The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has announced that it will reestablish the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC), an important venue for labor, management, shippers and federal regulators to collaboratively discuss and develop rules to improve safety in the railroad industry.
The announcement was published in the Federal Register on January 13. The restructured RSAC will contain fewer members than in the past and membership on the committee will be determined by FRA’s administrator. BLET, which has long served on the RSAC, will reapply for its seat at the table to continue advocating for locomotive engineers and trainmen in the safety process.
The RSAC was first established on March 25, 1996, as a forum for collaborative rulemaking and program development. The goal is to generate advice and recommendations for the development and revision of railroad safety regulations reflecting the perspectives of experts with different perspectives.