Extension without change of a currently approved collection
No
Regular
12/22/2025
Requested
Previously Approved
36 Months From Approved
01/31/2026
225,145
421,758
9,857
8,663
0
0
The grade crossing inventory, used by
States and railroads, reports changes to or closings of grade
crossings to update or add to the existing National Inventory File.
Previously, railroads and States submitted this information
voluntarily. The final rule -- and associated information
collection -- requires railroads that operate one or more trains
through highway-rail or pathway crossings to submit information to
the U.S. DOT National Highway-Rail Crossing Inventory about the
crossings through which they operate. These amendments, mandated by
section 204 of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008, require
railroads to submit information about previously unreported and new
highway-rail and pathway crossings to the U.S. DOT National
Highway-Rail Crossing Inventory and to periodically update existing
crossing data.
This ICR submission is an
extension without change (with changes in estimates) to a current
collection of information. With this submission, FRA made multiple
adjustments to its estimates that increased the previously approved
burden hours from 8,663 to 9,857 hours and decreased the number of
responses from 421,758 to 225,145. This burden increase is the
result of changes described in the sections summarized below. Under
§ 234.403, which describes the submission of Crossing Inventory
data, generally, FRA adjusted the burden estimates to reflect the
estimated number of hours and average time more accurately per
response, resulting in an increase of 1,490 hours. FRA anticipates
that this estimate change will accurately reflect submissions for
the next three-year reporting period. Under § 234.405, which
describes the process to submit initial data to the Crossing
Inventory for previously unreported crossings, FRA decreased the
estimated burden by 57 hours. These regulations have been in effect
since June 2016, and railroads have been submitting crossing data
to the Crossing Inventory for previously unreported crossings since
that time. Based on crossing data submitted to the Crossing
Inventory during the previous three-year reporting period, FRA does
not anticipate any initial submission of crossing data for
previously unreported crossings. Under § 234.411, which describes
the type of changes requiring submission of updated information to
the Crossing Inventory, FRA adjusted the burden estimates to more
accurately reflect the number of railroads that have reported a
crossing sale or closure over the past three years, and the average
response time, decreasing the burden estimate by 81 hours. Lastly,
under § 234.413, which describes railroad recordkeeping
requirements, FRA made multiple adjustments. FRA decreased the
burden hours by 158 hours to more accurately reflect the number of
records that must be kept and maintained. This reduction is the
result of a significant decrease in the number of annual responses.
FRA also increased the burden hours by 54 hours to more accurately
reflect the burden associated with maintaining lists of locations
where copies of records required by this subpart may be accessed
and copied.
$464,443
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
James Dahlem 202 493-0571
james.dahlem@dot.gov
No
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.