WORLD TRADE G/TBT/Notif.96.192
4July1996
ORGANIZATION
(96-2566)
Committee onTechnical Barriers toTrade
NOTIFICATION
Thefollowing notification isbeing circulated inaccordance withArticle 10.6.
1. Member toAgreement notifying: UNITED STATES
Ifapplicable, name oflocalgovernment involved (Articles 3.2and7.2):
2. Agency responsible: Department ofTransportation (56)
Agency orauthority designated tohandle comments regarding thenotification canbe
indicated ifdifferent from above:
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X],2.10.1 [],5.6.2 [],5.7.1 [],other:
4. Products covered (HSorCCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.
ICSnumbers may beprovided inaddition, where applicable): Railroad passenger
equipment
5. Title, number ofpages andlanguage(s) ofthenotified document: Passenger Equipment
Safety Standards (53pages)
6. Description ofcontent: TheFederal Railroad Administration (FRA) announces the
initiation ofrulemaking onrailpassenger equipment safety standards. FRA requests
comments ontheneed forparticular safety requirements andthecosts, benefits, and
practicability ofsuchrequirements. FRA anticipates thisrulemaking willaddress the
inspection, testing andmaintenance ofpassenger equipment; equipment design and
performance criteria related topassenger andcrew survivability intheevent ofatrain
accident; andthesafeoperation ofpassenger train service, supplementing existing
railroad safety standards. FRA alsoannounces theformation ofaworking group to
assist FRA indeveloping thisrule. FRA makes available preliminary safety concepts
thathavebeenplaced before theworking group.
7. Objective andrationale: Torespond topublic concerns, andpetitions forrulemaking,
andtoconsider possible regulations derived from experience inapplication ofexisting
standards.
8. Relevant documents: 61FR30672, 17June1996; 49CFR parts 223,229,232,and
238. Willappear intheFederal Register when adopted.
9. Proposed dateofadoption:
Proposed dateofentry intoforce:Tobedetermined
10. Final dateforcomments: 9June1996
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [X]oraddress andtelefax number ofother
body: