Risk Reduction Program

Title 49 CFR 271 requires each Class I freight railroad and each freight railroad with ISP to develop and implement Risk Reduction Programs (RRPs) to improve the safety of its operations and ensure compliance with the rule. An RRP is a comprehensive, system-oriented approach to safety that determines a railroad operation’s level of risk by identifying and analyzing applicable hazards, and it involves developing plans to mitigate, if not eliminate, that risk. A railroad has flexibility to tailor an RRP to its specific railroad operations. An RRP will be implemented under a written RRP plan submitted to FRA for approval. Under this information collection FRA will be auditing each railroad’s RRP for compliance. Additionally, FRA will use the information collected to improve safety through structured, proactive processes to systematically evaluate railroad safety hazards on their systems and manage the risks associated with those hazards to reduce the number and rates of railroad accidents/incidents, injuries, and fatalities. This information collection is mandatory, submitted as needed, and there is a requirement for record keeping.

The latest form for Risk Reduction Program expires 2026-12-31 and can be found here.