Interpretation Response #24-0111
Below is the interpretation response detail and a list of regulations sections applicable to this response.
Interpretation Response Details
Response Publish Date:
Company Name: Association of American Railroads
Individual Name: Michael J. Rush
Location State: DC Country: US
View the Interpretation Document
Response text:
January 2, 2025
Michael J. Rush
Senior Vice President – Safety & Operations
Association of American Railroads
425 Third St., SW
Suite 1000
Washington, DC 20024
Reference No. 24-0111
Dear Mr. Rush:
This letter is in response to your November 14, 2024, letter requesting clarification of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) applicable to the requirements for real-time electronic train consist information adopted in the HM-263 final rule.1
We have paraphrased and answered your questions as follows:
Q1. You ask for clarification regarding the requirement to include information on the point of origin and destination of the train—see § 174.26(a)(1). You seek confirmation that the requirement can be met by using the city, milepost, and/or yard name to identify the point of origin and destination of the train traveling under a single train symbol.
A1. Your understanding is correct. As noted in the final rule, the intent of this requirement is to ensure emergency responders are provided with relevant information about the point of origin and destination of the train which will aid in determination of the direction of travel.2 Providing the city, milepost, and/or yard name of origin and destination (with state, province, and country information) would comply with the requirement to provide point of origin and destination information for the train.
Please note that for movement within the same city (such as from one yard to another in Chicago, IL), providing only the city name for both the point of origin and destination will not satisfy the requirements of § 174.26(a)(1). In this case, alternative directional information such as milepost-to-milepost or yard-to-yard information would be necessary to aid in determining direction of travel. For trains with the same origin and destination point (i.e., a train that departs and returns to the same place), the data points should include directional information to indicate the direction of travel to aid emergency responders—such as providing an indication that the train is heading toward, or away from, the origin/destination city, yard, and/or milepost.
1 89 FR 52956 (June 24, 2024). Available for review at: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-06-24/pdf/2024-13474.pdf
2 See pages: 89 FR 52958, 52977, and 52983.
Q2. You describe the existing system of toll-free phone numbers posted throughout the rail system—e.g., located at grade crossings—that allow for a caller to utilize a prompt phone tree (i.e., pressing the #1 in response to a verbal prompt) to reach a railroad emergency response point of contact. You seek confirmation that such a phone system would comply with the requirements of § 174.28(a) if the system routes the caller to a person that can relay required train consist information in electronic form.
A2. Your understanding is correct. A phone tree system with verbal prompts described in your letter is an appropriate way to initiate communication with the railroad’s emergency response point of contact to obtain electronic train consist information. When determining compliance with the railroad emergency response point of contact requirements and § 174.28(a), the focus will be on whether the Federal, State, or local first responders, emergency response officials, or law enforcement personnel seeking assistance were able to reach the railroad's point of contact and receive electronic train consist information such that it is immediately available for use when needed. For instances where incidents occur away from a grade crossing where the toll-free phone number is likely not to be posted, other methods may be necessary to satisfy requirements. As discussed in the final rule,3 § 174.28(a) is a performance standard, and other methods of compliance, such as the use of a shared electronic database system, may be used to satisfy the regulations.
However, please note that the system described in your letter would not fulfill the requirement to provide proactive telephone notification of an incident to the primary Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP)—e.g., 9-1-1 call center—responsible for the area where the incident occurred and transmit electronic train consist information to them, as required in § 174.28(b).
Q3. You ask for confirmation that the word "authorized"—as in "authorized Federal, State, and local first responders, emergency response officials, and law enforcement personnel" (§ 174.28(a))—means a person who is tasked by an appropriate government authority with responding to a hazardous materials incident.
A3. Your understanding is correct. The word "authorized" also applies to a person who is tasked by an appropriate government authority to investigate a hazardous materials incident within the jurisdiction where the incident occurred. As stated in the HM-263 final rule4, the word "authorized" in the phrase "authorized Federal, State, and local first responders, emergency response officials, and law enforcement personnel" means those persons authorized by an appropriate authority—e.g., a town, city, county, state, tribal, or federal agency—to take part in the response to, or investigation of, an accident or incident involving the transportation of hazardous materials by rail within the jurisdiction where the incident occurred.
3 89 FR 52975-6.
4 89 FR 52974.
Q4. You state that railroads may not be in a position to determine whether a person is "authorized" to receive electronic train consist information. You ask whether railroads may meet the regulatory requirement in § 174.28(a) to provide electronic train consist information to "authorized Federal, State, and local first responders, emergency response officials, and law enforcement personnel" by transmitting electronic train consist information to the primary PSAP—as required by § 174.28(b)—and relying on the primary PSAP to distribute the electronic train consist information to other authorized parties.
A4. The answer is no. The requirements in § 174.28(a) and (b) are separate and distinct. Section 174.28(a) contains three requirements, specifically:
- Each railroad operating a train carrying hazardous materials must at all times maintain in electronic form, off the train, accurate train consist information as required in § 174.26.
- Each railroad must make such electronic train consist information immediately accessible at all times to its designated emergency response point of contact such that they are able to communicate train consist information to Federal, State, and local first responders, emergency response officials, and law enforcement personnel seeking assistance.
- Each railroad must also provide, using electronic communication (e.g., a software application or electronic data interchange, etc.), that electronic train consist information to authorized Federal, State, and local first responders, emergency response officials, and law enforcement personnel along the train route that could be or are involved in the response to, or investigation of, an accident, incident, or public health or safety emergency involving the rail transportation of hazardous materials such that the information is immediately available for use at the time it is needed.
In determining compliance with § 174.28(a), a determination will be made as to whether authorized Federal, State, and local first responders, emergency response officials, and law enforcement personnel received electronic train consist information at the time it was needed to respond to an emergency situation. Sole reliance on a primary PSAP to disseminate electronic train consist information to authorized Federal, State, and local first responders, emergency response officials, and law enforcement personnel creates a risk that, due to miscommunications, errors, communication infrastructure failures, or other unforeseen circumstances, critical train consist information may not be provided to those emergency responders who need it most. Railroads must be capable of providing electronic train consist information to authorized Federal, State, and local first responders, emergency response officials, and law enforcement personnel directly, in addition to the primary PSAP.
Q5. You ask what the requirement to provide electronic train consist information to authorized personnel "that could be or are involved in the response" means. You state that railroads are not able to determine what organizations are involved, or may be involved, in the response to a rail incident involving hazardous materials, and seek confirmation that a railroad may comply with this requirement by providing train consist information to the primary PSAP.
A5. See answer A4. The intention of the phrase "that could be or are involved in the response" is to ensure that emergency response organizations responding due to mutual aid agreements, or agencies responding to investigate the incident—sometimes from a large geographic distance from the site of the emergency—have access to electronic train consist information. As stated above, evaluating compliance with this requirement will focus on whether the train consist information reached authorized Federal, State, and local first responders, emergency response officials, and law enforcement personnel at the time it was needed to respond to an emergency involving the transportation of hazardous materials by rail. For instance, if an emergency response organization that is responding to a major incident due to a mutual aid agreement has not been able to receive train consist information from the incident commander due to communication issues or resource prioritization at the scene, the railroad must provide electronic train consist information directly to the mutual aid organization.5
5 See 89 FR 52973-52974 for further discussion on the intended recipients of train consist information.
Q6. You ask for confirmation of your understanding that while there are entities that need electronic train consist information immediately (e.g., the incident commander), there are other entities that do not need train consist information immediately. You seek confirmation that a railroad may deny requests to immediately provide train consist information to certain entities it determines do not need the information immediately.
A6. The answer is that you are correct that it would be appropriate to transmit electronic train consist information via email directly to an incident commander immediately upon request. PHMSA cautions railroads that making a judgement that a specific authorized Federal, State, tribal, or local first responder, emergency response official, or law enforcement personnel does not need electronic train consist information immediately during an emergency—despite a direct request for such information—could result in a failure to comply with this requirement. Meanwhile, we acknowledge that repeated requests for information from an organization to whom the railroad has already successfully provided electronic train consist information could present an undue burden on a railroad’s emergency response resources. A railroad may de-prioritize such repeated requests in order to focus response resources and attention on higher priority emergency response tasks.
Q7. You state that freight railroads often have contractual arrangements with one another that address responsibilities for handling incidents when a railroad operates a train on another railroad's track and understand that these arrangements make the notification of the track owner unnecessary. You seek confirmation of this understanding.
A7. The answer is that if the track owner is aware of the incident before, or at the same time as the railroad operating the train due to their own monitoring systems, crew reports, or other means, then the requirement to inform the track owner has been met. Additionally, while § 174.28(b)(1) assigns primary responsibility for emergency notification and electronic transmission of the train consist information to the railroad operating the train, this responsibility may be assigned to the track owner under a contractual arrangement. In such a case, the railroad operating the train must ensure that the track owner has access to all the electronic train consist information for the train and the ability to fulfill all of the requirements adopted in this rulemaking.
Q8. You state that trains transporting hazardous materials can experience incidents, such as train crew medical emergencies, crossing incidents, and trespasser/pedestrian strikes where the presence of hazardous materials in the train is not relevant to emergency response. You ask whether any incident requiring response from local emergency response agencies involving a train transporting hazardous materials triggers the requirement to perform the emergency notification and transmit electronic train consist information to the primary PSAP.
A8. The answer is no. There are certain scenarios where the presence of hazardous materials in the train consist are not relevant to emergency response to an incident, and therefore provision of electronic train consist information is not required. Examples of these types of incidents include (but are not limited to):
- Medical emergencies involving the train crew.
- Grade crossing accidents that do not involve a derailment, suspected release, or actual release of hazardous material.
- Pedestrian strikes.
When these types of incidents occur and involve a train transporting hazardous materials, we encourage railroads to communicate the presence of hazardous materials onboard the train to the emergency responders and/or primary PSAP, and work with the parties involved to communicate any relevant information about the hazardous materials on the train if specifically requested. Please note that all derailments involving a train transporting hazardous materials are subject to the requirements of this rulemaking.6
6 See 89 FR 52972 for further discussion of types of incidents and accidents requiring emergency notification.
Q9. You ask whether a software application used to provide access to electronic train consist information—such as AskRail®—must display the shipping paper information in the order as described in § 172.202(a).
A9. The answer is no. The shipping paper information required as part of the electronic train consist information—see § 174.26(a)(2)—does not need to be presented in the order specified in 49 CFR Part 172 Subpart C in order to comply with the requirements of this rulemaking. However, we encourage the presentation of this information in an easily recognizable format, such as the order of the basic description specified in § 172.202(a).
We would like to take this opportunity to address frequently asked questions (FAQs) we have received on § 174.28(b) emergency notification requirement. Specifically:
FAQ1. Can a phone call to a primary PSAP's 10-digit administrative phone number, rather than through the 9-1-1 emergency phone call system, fulfill the requirement for the emergency notification telephone call?
A1. The answer is yes. However, in order to comply with the notification requirement in § 174.28(b), the phone call must be answered by the primary PSAP. In the chaotic aftermath of a major train derailment, calls to a PSAP's administrative phone number may go unanswered in favor of answering emergency 9-1-1 calls. We encourage railroads to take this into consideration and have procedures or systems in place to ensure that the primary PSAP answers the emergency notification phone call.
FAQ2. Section 174.28(b)(1) requires that a railroad forward electronic train consist information to the primary PSAP in a form that they are capable of readily accessing. What does this mean?
A2. The answer is that the railroad must communicate with the primary PSAP during the emergency notification phone call, and then transmit the electronic train consist information to the primary PSAP in the format that the primary PSAP requests. This may involve an email, a fax, use of a software application, or other means that the primary PSAP requests. Compliance with this requirement requires the railroad to work collaboratively with the primary PSAP and successfully provide them with the electronic train consist information in the requested format. We encourage railroads to continue building strong relationships with primary PSAPs along their network to address issues of information format before an emergency situation.
I hope this information is helpful. Please contact us if we can be of further assistance.
Sincerely,
Yul Brenner Baker Jr.
Acting Chief, Standards Development Branch
Standards and Rulemaking Division
174.26(a)(1), 174.28(a), 174.28(b), 174.26, 174.28(b)(1), 172.202(a), 174.26(a)(2)