On October 1, 2024, the Federal Railroad Administration published a final rule in the Federal Register amending the regulations that govern the investigations and codifying the FRA’s policy for gathering information from and allowing participation of various individuals during an accident investigation. This rule is effective October 31, 2024, unless the FRA withdraws it prior to that date.
As noted in the rule, the FRA investigates rail accidents/incidents which result in serious injury to an individual or railroad property. Sometimes there are joint or additional investigations by the National Transportation Safety Board, but this new rule applies only to the FRA.
In 2021, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act required that the Secretary of Transportation create a process for FRA investigations and to determine when and how to gather information from railroad carriers, contractors, employees or representatives of employees when investigating railroad accidents and incidents. The FRA worked together with unions and the railroads to craft their policy document, which is intended to allow participation by those most impacted by FRA investigations, called “stakeholders.” Stakeholders are identified as:
…railroads, contractors, employees, representatives of employees, industry associations, academia, the Volpe Center, and any other persons or entities FRA determines to be relevant.
§225.31(b)
The participation of these stakeholders may include being present at the rail investigation site, submitting documentary evidence or participating in meetings with other stakeholders and FRA representatives.
The purpose of the rule is to provide efficiency and transparency, though it does prohibit those participating from giving out information from the investigation to anyone not considered a “stakeholder” in the investigation until the investigative report is published. The FRA may additionally designate certain information as confidential.
