The FCC should streamline rules for review of...
The FCC should streamline rules for review of the construction of positive train control wayside facilities being built by railroads under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority said in comments filed…
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at the FCC. PTC, mandated by Congress, is designed to protect trains from collisions with other trains, overspeed derailments and other threats to rail safety. Comments on NHPA requirements were due Friday. “The Section 106 review process, as it stands currently, is too cumbersome and time-consuming to handle the flood of applications that would be required to complete work on the PTC system in time for the 2015 [congressional] deadline,” MTA said (http://bit.ly/1dzGakK). “The exceptions and accommodations to the current review process discussed herein would seek to develop an efficient, practical, and timely review process that ensures full consideration of the effects of PTC facilities on historic properties, including Tribal religious and cultural sites.” Construction within rail rights-of-way should be given special consideration, MTA said. “When it comes to the preservation of the character of above-ground historic sites, the placement of poles along rail ROWs are far less obtrusive, and less likely to cause any ‘adverse effects’ than the preexisting presence of railroad tracks, and the regular traversing of rail cars along such tracks,” the filing said. “Given the nature of rail traffic along active rail lines, the purpose of the NHPA would not be well served by requiring rail carriers and the various other stakeholders to engage in an expensive and time-consuming process to review undertakings that are in almost every case certain to be less obtrusive than the infrastructure and traffic already in place.” The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority offered similar comments. “The MBTA urges the Commission to develop rules that while meeting the requirements of Section 106 of the NHPA, would also ensure that this critical public safety project is not unnecessarily delayed nor is it burdened by a review process that adds significant time and expense without adding significant value,” the commuter railroad said (http://bit.ly/HV2RWa). “The MBTA is concerned that a historic review and consultation process that is focused on minutia [sic] such as the location, height and installation process for utility poles will unnecessarily delay implementation of this project without resulting in added benefits or protections for historic resources."