Part 271–Risk Reduction Program Available to ASLRRA Members

The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) is offering Class II and III members access to its new Part 271–Risk Reduction Program, which is described as “a complete, pre-approved program to help railroads improve safety and comply with federal requirements.”

ASLRRA’s staff and Safety and Training Committee and the Part 271 Working Group spent approximately 10 months to complete the Risk Reduction Program, from inception to the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) recent approval, the association reported in its June 14 Views & News newsletter. ASLRRA is providing a plan template, featuring a fatigue management plan; forms for risk assessment, plan effectiveness and annual assessment; and a plan training program on its website, as well as all corresponding documents.

“With ASLRRA’s resources, railroads that are identified by the FRA as demonstrating inadequate safety performance or railroads that volunteer to join the program have a complete package with supporting documents, which saves the organization time and money,” according to ASLRRA, which noted that program questions should be directed to its SVP, Safety, Regulatory, and Environmental Policy Jo Strang or VP, Safety & Compliance J.R. Gelnar.

FRA in early 2020 issued a final rule—49 CFR Part 271 [Docket No. FRA–2009–0038, Notice No. 7] RIN 2130–AC11—launching the Risk Reduction Program“to support an increasing standard of safety for the nation’s freight railroads.”

The rulemaking, which implements a mandate required by the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008, requires “all Class I freight railroads and Class II and III freight railroads with inadequate safety performance to develop and implement a Risk Reduction Program (RRP) to improve the safety of its operations,” the rulemaking says. “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 involves developing plans to mitigate, if not eliminate, that risk. Each railroad has flexibility to tailor an RRP to its specific railroad operations, shall implement its RRP under a written RRP plan that FRA has reviewed and approved, and shall conduct an annual internal assessment of its RRP. FRA will audit a railroad’s RRP processes and procedures. Other railroads may proactively submit RRP Plans to FRA for approval. Railroads must involve employees in implementation of the RRP including identification of risks and hazards.”

FRA on Sept. 8, 2022 issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to solicit comments on whether it should retain or remove a provision of the RRP final rule, which is still under consideration.