Transportation Department, Federal Railroad Administration
FRA proposes to amend its freight car safety regulations to repeal the requirement for special approval to place or continue a freight car in service if it is more than 50 years old or equipped with any design or type component listed in appendix A to this part. Instead, railroads would be able to continue or place such "overage" cars in service after complying with uniform safety requirements. Those requirements would include comprehensive shop inspections by a designated inspector, single-car air brake testing, recordkeeping, and, as appropriate, stenciling. The proposed requirements are consistent with the most important conditions that FRA now requires through the existing special approval process. Repealing the special approval process and replacing it with the proposed, uniform requirements would provide equivalent safety outcomes while reducing burdens on railroads and eliminating the added delay involved in petitioning FRA for a special approval.
Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of Transportation Federal Railroad Administration 49 CFR Part 215 [Docket No. FRA-2025-0117] RIN 2130-AD46 AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of Transportation (DOT). ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM). SUMMARY: FRA proposes to amend its freight car safety regulations to repeal the requirement for special approval to place or continue a freight car in service if it is more than 50 years old or equipped with any design or type component listed in appendix A to this part. Instead, railroads would be able to continue or place such “overage” cars in service after complying with uniform safety requirements. Those requirements would include comprehensive shop inspections by a designated inspector, single-car air brake testing, recordkeeping, and, as appropriate, stenciling. The proposed requirements are consistent with the most important conditions that FRA now requires through the existing special approval process. Repealing the special approval process and replacing it with the proposed, uniform requirements would provide equivalent safety outcomes while reducing burdens on railroads and eliminating the added delay involved in petitioning FRA for a special approval. DATES: Comments on the proposed rule must be received by September 2, 2025. FRA may consider comments received after that date, but only to the extent practicable. ADDRESSES: Comments: Comments related to Docket No. FRA-2025-0117 may be submitted by going to http…
Other Federal Register documents from the same docket.
Citation: 90 FR 28633
