Request for Information Regarding FRA's Public Blocked Crossing Portal Publication: Federal Register Signing Official: Carolyn R. Hayward-Williams Agency/Department: Department of Transportation Date: 14 June 2022

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 114 (Tuesday, June 14, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36036-36037]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-12785]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Docket No. FRA-2022-0054]


Request for Information Regarding FRA's Public Blocked Crossing 
Portal

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Request for information (RFI).

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SUMMARY: Section 22404 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, 
also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), requires FRA to 
maintain a blocked crossing portal to receive information from the 
public regarding blocked highway-rail grade crossings. Section 22404 of 
BIL also requires FRA to submit a report that describes the nature of 
blocked highway-rail grade crossings, FRA's process for reviewing and 
using information received through the blocked crossing portal, FRA's 
engagement with affected parties, and whether the blocked crossing 
portal continues to be an effective method to collect blocked crossing 
information and what changes could improve its effectiveness. This RFI 
is soliciting comments on how FRA's engagement with affected parties 
and changes to the portal and related operations can improve the 
effectiveness of the portal.

DATES: Written comments on this RFI must be received on or before 
August 15, 2022. FRA will consider comments filed after this date to 
the extent practicable.

ADDRESSES: 
    Comments: Comments related to this RFI may be submitted by going to 
https://www.regulations.gov and following the online instructions for 
submitting comments.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and 
docket number (FRA-2022-0054) for this RFI. Please note that comments 
submitted online via www.regulations.gov are not immediately posted to 
the docket. Several business days may elapse after a comment has been 
submitted online before it is posted to the docket.
    Privacy Act: DOT solicits comments from the public to better inform 
its regulatory process. DOT posts these comments, without edit, to 
www.regulations.gov, as described in the system of records notice, DOT/
ALL-14 FDMS, accessible through www.dot.gov/privacy. To facilitate 
comment tracking and response, commenters are encouraged to provide 
their name, or the name of their organization; however, submission of 
names is completely optional. Whether or not commenters identify 
themselves, all timely comments will be fully considered. If you wish 
to provide comments containing proprietary or confidential information, 
please contact the agency for alternate submission instructions.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read comments received, please 
visit https://www.regulations.gov and follow the online instructions 
for accessing the docket.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information related to 
this RFI, please contact James Payne, Staff Director, Highway-Rail 
Crossing and Trespasser Programs Division (telephone: 202-493-6005, 
email: james.payne@dot.gov).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 2019, FRA created a dedicated blocked 
crossing portal website (https://www.fra.dot.gov/blockedcrossings/) to 
allow the public to voluntarily submit information about blocked 
crossings to FRA.\1\ Users of FRA's blocked crossing portal are asked 
to provide information about the location, date, time, duration, and 
immediate impacts of each blocked crossing incident. FRA uses the data 
collected to gain information about where and when blocked crossing 
incidents are occurring (as well as the duration and immediate impacts 
of these incidents). FRA does not, however, forward the information 
collected to a railroad, State, or local agency for response.
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    \1\ Law enforcement personnel can also submit information about 
blocked crossings to FRA through a separate portal, access to which 
is restricted to law enforcement personnel with usernames and 
passwords managed by FRA.
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    In addition to mandating that FRA maintain an online portal and 
corresponding database to receive and store information about blocked 
highway-rail grade crossings, section 22404(i) of BIL requires FRA to 
submit a report to Congress that discusses, among other things, whether 
FRA's blocked crossing portal continues to be an effective method to 
collect blocked crossing information, as well as changes that could be 
made to improve its effectiveness. Specifically, section 22404 of BIL 
requires FRA to submit a report that describes: (1) frequent and long-
duration blocked highway-rail grade crossings, including the locations, 
dates, durations, and impacts resulting from such occurrences; (2) 
FRA's process for verifying the accuracy of the complaints submitted to 
the blocked crossing portal; (3) FRA's use of the data compiled by the 
blocked crossing portal to assess the underlying causes and overall 
impacts of blocked crossings; (4) FRA's engagement with affected 
parties to identify and facilitate solutions to frequent and long-
duration blocked highway-rail grade crossings identified by the blocked 
crossing portal; and (5) whether the blocked crossing portal continues 
to be an effective method to collect blocked crossing information and 
what changes could improve its effectiveness.

[[Page 36037]]

    Therefore, FRA is issuing this RFI to solicit public comment on 
changes that could be made to FRA's blocked crossing portal to improve 
its effectiveness. Specifically, FRA is looking for public comment on 
how the information reported to the blocked crossing portal can be used 
to improve safety at grade crossings and the well-being of affected 
communities.
    FRA is also seeking public comment and feedback on additional 
information that should be captured by the blocked crossing portal. In 
particular, FRA would like to know what additional information the 
public and industry would like to see captured on this site. In 
addition, FRA would like to know how it can improve the user experience 
of the blocked crossing portal website.
    Interested parties are invited to submit comments to the electronic 
docket in response to this RFI. Please refer to the ADDRESSES section 
above for guidance on how to submit comments to the electronic docket.

    Issued in Washington, DC.
Carolyn R. Hayward-Williams,
Director, Office of Railroad Systems and Technology.
[FR Doc. 2022-12785 Filed 6-13-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P