[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 49, Volume 4]

[Revised as of October 1, 2006]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 49CFR228.101]



[Page 375-376]

 

                        TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION

 

       CHAPTER II--FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF 

                             TRANSPORTATION

 

PART 228_HOURS OF SERVICE OF RAILROAD EMPLOYEES--Table of Contents

 

          Subpart C_Construction of Employee Sleeping Quarters

 

Sec.  228.101  Distance requirement; definitions.



    Source: 43 FR 31012, July 19, 1978, unless otherwise noted.





    (a) The Hours of Service Act, as amended (45 U.S.C. 61-64b), makes 

it unlawful for any common carrier engaged in interstate or foreign 

commerce by railroad to begin, on or after July 8, 1976, the 

construction or reconstruction of sleeping quarters for employees who 

perform duties covered by the act ``within or in the immediate vicinity 

(as determined in accordance with rules prescribed by the Secretary of 

Transportation) of any area where railroad switching or humping 

operations are performed.'' 45 U.S.C. 62(a)(4). This subpart sets forth 

(1) a general definition of ``immediate vicinity'' (Sec.  228.101(b)), 

(2) procedures under which a carrier may request a determination by the 

Federal Railroad Administration that a particular proposed site is not 

within the ``immediate vicinity'' of railroad switching or humping 

operations (Sec. Sec.  228.103 and 228.105), and (3) the basic criteria 

utilized in evaluating proposed sites (Sec.  228.107).

    (b) Except as determined in accordance with the provisions of this 

subpart. ``The immediate vicinity'' shall mean the area within one-half 

mile (2,640 feet) (804 meters) of switching or humping operations as 

measured from the nearest rail of the nearest trackage where switching 

or humping operations are performed to the point on the site where the 

carrier proposes to construct or reconstruct the exterior wall of the 

structure, or portion of such wall, which is closest to such operations.

    (c) As used in this subpart--

    (1) Construction shall refer to the--

    (i) Creation of a new facility;

    (ii) Expansion of an existing facility;

    (iii) Placement of a mobile or modular facility; or

    (iv) Acquisition and use of an existing building.

    (2) Reconstruction shall refer to the--

    (i) Replacement of an existing facility with a new facility on the 

same site; or

    (ii) Rehabilitation or improvement of an existing facility (normal 

periodic maintenance excepted) involving the expenditure of an amount 

representing more than 50 percent of the cost of replacing such facility 

on the same site at the time the work of rehabilitation or improvement 

began, the replacement cost to be estimated on the basis of contemporary 

construction methods and materials.

    (3) Switching or humping operations includes the classification of 

placarded railroad cars according to commodity or destination, 

assembling of placarded cars for train movements, changing the position 

of placarded cars for purposes of loading, unloading, or weighing, and 

the placing of placarded cars for repair. However, the term does not 

include the moving of rail equipment in connection with work service, 

the moving of a train or part of a train within yard limits by a road 

locomotive or placing



[[Page 376]]



locomotives or cars in a train or removing them from a train by a road 

locomotive while en route to the train's destination. The term does 

include operations within this definition which are conducted by any 

railroad; it is not limited to the operations of the carrier 

contemplating construction or reconstruction of railroad employee 

sleeping quarters.

    (4) Placarded car shall mean a railroad car required to be placarded 

by the Department of Transportation hazardous materials regulations (49 

CFR 172.504).

    (5) The term Leq (8) shall mean the equivalent steady 

state sound level which in 8 hours would contain the same acoustic 

energy as the time-varying sound level during the same time period.