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This rulemaking will set standards for State safety oversight of rail transit systems and criteria for award of FTA grant funds to help the States develop and carry out their oversight programs.

Statement of Need:

The Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21, effective Oct. 1, 2012) made substantial changes to the program for State safety oversight of rail fixed guideway public transportation systems, and created a new program of Federal financial assistance to the States for the purpose of conducting their oversight of rail transit system safety. This rulemaking will flesh out the statutory changes to the program, and set the process for making grants of Federal funding to the States.

Summary of the Legal Basis:

49 U.S.C. 5329(e)(9) requires the Secretary to issue regulations to carry out the State safety oversight program for rail fixed guideway public transportation systems.

Alternatives:

This rulemaking will amend the regulations at 49 CFR part 659 that have been in place since 1995. The single most important change this rulemaking entails is the flexible, scalable Safety Management Systems (SMS) approach that the U.S. Dept. of Transportation is applying to help ensure safety in all modes of transportation-SMS can be tailored both to the size, complexity, and mode of operation for a transit system, and the State agency that is overseeing the safety of a rail transit system.

Anticipated Costs and Benefits:

This rulemaking will not entail any significant change to the annualized monetary costs and benefits of the State safety oversight rules that have been in place since 1995. The costs and benefits will be assessed during the development of the NPRM, but it's critical to note that State safety oversight of rail transit systems will no longer be an unfunded mandate; for the first time, under MAP-21, Federal funding will be available to the States to assist them in conducting their oversight, and this rulemaking will set the process for making the FTA grants to the States.

Risks:

This rulemaking will not regulate any entities other than States that have rail fixed guideway public transportation systems and the State safety oversight Agencies that conduct oversight of those rail transit systems. The Federal funding for State safety oversight will be apportioned by formula, based on the statutory criteria set forth in 49 U.S.C. 5329(e)(6)(B)(i), thus, this rulemaking poses no risks for the regulated communities other than the risks inherent in conducting the oversight of the safety of the rail transit systems for which they are responsible.