Mark Lindsey
Chief Counsel
Federal Railroad Administration
U.S. Department of Transportation
400 Seventh Street, SW Room 8201
Washington, DC 20590
Dear Mr. Lindsey:
This letter is to confirm the Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) intent for rulemaking on passenger equipment safety standards.(1) In comments submitted for the docket on July 9, 1996, we expressed concern that the tourist railways were not represented on the working group developing this rule.
The Office of Advocacy has been informed by FRA staff that the agency is convening a separate working group for tourist and excursions railroads and that separate requirements will be developed for this class of railroads.
Under §609 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act(2), agencies are compelled to assure that small entities have been given an opportunity to participate in rulemaking. The working group activity will be an appropriate mechanism to seek small entities' views and recommendations. You also may want to ask small businesses to participate in the group via correspondence because of the expense of traveling to meetings.
We are very pleased by these plans, and if we can be of any assistance, please contact me or Anita Drummond of my staff at (202) 205-6533.
Sincerely,
Jere W. Glover
Chief Counsel for Advocacy
END NOTES
1. Fed. Reg., Vol. 61, No. 117, pp. 30672-30724 (June 17, 1996)
2. 5 U.S.C. §§601-612