Locomotive Image and Audio Recording Devices for Passenger Trains PIA

Section 11411 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act, Pub. L. 114‐94, 129 Stat. 1686 (Dec. 4, 2015) (FAST Act), codified in the Federal railroad safety laws at 49 U.S.C. 20168, requires FRA (as the Secretary of Transportation’s delegate) to promulgate regulations requiring each railroad carrier that provides regularly-scheduled intercity rail passenger or commuter rail passenger transportation to the public to install inward‐and outward‐facing image recording devices (cameras) in all controlling locomotives of passenger trains. In light of the FAST Act mandate and consistent with the Federal railroad safety laws at 49 U.S.C. 20103, relevant National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommendations, discussions of the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC) Recording Devices Working Group, and recent accidents and other railroad safety incidents to require the installation of inward‐ and outward‐facing recording devices in all lead locomotives of passenger trains to promote railroad safety. In addition, FRA is proposing to require that these devices record while a lead locomotive is in motion, and retain the data in a crashworthy memory module. The notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) does not propose to require recording devices in freight locomotives. For a summary of the proposed camera functions in the NPRM, See the link below or Appendix A to this Privacy Impact Assessment.