FRA Proposed Rulemaking: Qualification and Certification of Locomotive Engineers

By Christie Welsh

On May 9, 2019, Federal Railroad Administration (“FRA”) proposed to revise its regulation governing the qualification and certification of locomotive engineers (49 CFR §240) to make that regulation consistent with FRA’s regulation for the qualification and certification of conductors (49 CFR §242).

FRA expects this rulemaking will reduce the railroad industry’s overall regulatory paperwork and cost burden without affecting safety on the nation’s railroad system. Further, FRA expects the revised regulation will benefit individual locomotive engineers because it will streamline the process for certification to match the certification of conductors.

FRA’s Proposed Rulemaking seeks to amend various sections of the certification of locomotive engineer regulation, including:

• Program submission process;
• Engineer and conductor petitions for review with a single FRA review board; and
• Filing requirements for petitions to the single FRA review board.

Written comments on the proposed rule must be received by July 8, 2019. To review the entirety of the proposed regulation revisions, please see the attached May 9, 2019 Federal Register issue.