[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 49, Volume 4]
[Revised as of October 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 49CFR241.13]

[Page 659]
 
                        TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION
 
       CHAPTER II--FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF 
                             TRANSPORTATION
 
PART 241--UNITED STATES LOCATIONAL REQUIREMENT FOR DISPATCHING OF UNITED STATES RAIL OPERATIONS--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 241.13  Prohibition against track owner's requiring or permitting use of its line for a railroad operation dispatched by an extraterritorial dispatcher; 
          exceptions.

    (a) General. Except as provided in paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) of 
this section, an owner of railroad track located in the United States 
shall not require or permit the track to be used for a railroad 
operation that is dispatched from outside the United States.
    (b) Emergencies. (1) In an emergency situation, an owner of railroad 
track located in the United States may require or permit the track to be 
used for a railroad operation that is dispatched from outside the United 
States, provided that:
    (i) The dispatching railroad notifies the FRA Regional Administrator 
of each FRA region where the operation was conducted, in writing as soon 
as practicable, of the emergency, and
    (ii) The extraterritorial dispatching is limited to the duration of 
the emergency.
    (2) Written notification may be made either on paper or by 
electronic mail.
    (c) Grandfathering. An owner of a track segment located in the 
United States, the operation of which track segment was normally 
controlled during the month of December 1999 by a dispatcher located in 
a foreign country or in a territory or possession of the United States, 
may require or permit the track segment to be used for a railroad 
operation that is dispatched from that foreign country or that territory 
or possession of the United States.
    (d) Fringe border operations. In order to facilitate the safety and 
efficiency of international train movements, an owner of railroad track 
located in the United States immediately adjacent to the border of 
either Canada or Mexico may require or permit the track to be used for a 
railroad operation that is dispatched from Canada or Mexico if all of 
the following conditions apply:
    (1) The United States trackage being dispatched does not exceed 100 
route miles;
    (2) Except for unforeseen circumstances such as equipment failure, 
accident, casualty or incapacitation of a crew member, each train must 
be under the control of the same assigned crew for the entire trip over 
the trackage; and
    (3)(i) Train movements on the rail line both originate and terminate 
in either Canada or Mexico without the pick up, set out, or interchange 
of cars in the United States; in other words, the traffic on the rail 
line is ``bridge traffic'' only; or
    (ii) In the case of any other rail line, the rail line involved is--
    (A) Under the exclusive control of a single dispatching district 
(``desk''); and
    (B) The portion of the line being dispatched extends no farther into 
the United States than the first of any of the following locations: 
interchange point; signal control point; junction of two rail lines; 
established crew change point; yard or yard limits location; inspection 
point for U.S. Customs, Immigration and Naturalization Service, 
Department of Agriculture, or other governmental inspection; or location 
where there is a change in the method of train operations.
    (e) Liability. The Administrator may hold either the track owner or 
the assignee under Sec. 213.5(c) of this chapter ( if any), or both, 
responsible for compliance with this section and subject to civil 
penalties under Sec. 241.17. A common carrier by railroad that is 
directed by the Surface Transportation Board to provide service over the 
track in the United States of another railroad under 49 U.S.C. 11123 is 
considered the owner of that track for the purposes of the application 
of this section during the period that the directed service order 
remains in effect.