.

• **The answer to question number 12 itemizes the hourly burden associated with the survey form associated with this proposed collection of information (See p. 8).

1. Circumstances that make collection of the information necessary.

As a consequence of the number and severity of certain very public accidents, coupled with a series of other less publicized accidents, Congress passed the Rail Safety Improvement Act (RSIA) of 2008. President Bush signed Railroad Safety Improvement Act (RSIA) into law on October 16, 2008, mandating Positive Train Control (PTC) system implementation by December 31, 2015. Specifically, Section 104 of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008, Pub. L. 110-432, 122 Stat. 4854, (Oct. 16, 2008) (codified at 49 U.S.C. 20157) (hereinafter “RSIA”) must be done by each Class I railroad carrier and each entity providing regularly scheduled intercity or commuter rail passenger transportation on:

(A) its main line over which intercity rail passenger transportation or commuter rail passenger transportation, as defined in section 24102, is regularly provided; (B) its main line over which PIH or TIH hazardous materials, as defined in parts 171.8, 173.115, and 173.132 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, are transported; and (C) such other tracks as the Secretary may prescribe by regulation or order. 9 U.S.C. § 20157(a)(1). The statute further defined “main line” to mean:

a segment or route of railroad tracks over which 5,000,000 or more gross tons of railroad traffic is transported annually, except that — (A) the Secretary may, through regulations under subsection (g), designate additional tracks as main line as appropriate for this section; and (B) for intercity rail passenger transportation or commuter rail passenger transportation routes or segments over which limited or no freight railroad operations occur, the Secretary shall define the term “main line” by regulation. 49 U.S.C. § 20157(i)(2). To effectuate this goal, RSIA required the railroads to submit for FRA approval a PTC Implementation Plan (PTCIP) within 18 months (i.e., by April 16, 2010).

The statutory deadline for Positive Train Control (PTC) system implementation then is less than 6 months away. To effectuate this goal, the RSIA required the covered railroads to submit for FRA approval a PTC implementation plan (PTCIP) within 18 months (i.e., by April 16, 2010). To date, the vast majority of railroads have not submitted a PTC Safety Plan (PTCSP) in accordance with 49 CFR §§ 236.1009 and 236.1015 and have not submitted, in accordance with 49 CFR § 236.1035, a request for testing approval to support a PTCSP, which is necessary to achieve PTC System Certification and operate in revenue service. Congress and FRA are concerned that the railroads will not make the statutory deadline.

Many railroads have also admitted that they will not complete implementation on time. So that Congress and FRA may better understand the status of each railroad’s implementation efforts and assist them wherever possible in completing implementation, FRA is seeking information with the proposed PTC Questionnaire, in the form of monthly periodic updates, under its investigative authority pursuant to 49 USC §§ 20103, 20107, and 20902 and pursuant to 49 CFR § 236.1009(h). The railroads’ responses will help inform FRA of the current PTC implementation status across all affected railroads and identify any issues causing delay towards full PTC implementation.

2. How, by whom, and for what purpose the information is to be used.

This is a new collection of information, and is mandatory. The purpose of the data collection is to receive status updates on PTC implementation within the railroad industry on a continuous basis in order to ensure compliance by affected railroads with the PTC Congressional statutory and FRA regulatory mandates that take effect at the end of the 2015 calendar year. Specifically, the proposed collection of information will provide FRA with current monthly data for each of the 38 affected railroads on the following:

(1) total number of fully mission capable PTC equipped locomotives required to be implemented under the regulation ; (2) actual current number of fully mission capable PTC equipped locomotives completely implemented under the regulation; (3) total number of fully mission capable PTC equipped track segments required to be implemented under the regulation ; (4) actual current number of fully mission capable PTC equipped track segments completely implemented under the regulation; (5) total number of personnel required under the regulation to be trained on PTC systems operations and regulations; (6) actual total current number of personnel who have completed training on PTC systems operations and regulations; (7) whether affected railroads have the necessary spectrum required to fully implement its PTC system under the regulation; (8) total number of communication towers to support PTC system communications required for PTC implementation; (9) current actual number of constructed and operational communication towers available to support PTC implementation under the regulations; (10) whether all tenant railroads have full interoperability with the PTC system of those railroads that are host railroads; (11) whether each tenant railroad is fully interoperable with each host railroad’s PTC system under the regulation; and (12) the date a PTC Safety Plan (PSP) has been or will be submitted to FRA.

Primary users of this ongoing information will be FRA headquarters personnel throughout the Office of Safety, including, but not limited to, the Positive Train Control (PTC) Division, as well as regional personnel in charge of monitoring and enforcement. This information will provide critical information to determine each of the affected 38 railroads progress in implementing PTC and will provide invaluable insight into their implementation difficulties/problems and into how FRA can best assist them to achieve timely implementation.

A second set of users within FRA will be officials and staff with the Office of Railroad Policy and Development (RPD) who will have access to the data to help inform decisions relating to their grants program and how to best obligate taxpayer funds.

Finally, the information to be collected will be used by members of Congress to assess compliance with the statute that they passed in 2007 and any potential needed adjustments or amendments to that statute.

2. Extent of automated information collection.

All of the data to be collected under the proposed census questionnaire will be obtained via a website. The data will need to be updated by each railroad affected by PTC on a monthly basis so that FRA can gauge each railroad’s progress regarding implementation. FRA has purposely kept the number of questions and the scope of each question to a minimum in order to reduce the burden on railroads responding to the data collection effort.

Since the proposed PTC census questionnaire will be completed on line via a Website, 100 percent of responses will be submitted electronically.

2. Efforts to identify duplication.

The proposed collection of information pertains to the status of PTC implementation, which is to be carried out by affected railroads nationwide. Therefore, it is inherently the first time that it is possible to collect such data related to the progress of PTC implementation across the industry. As such, this information is unique.

Similar data are unavailable from any other source.

2. Efforts to minimize the burden on small businesses.

According to the PTC Implementation Questionnaire point of contact, there are zero small entities that will be affected by the proposed information collection. Therefore, no small businesses (railroads) will be impacted, and the burden to small businesses will be zero. Moreover, to reduce burden on medium and large size railroads, the number of questions has been deliberately kept small and should take a minimal amount of time to answer initially and to update each month. Thus, FRA asserts that the proposed census questionnaire will not have a significant impact on a substantial number of small entities.

It should be noted that right now FRA is focused on the larger railroads that need to meet the December 31, 2015, implementation deadline. These railroads will be required to report monthly. For the regional and commuter railroads, their statutory and regulatory deadline is 2020. These railroads will not now be reporting at all. Further, these railroads may not be reporting monthly based on their progress in implementing PTC. FRA will determine their frequency of reporting at a later date in light of future developments. The estimated 38 railroads is a variable number. It will go up or down based on changes regarding railroads/State agencies plans to implement PTC and based on agreements between host and tenant railroads.

2. Impact of less frequent collection of information.

If this information were not collected, it is highly likely that both the statutory and regulatory December 31, 2015, deadline for PTC implementation will be missed by almost all of the 38 affected railroads and even further delays will ensue. As a consequence, railroad safety throughout the country will be considerably negatively impacted with additional accidents/incidents, most notably derailments, almost certain to occur and bring with them more train crew and passengers injuries and fatalities as well as property damage and possible environmental harm.

The recent overspeed derailment at Frankford Junction outside Philadelphia highlighted the dramatic difference that Positive Train Control can make in averting rail disasters. On Tuesday, May 12, 2015, Amtrak passenger train 188 (Train 188) was traveling timetable east (northbound) from Washington, D.C., to New York City. Aboard the train were five Amtrak crew members, three Amtrak employees, and 250 passengers. Train 188 consisted of a locomotive in the lead and seven passenger cars trailing. Shortly after 9:20 p.m., the train derailed while traveling through a curve at Frankford Junction in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As a result of the accident, eight persons were killed, and more than 200 passengers were seriously injured. In the initial comments on its accident investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) noted that Positive Train Control (PTC) technology would probably have prevented this accident. The NTSB has strongly recommended PTC implementation for several years now to prevent human and mechanical causes of collisions and derailments. While this collection of information would not prevent accidents, it would enable FRA to have information about railroad compliance with PTC compliance and help facilitate the implementation process. Faster railroad implementation will prevent accidents/incidents and thus enhance overall rail safety and save lives.

FRA has considered the use of less frequent data collection periods and determined less frequent data collection would not be appropriate. FRA feels that collecting the data on a monthly basis will provide a dense data set in terms of time and would be more beneficial for extrapolation to spot inconsistencies or troubling trends. To counteract this requirement for monthly updates, FRA has intentionally kept the number of questions to a minimum. The burden on railroads to complete a monthly questionnaire is extremely small. FRA required much more detailed information under the information collection associated with the Part 236 regulation (approved under OMB No. 2130-0553). Events have overtaken the information required in that collection, and the monthly questionnaire has been designed to provide continuous, accurate, and necessary information regarding railroad’s progress while maintaining a small number of questions and being placed on a Website for conveniently easy completion. If FRA is able to confirm a railroad’s full compliance with the PTC requirement, then that railroad will no longer need to report a completed questionnaire.

The proposed collection of information is aimed at determining the implementation status of PTC nationwide and facilitating railroads execution of it to meet the December 31, 2015, in any way possible. The new technology of Positive Train Control is designed to prevent the human and mechanical errors that have caused or contributed to various recent train collisions and train derailments that have had such a dramatically high cost in terms of human lives lost and serious injuries incurred by scores of passengers and train crews, damage to the daily operations of passenger and freight railroads, high monetary losses for shippers and lost product for oil companies and consumers, and substantial harm to the environment and surrounding communities. Further, the PTC questionnaire will provide a specific tally of each railroad’s PTC implementation progress for compliance as well as monitoring purposes.

In sum, this proposed collection of information is essential to and aids both DOT and FRA in the critical primary mission of promoting and enhancing ground transportation/rail safety throughout the country for the safe, reliable, and efficient movement of people and goods now and in the future.

7. Special circumstances.

The proposed survey will be completed monthly because of the looming statutory and regulatory December 31, 2015, PTC implementation deadline. It is essential that FRA have an accurate and ongoing status report of where the 38 affected railroads are each month as they progress toward full PTC implementation.

All other information collection requirements relating to the proposed PTC census questionnaire are in compliance with this section.

8. Compliance with 5 CFR 1320.8.

As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FRA is publishing a notice in the Federal Register requesting Emergency Processing on July 20 2015, soliciting comment on the proposed data collection. See 80 FR 42865.

As noted in the Summary on page 1 of this document, FRA is requesting Emergency processing approval for this proposed information collection by July 24, 2015, because FRA cannot reasonably comply with normal clearance procedures on account of use of normal clearance procedures is reasonably likely to disrupt the collection of information. FRA cannot delay this collection of information until it has allowed for 90-days of public comment as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) for non-emergency collections because of the looming PTC implementation deadline for affected railroads. Under the Congressionally mandated and FRA regulatory deadlines, all covered passenger railroads are required to implement Positive Train Control (PTC) on their entire systems by December 31, 2015 (less than six months from now). FRA needs the immediate and continuous information to be provided by the proposed PTC census questionnaire to determine the implementation status of PTC on each of the affected 38 passenger railroads in order to assist them in meeting the statutory and regulatory deadline of December 31. FRA is, therefore, requesting OMB approval of this proposed collection of information four (4) days after the required Notice is published in the Federal Register on July 20, 2015. Moreover, as the recent Amtrak derailment at Frankford Junction just outside Philadelphia, PA, and other recent accidents vividly illustrate, rail safety throughout the country is at stake and will be enhanced by timely implementation of PTC.

Background

In an effort to create a survey designed to accurately identify critical needs and expectations from all stakeholders for which have a vested interest, FRA reached out to a diverse group of stakeholders to assist in all aspects of this effort. FRA’s Chief Safety Officer consulted with AAR and APTA and short line officials to determine the right questions to ask to determine implementation status/progress. FRA also consulted previous published documents from Association of American Railroads (AAR April 2015 PTC Report) and American Public Transportation Association (APTA) to ascertain the most important information needed to adequately monitor PTC implementation status.

FRA has also created a special PTC Task Force to address the delay in industry wide PTC implementation. This task force and internal stakeholders provided input on potential questions, frequency of questionnaire administration, the instructions provided to respondents, and the decision to conduct the census questionnaire as a web-based as opposed to a paper-based collection. It is based on these recommendations, and key components of PTC that the questionnaire instrument and instructions were developed, and the data collection and analysis plan, the frequency of data collection, and the means to make data available to the PTC Task Force were determined.

9. Payments or gifts to respondents.

There are no monetary payments provided or gifts made to respondents associated with this proposed collection of information.

10. Assurance of confidentiality.

There is no law that protects the confidentiality of the information to be reported by respondents. However, FRA will protect information reported under the Privacy Act of 1974. Information obtained or acquired by FRA in this proposed census will be used exclusively for statistical purposes or, in this case, to compile data to gain a level of understanding of the status of PTC implementation efforts. Under 49 CFR 209.11 and 236.1009(e)(3), FRA simply considers this a request for confidentiality. However, if another party seeks such information under section 209.11 (which invokes FOIA), FRA will perform a review to determine whether it should be disclosed. Until such time, FRA will honor each railroad’s request for confidentiality, especially if it is performed judiciously and provides a justification for confidentiality (e.g., trade secret). If the information, however, is somehow changed to reduce or eliminate its connection to a single source (e.g., aggregating numbers across all railroads to develop a national or regional total), it is likely no longer protected as confidential.

11. Justification for any questions of a sensitive nature.

FRA is seeking information, with periodic updates, under its investigative authority pursuant to 49 USC §§ 20103, 20107, and 20902, and 49 CFR § 236.1009(h). The information sought relates primarily to PTC implementation regulatory compliance and is authorized by statute and regulation. Thus, there are no questions of personal or sensitive nature.

12. Estimate of burden hours for information collected.

Craft/Position	Total Annual Burden Hours	Total Compensation/Hour	Total Yearly Cost
Railroad Data Manager	38	$150	$5700
Railroad Data Analysts	38	$110	$4180
	76	Yearly Total	$9880

*FRA estimates that it will take an average of 10 minutes for railroads to complete the questionnaire. This estimate includes the time to review instructions, search data sources, gather and maintain the information needed and complete, review, and transmit the questionnaire to FRA. This 10 minute is based on the static nature of the PTC questionnaire and is an average over time. Initially, it might take some railroads more than 10 minutes to complete the questionnaire. Later on and with ever increasing familiarity with the unchanging questionnaire, it will take railroads less time to complete. So, an average of 10 minutes encompasses both initial months and later months completing the questionnaire.

**Note: The annual burden hours assumes 10 minutes per census questionnaire per railroad split evenly between a manager and data analyst. Given that there are 38 railroads being required to complete the questionnaire and that data will be updated monthly, this results in 456 questionnaires per year, which results in an annual burden of 4,560 minutes or 76 hours. In addition, sample size considerations are not applicable to this census as the entire population of railroads currently affected by the PTC regulation is required to complete the census. It is assumed that one manager and one data analyst will be responsible for responding to the questionnaire per railroad.

13. Estimate of total annual costs to respondents.

There will be no additional cost burden to respondents beyond the burden listed in the answer to question number 12 and those customary and usual expenses associated with normal daily business operations. There will be no need for respondents to keep any records associated with this data collection effort.

14. Estimate of Cost to Federal Government.

Resources	Hours	$ Fully Loaded per Hour	Total
FRA Supervisor	52	$120	$6,240
FRA Data Analyst	520	$100	$52,000
IT Contractor			$5,000
Total Annual Cost			$63,240

* Contractor to develop census questions and on line resource for hosting the census questionnaire. Included in contractor costs are the costs for on-line web hosting of the survey.

As this is an electronic data collection effort, beyond the labor costs summarized in the table above, there are no additional equipment, printing, or support staff costs. The labor costs summarized in the table include overhead expenses. The labor hours are based on actual hours spent for similar data collection efforts.

15. Explanation of program changes and adjustments.

This proposed census is a new collection of information. The total estimated burden for this proposed collection of information is 76 hours per year and the estimated total number of responses is 456. By definition, the entire submission is a program change.

As noted in the answer to question number 13, there is no additional cost to respondents besides the costs itemized in the answer to question number 12 above.

16. Publication of results of data collection.

The main purpose of the data collection is for the regulating agency (FRA) to know of the status of PTC implementation and to be able to monitor affected railroads progress on an ongoing monthly basis. The data being collected is not meant for public dissemination and, as such, the individual railroad data will not be published in an official FRA / DOT report. Given the Congress’s request to receive information regarding the railroad industry’s PTC implementation status, it is likely that some of this information may be reported at an aggregate level. However, each individual railroad’s data will not be attributable in such a report.

Some of the data may be obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). However, the railroads responding to the census questionnaire may choose to have some or all of their responses flagged as being confidential / proprietary. Any data collected that the respective railroad has indicated is confidential / proprietary will not be subject to a FOIA request.

Data collection will begin immediately after OMB approval, and will be collected monthly thereafter. The monthly data collection will continue until PTC has been fully implemented across the country. This complete implementation will likely be achieved by 2020.

17. Approval for not displaying the expiration date for OMB approval.

Once OMB approval is received, the FRA will publish the approval number for these information collection requirements in the Federal Register.

18. Exception to certification statement.

No exceptions are taken at this time.

Meeting Department of Transportation (DOT) Strategic Goals

This information collection supports the top DOT strategic goal, namely transportation safety. Without this proposed collection of information, it is highly likely that both the statutory and regulatory December 31, 2015, deadline for PTC implementation will be missed by almost all of the 38 affected railroads. As a consequence, railroad safety throughout the country will be considerably negatively impacted with additional accidents/incidents, most notably derailments, almost certain to occur and bring with them more train crew and passengers injuries and fatalities as well as property damage and possible environmental harm and harm to residents of affected local communities.

The recent overspeed derailment at Frankford Junction outside Philadelphia highlighted the dramatic difference that Positive Train Control can make in averting rail disasters. On Tuesday, May 12, 2015, Amtrak passenger train 188 (Train 188) was traveling timetable east (northbound) from Washington, D.C., to New York City. Aboard the train were five Amtrak crew members, three Amtrak employees, and 250 passengers. Train 188 consisted of a locomotive in the lead and seven passenger cars trailing. Shortly after 9:20 p.m., the train derailed while traveling through a curve at Frankford Junction in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As a result of the accident, eight persons were killed, and more than 200 passengers were seriously injured.

The proposed collection of information is aimed at determining the implementation status of PTC nationwide and facilitating railroads execution of it to meet the December 31, 2015, in any way possible. The new technology of Positive Train Control (PTC) is designed to prevent the human and mechanical errors that have caused or contributed to various recent train collisions and train derailments that have had such a dramatically high cost in terms of human lives lost and serious injuries incurred by scores of passengers and train crews, damage to the daily operations of passenger and freight railroads, high monetary losses for shippers/insurance companies and lost product for oil companies and consumers, and substantial harm to the environment and surrounding communities.

In sum, this proposed collection of information is essential to and aids both DOT and FRA in their critical primary mission of promoting and enhancing ground transportation/rail safety throughout the country for the safe, reliable, and efficient movement of people and goods now and in the future.

11