Notice2025-11277
Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
June 20, 2025
Issuing agencies
Transportation DepartmentFederal Railroad Administration
Abstract
Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) and its implementing regulations, FRA seeks approval of the Information Collection Request (ICR) summarized below. Before submitting this ICR to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval, FRA is soliciting public comment on specific aspects of the activities identified in the ICR.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 117 (Friday, June 20, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 117 (Friday, June 20, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26408-26409]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-11277]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
[Docket No. FRA-2025-0006]
Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment
Request
AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of
Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) and its
implementing regulations, FRA seeks approval of the Information
Collection Request (ICR) summarized below. Before submitting this ICR
to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval, FRA is
soliciting public comment on specific aspects of the activities
identified in the ICR.
DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before
August 19, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed ICR
should be submitted on <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> to the docket, Docket No.
FRA-2025-0006. All comments received will be posted without change to
the docket, including any personal information provided. Please refer
to the assigned OMB control number (2130-0630) in any correspondence
submitted. FRA will summarize comments received in response to this
notice in a subsequent notice, made available to the public, and
include them in its information collection submission to OMB for
approval.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Arlette Mussington, Information
Collection Clearance Officer, at email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#b2d3c0ded7c6c6d79cdfc7c1c1dbdcd5c6dddcf2d6ddc69cd5ddc4"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e382918f86979786cd8e9690908a8d84978c8da3878c97cd848c95">[email protected]</span></a> or
telephone: (571) 609-1285 or Ms. Joanne Swafford, Information
Collection Clearance Officer, at email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#3c56535d525259124f4b5d5a5a534e587c585348125b534a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="bad0d5dbd4d4df94c9cddbdcdcd5c8defaded5ce94ddd5cc">[email protected]</span></a> or
telephone: (757) 897-9908.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520, and its
implementing regulations, 5 CFR part 1320, require Federal agencies to
provide 60 days' notice to the public to allow comment on information
collection activities before seeking OMB approval of the activities.
See 44 U.S.C. 3506, 3507; 5 CFR 1320.8 through 1320.12. Specifically,
FRA invites interested parties to comment on the following ICR
regarding: (1) whether the information collection activities are
necessary for FRA to properly execute its functions, including whether
the activities will have practical utility; (2) the accuracy of FRA's
estimates of the burden of the information collection activities,
including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used to
determine the estimates; (3) ways for FRA to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information being collected; and (4) ways
for FRA to minimize the burden of information collection activities on
the public, including the use of automated collection techniques or
other forms of information technology. See 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A); 5
CFR 1320.8(d)(1).
FRA believes that soliciting public comment may reduce the
administrative and paperwork burdens associated with the collection of
information that Federal regulations mandate. In summary, comments
received will advance three objectives: (1) reduce reporting burdens;
(2) organize information collection requirements in a ``user-friendly''
format to improve the use of such information; and (3) accurately
assess the resources expended to retrieve and produce information
requested. See 44 U.S.C. 3501.
The summary below describes the ICR that FRA will submit for OMB
clearance as the PRA requires:
Title: Inquiry into Blocked Highway-Rail Grade Crossings Throughout
the United States.
OMB Control Number: 2130-0630.
Abstract: In 2020, FRA created a dedicated website allowing the
public and law enforcement personnel to use web-based forms to
voluntarily submit information about blocked highway-rail grade
crossings to FRA.\1\ Under the currently approved ICR, users provide
information regarding the location, date, time, duration, and immediate
impacts of highway-rail grade crossings blocked by slow-moving or
stationary trains. FRA uses the data collected to gain a more complete
picture of where, when, and for how long blocked crossings occur, and
what impacts result from those incidents.\2\ Additionally, FRA uses the
information to respond to inquiries from members of Congress and their
constituents. FRA also uses the information gathered to facilitate
meetings, outreach, and other solutions for stakeholders to reduce or
eliminate blocked crossing concerns.
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\1\ Access to the web-based form used by the public is
unrestricted.
\2\ The data collection is not designed to provide a
representative sample or create generalizable statistics.
Additionally, the data gathered from this collection is not suitable
for use in budgetary requests or regulatory proposals.
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Upon accessing these web-based forms, users are notified there are
no Federal laws or regulations that specifically address the length of
time a train may occupy a highway-rail grade crossing. Users are also
notified that information submitted will not be forwarded to a
railroad, State, or local agency, and will only be used for data
collection purposes to determine the locations, times, and impacts of
blocked crossings.
On November 15, 2021, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of
2021 (Pub. L. 117 58) ``IIJA'' was enacted. In addition to mandating
that FRA establish an online portal and corresponding database to
receive information regarding blocked highway-rail grade crossings, as
enacted, section 22404 of the IIJA ``encourages each complainant to
report the blocked crossing to the relevant railroad.'' Subsequently,
FRA modified the existing web-based forms by adding one question,
``have you contacted the railroad?'' Otherwise, the rest of the
questions on the web-based forms remained the same.\3\
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\3\ The average time per response will remain the same at 3
minutes per response since the modification made pursuant to the
IIJA is de minimis.
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FRA takes the problem of blocked crossings very seriously, due to
their potential impact on safety and on citizens' quality of life.
There are potential safety concerns with crossings that are blocked by
trains. For instance, pedestrians may crawl under or through stationary
trains. Also, emergency response vehicles and first responders may be
delayed when responding to an incident or transporting persons to a
hospital. In addition, drivers may take more risks, such as driving
around lowered gates at a crossing or attempting to beat a train
through a crossing without gates, to avoid a lengthy delay if they are
aware that trains routinely block a crossing for extended periods of
time. There are also potential economic impacts that affect businesses,
such as stores or restaurants not being accessible to their customer
base for an extended amount of time. Finally, highway-rail grade
crossings that are blocked for extended time periods may create
societal nuisances, such as roadway congestion, delayed mail service
and deliveries, disrupted school and work arrival and dismissal, or
missed appointments.
In this 60-day notice, FRA has made adjustments that increased the
previously approved burden estimate by 543 hours. This increase, after
a thorough review, is due to the increased
[[Page 26409]]
number of users submitting information about blocked crossings through
the web-based form. In a July 2022 memorandum,\4\ DOT issued
requirements for the implementation of an enhanced Multi-Factor
Authentication (MFA), making the use of a username and password no
longer acceptable on public applications. Additionally, based on data
analyses taken from prior years' submission, FRA found that usage of
the restricted-access, dedicated web link for law enforcement users
with a username and password was much lower than anticipated. Due to
the observed low usage of the dedicated law enforcement web link and
the large burden associated with providing all law enforcement and
first responders with the required DOT email address to use MFA, FRA
determined that maintaining the restricted access, dedicated web link
was not administratively practical. Subsequently, FRA removed it and
all blocked crossing information is now being submitted using the
unrestricted web-based form for the public.
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\4\ See U.S. Department of Transportation Implementation
Guidance for Multi-Factor Authentication for Users of Information
Systems and Applications, ITIM 2022-006, July 8, 2022.
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This submission reflects information received though the web-based
form available for use by all members of the public, such as law
enforcement, first responders and concerned citizens.
Type of Request: Extension with change of a previously approved
collection.
Affected Public: General public.
Form(s): FRA F 6180.175.
Respondent Universe: General public.
Frequency of Submission: On occasion.
Reporting Burden:
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\5\ For the value of the public's time, FRA used the civilian
average hourly rate of $46.84 that includes an average benefit rate
of 31.1 percent ($14.59) from the Department of Labor, Bureau of
Labor Statistics' December 17, 2024, Employer Costs for Employee
Compensation.
\6\ For railroad respondents, the dollar equivalent cost is
derived from the 2023 Surface Transportation Board Full Year Wage
A&B data series using employee group 200 (Professional
Administrative Staff) hourly wage rate of $50.93. The total burden
wage rate (straight time plus 75%) used in the table is $89.13
($50.93 x 1.75 = $89.13).
\7\ Totals may not add up due to rounding.
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Total annual Average time per Total annual Total cost
Information collection responses response burden hours equivalent
(A) (B)..................... (C) = A * B (D) = C * wage
rate
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General public via the form on the FRA 26,711 3 minutes............... 1,335.55 \5\ $62,557.17
website.
Monthly meeting between FRA and Class 12 20 hours................ 240 \6\ 21,391.20
I railroads on blocked crossings--
Review of blocked crossings data from
FRA's blocked crossings portal.
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Total \7\......................... 26,723 N/A..................... 1,576 83,948.37
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Total Estimated Annual Responses: 26,723.
Total Estimated Annual Burden: 1,576 Hours.
Total Estimated Annual Burden Hour Dollar Cost Equivalent:
$84,948.37.
FRA informs all interested parties that it may not conduct or
sponsor, and a respondent is not required to respond to, a collection
of information that does not display a currently valid OMB control
number.
Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520.
Christopher S. Van Nostrand,
Deputy Chief Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2025-11277 Filed 6-18-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P
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