AAR Comments

ASSOCIATION OF
AMERICAN RAILROADS
Sarah G. Yurasko
Assistant General Counsel

August 24, 2017
Via email to: oira_submissions@omb.eop.gov
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
Office of Management and Budget
725 17th Street NW
Washington, DC 20503
Attention: FRA Desk Officer

Re: FRA Work Force Development Survey; OMB Control Number 2130-NEW
Dear FRA Desk Officer:
The Association of American Railroads (“AAR”), on behalf of itself and its member railroads,
submits the following comments in response to the Federal Railroad Administration’s (“FRA”)
Information Collection Request (“ICR”) to collect information on the current workforce in the form
of a Workforce Development (“WFD”) Survey.1 AAR is a trade association whose membership
includes freight railroads who employ 95 percent of the workers of all railroads in the United
States, who will therefore be impacted by this ICR.
In 2011, the Federal Railroad Administration (“FRA”) Office of Research, Development,
and Technology (“RD&T”) published the first edition of the “Railroad Industry Modal Profile: An
Outline of the Railroad Industry Workforce Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities” (“Modal
Profile”) in response to the DOT National Transportation Workforce Initiative. The profile
provided an assessment of the railroad workforce and identified workforce challenges facing the
industry at that time, including a focus on the risk in maintaining a viable workforce considering
the anticipated rates of attrition in the rail industry. FRA claims that to validate and further
develop the understanding of the risks identified in 2011, this WFD survey is being proposed.
In the survey’s overview, FRA claims that “it is critical that systems and processes to recruit,
train and retain a railroad industry workforce are developed, shared and implemented to support
the ever-changing needs of the industry.” Although AAR and its member railroads are dedicated
to recruiting, training, and retaining a highly-skilled workforce, we disagree with the timing of this
proposed survey.
1

See 82 Fed. Reg. 34,569 (July 25, 2017).
425 3rd Street SW; Ste 1000 I Washington, DC 20024 I P (202) 639-2504 I syurasko@aar.org

August 24, 2017
Page 2

Since the publication of the Modal Profile, FRA published a final rule on November 7, 2014,
establishing 49 CFR Part 243, Training, Qualifications, and Oversight for Safety-Related Railroad
Employees.2 This Part requires each railroad or contractor that employs one or more safetyrelated railroad employees to develop and submit a training program to FRA for approval and to
designate the minimum training qualifications for each occupational category of employee. The
rule also requires most employers to conduct periodic oversight of their employees and develop
annual written reviews of their training programs to close performance gaps. Under Part 243,
railroads are not required to submit their training plans to FRA until January 1, 2019, at the
earliest.3
Given the number of questions in the proposed survey that address the training needs of
railroad employees, FRA should wait until after the railroads have submitted their training
programs pursuant to Part 243. Indeed, many railroads are currently in the midst of developing
their training programs pursuant to the regulatory requirements. To accurately gage whether the
industry adequately provides for the training of its employees, this survey should not be
conducted until after FRA has had a chance to review the railroads’ Part 243 training programs.

Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments on this ICR.
Sincerely,

Sarah Yurasko

2
3

See 79 Fed. Reg. 66,459 (Nov. 7, 2014).
See 82 Fed. Reg. 20,549 (May 3, 2017).
425 3rd Street SW; Ste 1000 I Washington, DC 20024 I P (202) 639-2504 I syurasko@aar.org