Federal Railroad Administration Overview of Railroad Safety Advisory

What is the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee? An advisory committee is a collection of

Oversight of Federal Advisory Committees The General Services Administration (GSA) approves the Charters of

RSAC Guiding Principles • Make decisions about the best approach to safety with the

Accepts or rejects tasks from FRA, appoints and assigns tasks to working groups, approves

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Federal Railroad Administration Overview of Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC) Structure Patricia V. Sun FRA Office of Chief Counsel (202) 493 -6060 patricia. sun@dot. gov April 24, 2019

What is the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee? An advisory committee is a collection of individuals who bring unique knowledge and skills which augment the knowledge and skills of the formal board of directors in order to more effectively guide the organization. The Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC) is a Federal Advisory Committee that makes recommendations to FRA on safety rules. The first RSAC was chartered in 1996. The RSAC has a balanced membership representative of the rail industry. The new RSAC has 40 members representing 29 organizations that operate, are employed by, or transport on, railroads (i. e, rail labor, railroads, states, chemical suppliers and passenger advocates), as well as other Federal agencies (FTA, NTSB, TSA), and the governments of Canada and Mexico.

Oversight of Federal Advisory Committees The General Services Administration (GSA) approves the Charters of all Federal advisory committees. A Charter is valid for two years. If the GSA does not renew a Federal advisory committee’s Charter before it expires, the advisory committee disbands. This is why the first RSAC ended. The Federal Advisory Committee Act applies whenever the President or an agency convenes an outside group to provide advice on issues. The GSA also administers the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA).

RSAC Guiding Principles • Make decisions about the best approach to safety with the full participation of all affected parties. • Provide a continuing forum for advice and recommendations to FRA on major railroad safety issues. • Seek agreement on the facts and data underlying safety problems. • Identify cost-effective solutions and regulatory options for safety problems.

Accepts or rejects tasks from FRA, appoints and assigns tasks to working groups, approves or rejects WG recommendations FULL RSAC COMMITTEE WORKING GROUPS “WG” TASK FORCES “TF” Develops recommendations on one or more specific tasks assigned to RSAC Develops data and recommends actions for elements of tasks assigned to working groups General RSAC Structure