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Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of Transportation (DOT).
Notice.
This document provides the public notice that St. Mary's Railway West (SMW), petitioned FRA to extend relief related to its participation in FRA's Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3 RS) Program.
FRA must receive comments on the petition by August 10, 2026. FRA will consider comments received after that date to the extent practicable.
Comments: Comments related to this docket 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. All comments received will be posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov; this includes any personal information. Please see the Privacy Act heading in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document for Privacy Act information related to any submitted comments or materials.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or comments received, go to https://www.regulations.gov and follow the online instructions for accessing the docket.
Ronald O. Simpson, Railroad Safety Specialist, FRA Safety Partnerships Division, telephone: 314-202-2971, email: ronald.o.simpson@dot.gov.
Under part 211 of title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), this document ( printed page 34888) provides the public notice that by letter dated April 7, 2026, SMW petitioned FRA for an extension of a waiver of compliance from certain provisions of the Federal railroad safety regulations contained at 49 CFR part 240 (Qualification and Certification of Locomotive Engineers) and part 242 (Qualification and Certification of Conductors). FRA assigned the petition Docket Number FRA-2021-0079.
Specifically, SMW requests an extension of the relief required to continue its participation in FRA's C3 RS Program. SMW seeks to continue shielding reporting employees from mandatory punitive sanctions that would otherwise arise as provided in §§ 240.117(e)(1)-(4); 240.305(a)(1)-(4) and (a)(6); 240.307; 242.403(b), (c), (e)(1)-(4), (e)(6)-(11), (f)(1)-(2); and 242.407. The C3 RS Program encourages certified operating crew members to report close calls and protects the employees and the railroad from discipline or sanctions arising from the incidents reported per the C3 RS Implementing Memorandum of Understanding (IMOU).
In support of its request, SMW states that it continues to support the C3 RS Program's safety objectives, including “confidential reporting, identification of hazards and operation risks, and implementation of corrective measures designed to improve safety performance.”
A copy of the petition, as well as any written communications concerning the petition, is available for review online at www.regulations.gov.
Interested parties are invited to participate in these proceedings by submitting written views, data, or comments. FRA does not anticipate scheduling a public hearing in connection with these proceedings since the facts do not appear to warrant a hearing. If any interested party desires an opportunity for oral comment and a public hearing, they should notify FRA, in writing, before the end of the comment period and specify the basis for their request.
Communications received by August 10, 2026 will be considered by FRA before final action is taken. Comments received after that date will be considered if practicable.
Anyone can search the electronic form of any written communications and comments received into any of FRA's dockets by the name of the individual submitting the comment (or signing the document, if submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.). Under 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits comments from the public to inform its processes. DOT posts these comments, without edit, including any personal information the commenter provides, to www.regulations.gov, as described in the system of records notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at https://www.transportation.gov/privacy. See also https://www.regulations.gov/privacy-notice for the privacy notice of regulations.gov.
Issued in Washington, DC.
John Karl Alexy,
Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety, Chief Safety Officer.
[FR Doc. 2026-11516 Filed 6-8-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P
This document has a comment period that ends in 23 days. (08/10/2026) Submit a public comment