[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: 49CFR241.9]

[Page 657-658]
 
                        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. 241.9  Prohibition against extraterritorial dispatching; exceptions.

    (a) General. Except as provided in paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) of 
this section, a railroad subject to this part shall not require or 
permit a dispatcher located outside the United States to dispatch a 
railroad operation that occurs in the United States if the dispatcher is 
employed by the railroad or by a contractor to the railroad.
    (b) Emergencies. (1) In an emergency situation, a railroad may 
require or permit one of its dispatchers located outside the United 
States to dispatch a railroad operation that occurs in the United 
States, provided that:
    (i) The dispatching railroad notifies the FRA Regional Administrator 
of each FRA region where the railroad 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. A railroad may require or permit one of its 
dispatchers located in a foreign country or in a territory or possession 
of the United States to dispatch a railroad operation that occurs on 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 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, railroad dispatchers 
located in Canada and Mexico may dispatch additional railroad operations 
in the United States immediately adjacent to their borders 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

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    (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 railroad that 
employs the dispatcher or the railroad contractor that employs the 
dispatcher, or both, responsible for compliance with this section and 
subject to civil penalties under Sec. 241.17.