Railroaders place to shoot the shit.

In a move likely also to affect conductor certification when implemented in 2010, the Federal Railroad Administration proposes limits on a carrier's ability to reclassify a locomotive engineer's certification to a more restrictive class.

The FRA also proposes to limit a carrier's ability to revoke an engineer's certification for reasons other than are narrowly defined in federal regulations.

The proposed revisions to FRA safety regulations, published at 49 C.F.R. 240 (known as Part 240 regulations) follow aggressive actions against engineers by an unidentified railroad -- actions the FRA says violate the intent of federal safety laws and FRA safety regulations.

The public has until March 2 to file written comments to the proposed FRA revisions of its regulations.

Engineer certification was ordered by Congress in 1988 through the Rail Safety Improvement Act. Under the law, the FRA determines certification standards for locomotive engineers (as it will for certification of conductors in 2010 under provisions of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008).

Under the 1988 law, each railroad is responsible for training engineers and certifying they meet minimum federal standards, which include proper application of a railroad's rules and practices for the safe operation of locomotives or trains in the most demanding service the engineer will perform.

Certified engineers must undergo periodic retesting, and they risk having their certification revoked if they fail to comply with the railroad's rules and practices deemed essential for the safe operation of trains as specified in the federal regulations.

FRA regulations permit a carrier to revoke an engineers certification for only six specific types of violations of operating rules and practices:

1) Failure to control a locomotive or train in accordance with a signal indication that requires a complete stop before passing it;

2) Failure to adhere to limitations concerning train speed when the speed exceeds the maximum authorized limit by at least 10 miles per hour or a violation of restricted speed that causes a reportable accident or incident;

3) Failure to adhere to certain federally required procedures for the safe use of train or engine brakes;

4) Occupying a main track or a segment of main track without proper authority or permission;

5) Failure to comply with prohibitions against tampering with locomotive mounted safety devices or knowingly operating a train with an unauthorized disabled safety device;

6) Incidents of noncompliance with the regulations regarding the use or possession of alcohol and drugs.

In explaining its proposed revisions, the FRA said:

"Due to the potentially severe consequences to the individual resulting from the denial of certification, the denial of recertification, or the revocation of a certificate (e.g., making it more difficult to be certified by another U.S. railroad ... or being temporarily banned from operating a locomotive or train for any railroad operating in the U.S.), FRA regulations require each railroad to make a deliberative decision and provide for considerable FRA oversight.

"With respect to deficiencies in an engineer's performance that do not rise to the level of revocation, each railroad retains a measure of discretion to fashion, within the context of collective bargaining agreements, appropriate responses, including disciplinary sanctions, to those types of deficiencies.

"However, in exercising that discretion, at least one Class I railroad has handled engineer performance deficiencies in a manner not contemplated by FRA when it implemented the engineer certification regulation and not used by the industry generally.

"The practices of this railroad included reclassifying the certificates of some of its train service engineers to student engineer certificates when it discovered deficiencies in the engineers' performance not specifically identified [in FRA regulations].

"The consequences of that Class I railroads policy -- inter alia, engineers being required to exchange their train service certificates for student engineer certificates based on deficiencies not specified [in FRA regulations] without receiving a hearing pursuant to [FRA regulations] and the potential for disparate treatment of similarly situated engineers -- were simply not anticipated by FRA when it originally issued the regulations ...

"Consequently, FRA believes that modification of the existing regulation is necessary to address this issue ...

"First, FRA proposes to prohibit the practice of reclassifying any type of engineer's certification to a more restrictive class of certificate or to a student engineer certificate during the period in which the certification is otherwise valid.

"Second, FRA proposes to clarify [its regulations] to ensure that all parties understand that revocation of an engineers certificate may only occur for the [six] reasons specified in the regulation.

"Third, FRA proposes to require each railroad to identify the potential actions it may take in the event that a person fails a skills performance test or that the railroad finds deficiencies with an engineer's performance during an operational monitoring observation or unannounced compliance test or otherwise becomes aware of such deficiencies.

The FRA published it notice of the proposed revisions in the Dec. 31 issue of the Federal Register. To read the Federal Register notice, click here.