FRA Issues Final Rule for State Grade Crossing Plans

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has released a final rule requiring 40 states and the District of Columbia to implement highway/rail grade crossing action plans. The remaining ten states already have plans, as required by the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (RSIA), and must now update those plans.

FRA’s final rule (download below) is in response to a Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) mandate. It requires each state to develop and implement (or update) an action plan, which must “identify crossings that have experienced at least one accident or incident in the previous three years, multiple accidents or incidents in the previous five years, or that are determined by the state to be at high-risk for accidents or incidents,” FRA said. In addition, the action plan must “identify specific strategies for improving safety at crossings, including crossing closures or re-aligning roadways over or under railways.”

FRA’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) was published in November 2019.

The 10 states with plans—Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Ohio and Texas—were identified by FRA under RSIA as having the most crossing collisions, on average, from 2006 through 2008. In June 2010, FRA published a final rule requiring them to submit action plans to FRA for approval. Under the FAST Act, each state must now submit an updated action plan and a report to FRA describing “what it did to implement its previous action plan and how it will continue to reduce crossing safety risks,” FRA said.

Each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia are required to submit a grade crossing action plan to FRA for review and approval no later than 14 months after Dec. 14, 2020, the final rule’s publication date.

FRA said it will provide technical assistance to help states develop (or update) plans. Additionally, states may use federal funds allocated through the Federal Highway Administration’s Railway-Highway Crossing (Section 130) Program for plan work. FRA has created a State Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Action Plan webpage as a resource center for states.

“Grade crossing accidents and incidents are the second leading cause of rail-related deaths in the United States, but nearly every one of them is preventable,” FRA Administrator Ronald L. Batory said. “The action plans give states a tool to engage with federal and local partners, railroads, and rail safety advocates to identify high risk crossings and develop strategies to save lives.”

DOWNLOAD FRA’S FINAL RULE: