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[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 49, Volume 4]
[Revised as of October 1, 2003]
[CITE: 49CFR245]

[Page 682-687]
 

TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION
CHAPTER II--FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
PART 245--RAILROAD USER FEES


                           Subpart A--General

Sec.
245.1 Purpose and scope.
245.3 Application.
245.5 Definitions.
245.7 Penalties.

                 Subpart B--Reporting and Recordkeeping

245.101 Reporting requirements.
245.103 Recordkeeping.
245.105 Retention of records.

                     Subpart C--User Fee Calculation

245.201 User fee calculation.

            Subpart D--Collection Procedures and Duty to Pay

245.301 Collection procedures.
245.303 Duty to pay.

    Authority: 45 U.S.C. 431, 437, 438, 446; 49 CFR 1.49(m).

    Source: 57 FR 30602, July 9, 1992, unless otherwise noted.

                           Subpart A--General

Sec. 245.1  Purpose and scope.

    (a) The purpose of this part is to implement section 216 of the 
Federal Railroad Safety Act of 1970 (45 U.S.C. 446) (the ``Safety Act'') 
which requires the Secretary of Transportation to establish a schedule 
of fees to be assessed equitably to railroads to cover the costs 
incurred by the Federal Railroad Administration (``FRA'') in 
administering the Safety Act (not including activities described in 
section 202(a)(2) thereof).
    (b) Beginning in the fiscal year ending September 30, 1991, each 
railroad subject to this part shall pay an annual user fee to the FRA. 
For fiscal years 1992 through 1995, the user shall be calculated by FRA 
in accordance with Sec. 245.101. The Secretary's authority to collect 
user fees shall expire on September 30, 1995, as provided for in section 
216(f) of the Safety Act.

Sec. 245.3  Application.

    This part applies to all railroads except those railroads whose 
entire operations are confined within an industrial installation.

Sec. 245.5  Definitions.

    As used in this part--
    (a) Employee hours means the number of hours worked by all employees 
of the railroad during the previous calendar year.
    (b) FRA means the Federal Railroad Administration.
    (c) Industrial track means a switching track serving industries, 
such as mines, mills smelters, and factories.
    (d) Light density railroad means railroads with 1200 or less train-
miles per road mile.
    (e) Main track means a track, other than an auxiliary track, 
extending through yards or between stations, upon which trains are 
operated by timetable or train order or both, or the use of which is 
governed by a signal system.
    (f) Passenger service means both intercity rail passenger service 
and commuter rail passenger service.
    (g) Railroad means all forms of non-highway ground transportation 
that run on rails or electro-magnetic guideways, including (1) commuter 
or other

[[Page 683]]

short-haul rail passenger service in a metropolitan or suburban area, as 
well as any commuter rail service which was operated by the Consolidated 
Rail Corporation as of January 1, 1979, and (2) high speed ground 
transportation systems that connect metropolitan areas, without regard 
to whether they use new technologies not associated with traditional 
railroads. Such term does not include rapid transit operations within an 
urban area that are not connected to the general railroad system of 
transportation (See, 45 U.S.C. 431(e)).
    (h) Responsible entity means the railroad subject to this part as of 
December 31 of the applicable fiscal year (October 1 to September 30), 
i.e December 31, 1991, for fiscal year 1992, December 31, 1992, for 
fiscal year 1993, etc.
    (i) Road miles means the length in miles of the single or first main 
track, measured by the distance between terminals or stations, or both. 
Road miles does not include industrial and yard tracks, sidings, and all 
other tracks not regularly used by road trains operated in such specific 
service, and lines operated under a trackage rights agreement.
    (j) Safety Act means the Federal Railroad Safety Act of 1970 (45 
U.S.C. 421 et seq.)
    (k) Sliding Scale means the adjustment made to the mile of road of 
light density railroads. The sliding scale is as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Scaling
                  Train miles per road mile                      factor
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Up to 500....................................................         .0
501 to 750...................................................        .25
751 to 1000..................................................        .50
1001 to 1200.................................................        .75
1201 and above...............................................       1.00
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The scaling factor is multiplied by the preliminary rate per road 
mile for each railroad for the year.
    (l) Trackage rights agreement means an agreement through which a 
railroad obtains access and provides service over tracks owned by 
another railroad where the owning railroad retains the responsibility 
for operating and maintaining the tracks.
    (m) Train means a unit of equipment, or a combination of units of 
equipment (including light locomotives) in condition for movement over 
tracks by self-contained motor equipment.
    (n) Train mile means the movement of a train a distance of one mile 
measured by the distance between terminals and/or stations and includes 
yard switching miles, train switching miles, and work train miles. Yard 
switching miles may be computed on any reasonable, supportable, and 
verifiable basis. In the event actual mileage is not computable by other 
means, yard switching miles may be computed at the rate of 6 mph for the 
time actually engaged in yard switching service.
    (o) Yard track means a system of tracks within defined limits used 
for the making up or breaking up of trains, for the storing of cars, and 
for other related purposes, over which movements not authorized by 
timetable, or by train order may be made subject to prescribed signals, 
rules or other special instructions. Sidings used exclusively as passing 
track and main line track within yard limits are not included in the 
term yard track.

Sec. 245.7  Penalties.

    Any person (including a railroad and any manager, supervisor, 
official, or other employee or agent of a railroad) who violates any 
requirement of this part or causes the violation of any such requirement 
is subject to a civil penalty of at least $250 and not more than $10,000 
per violation. Civil penalties may be assessed against individuals only 
for willful violations. Each day a violation continues shall constitute 
a separate offense. A person may also be subject to the criminal 
penalties provided for in 45 U.S.C. 438(e) for knowingly and willfully 
falsifying records or reports required by this part.

                 Subpart B--Reporting and Recordkeeping

Sec. 245.101  Reporting requirements.

    (a) Each railroad subject to this part shall submit to FRA, not 
later than March 1st of each year (August 1st, for the fiscal year 
ending September 30, 1992) a report identifying the railroad's total 
train miles for the prior calendar year, the total road miles owned, 
operated under lease, or controlled (but not

[[Page 684]]

including trackage rights) by the railroad as of December 31 of the 
previous calendar year, and the railroad's total number of employee 
hours for the prior calendar year. An entity shall be considered a 
railroad subject to this part if it conforms to the definitions found in 
Sec. 245.5(g) and (h) above. Each railroad shall report all of the data 
for the entire relevant calendar year whether or not its present 
operations generated all of the reportable data. This report shall be 
made on FRA Form 6180.91--Annual Report of Railroads Subject to User 
Fees and shall be filed by the Responsible Entity (see Sec. 245.5(h)). 
The report shall include an explanation for an entry of zero for train 
miles, road miles, or employee hours. Each railroad shall also identify 
all subsidiary railroads for which it is reporting and provide a 
breakdown of train miles, road miles, and employee hours for each 
subsidiary. Finally, each railroad shall enter its corporate billing 
address for the user fees, and the name, title, telephone number, date, 
and a signature of the person submitting the form to FRA.
    (b) FRA anticipates mailing blank copies of FRA Form 6180.91--Annual 
Report of Railroads Subject to User Fees to each railroad during the 
month of January (the month of July for the fiscal year ending September 
30, 1992) for the railroad's use in preparing the report. This action by 
FRA is for the convenience of the railroads only and in no way affects 
the obligation of railroads subject to this part to obtain and submit 
FRA Form 6180.91 to FRA in a timely fashion in the event a blank form is 
not received from FRA. Blank copies of FRA Form 6180.91 may be obtained 
from the Office of Safety, FRA, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 
20590.
    (c) Train miles, as defined in Sec. 245.5(n), shall be calculated by 
the railroad in accordance with the following considerations:
    (1) Each railroad subject to this part is to report the train miles 
for the freight and passenger service it operates without regard to 
track or facility ownership.
    (2) Train miles are to be reported by both freight and passenger 
railroads and shall include miles run between terminals or stations, or 
both, miles run by trains consisting of empty freight cars or without 
cars, locomotive train miles run, miles run by trains consisting of 
deadhead passenger equipment, motor train miles run, yard-switching 
miles run, work train miles, and train switching miles.
    (d) Road miles, as defined in Sec. 245.5(i), shall be calculated by 
the railroad in accordance with the following considerations:
    (1) Road miles to be reported shall include all track owned, 
operated under lease, or controlled by the railroad but shall not 
include track used under trackage rights agreements. (Note: road miles 
consisting of leased track are to be reported by the lessee railroad). 
Road miles consisting of jointly-owned track or track jointly operated 
under lease shall be reported by the railroad controlling operations 
over the track. Road miles for a given section of railroad should be 
reported by only one railroad.
    (2) Road miles to be reported shall not include industrial track, 
yard tracks, sidings, and other tracks not regularly used by road trains 
operated in such specific service. The determination that a particular 
track segment qualifies as industrial track or yard track must be made 
on a reasonable and supportable basis. Road miles do not include track 
which was out of service for the entire calendar year that is the 
subject of the user fee report.
    (e) Employee hours, as defined in Sec. 245.5(a), shall be calculated 
by the railroad in accordance with the following considerations: 
Employees hours to be reported include the number of hours worked by all 
railroad employees, regardless of occupation, during the previous 
calendar year. Include all employees in the occupational categories 
shown in appendix D of the FRA Guide for Preparing Accident/Incident 
Reports. Employee hours do not include time paid but not actually 
worked, such as holidays, vacations, etc. Employee hours do not include 
hours worked by volunteers. Employee hours do not include hours worked 
by individuals not employed directly by the reporting railroad (i.e. 
contractor employees).

[[Page 685]]

    (f) In computing both train miles and road miles, fractions 
representing less than one-half mile shall be disregarded and other 
fractions considered as one mile.
    (g) Each railroad subject to this part has a continuing obligation 
to assure that the information provided to FRA on Form 6180.91--Annual 
Report of Railroads Subject to User Fees is accurate. Should a railroad 
learn at a later date that the information provided was not correct, it 
shall submit a revised Form 6180.91 along with a letter explaining in 
detail the discrepancy.
    (h) Each railroad subject to this part has an obligation to assure 
that the information provided to FRA under this part is consistent with 
information provided to FRA under other reporting requirements, in 
particular reports submitted under 49 CFR part 225--Railroad Accidents/
Incidents: Reports Classification, and Investigations. The railroad 
shall fully explain and resolve any discrepancies.
    (i) The FRA has prepared a questionnaire entitled ``Written 
Questionnaire on Whether Your Company Is A `Railroad' Subject To FRA 
User Fee Regulations'' (FRA Form 6180.90) in order to assist in 
determining whether certain entities meet the definition of ``railroad'' 
included in Sec. 245.5 or constitute railroads whose entire operations 
are confined within an industrial installation (``plant railroads'') 
excluded from this part under Sec. 245.3. Copies of FRA Form 6180.90 are 
available from the Office of Safety, FRA, 400 Seventh Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20590.

Sec. 245.103  Recordkeeping.

    Each railroad subject to this part shall maintain adequate records 
supporting its calculation of the railroad's total train miles for the 
prior calendar year, total road miles as of December 31 of the previous 
calendar year, and the total employee hours for the previous calendar 
year. Such records shall be sufficient to enable the FRA to verify the 
information provided by the railroad on FRA Form 6180.91--Annual Report 
of Railroads Subject to User Fees. Such records shall also be available 
for inspection and copying by the Administrator or the Administrator's 
designee during normal business hours.

Sec. 245.105  Retention of records.

    Each railroad subject to this part shall retain records required by 
Sec. 245.103 for at least three years after the end of the calendar year 
to which they relate.

                     Subpart C--User Fee Calculation

Sec. 245.201  User fee calculation.

    (a) The fee to be paid by each railroad shall be determined as 
follows:
    (1) After March 15th of each year (August 1st for the fiscal year 
ending September 30, 1992), FRA will tabulate the total train miles, 
total employee hours, and total road miles for railroads subject to this 
part for the preceding calendar year. FRA's calculations will be based 
on the information supplied by railroads under Sec. 245.101 hereof, and 
other reports and submissions which railroads are required to make to 
FRA under applicable regulations (i.e. 49 CFR parts 225 and 228). At the 
same time, FRA will calculate the total cost of administering the Safety 
Act for the current fiscal year (other than activities described in 
section 202(a)(2) thereof) which will represent the total amount of user 
fees to be collected.
    (2) Using tabulations of total train miles, total employee hours, 
total road miles, and the total cost of administering the Safety Act, 
FRA will calculate a railroad's user fee assessment as follows:
    (i) The assessment rate per train mile will be calculated by 
multiplying the total costs of administering the Safety Act by 0.55 and 
then dividing this amount (i.e., fifty-five percent of the total amount 
to be collected) by the total number of train miles reported to the FRA 
for the previous calendar year. The result will be the railroad user fee 
assessment rate per train mile for the current fiscal year.
    (ii) The assessment rate per employee hour will be calculated by 
multiplying the total costs of administering the Safety Act by 0.1 and 
then dividing this amount (i.e., 10 percent of the total amount to be 
collected) by

[[Page 686]]

the total number of employee hours reported to the FRA for the previous 
calendar year. The result will be the railroad user fee rate per 
employee hour for the fiscal year.
    (iii) The assessment rate per road mile will be calculated in three 
steps. First, FRA will determine a preliminary assessment rate per road 
mile by multiplying the total costs of administering the Safety Act by 
0.35 and dividing this amount (i.e., thirty-five percent of the total 
amount to be collected) by the total road miles reported to FRA for the 
previous calendar year. Second, FRA will adjust this preliminary rate 
per road mile for each light density railroad by multiplying the 
preliminary rate by the appropriate scaling factor identified in 
Sec. 245.5(h). The result will be a reduced assessment rate per road 
mile for light density railroads. Third, FRA will adjust the preliminary 
assessment rate per road mile for all railroads except light density 
railroads by adding to their preliminary rate an incremental amount 
reflecting the reallocation of the relief provided to light density 
railroads under step 2 using the sliding scale. The incremental amount 
is calculated by subtracting (A) the total amount to be collected from 
light density railroads after application of the sliding scale from (B) 
the total amount that would have been collected from light density 
railroads using the preliminary assessment rate and developed under step 
1 and (C) dividing the resulting amount by the total road miles reported 
to FRA by all railroads except light density railroads. The incremental 
amount is then added to the preliminary assessment rate for all 
railroads except light density railroads to derive the assessment rate 
per road mile for all railroads except light density railroads. The 
results will be a modified assessment rate per road mile for light 
density railroads qualifying under step 2 and a general assessment rate 
applicable to all other railroads. In those cases where the computed fee 
is less than the defined minimum, the net increase attributable to the 
application of the minimum standard is not included in the reallocation 
process under step 3 and is instead added to total collections.
    (b) The user fee to be paid by each covered railroad is the greater 
of $500.00 or the sum of the railroad's train miles times the assessment 
rate per train mile, the railroad's employee hours times the assessment 
rate per employee hour, and the railroad's road miles times the 
applicable assessment rate per road mile.

            Subpart D--Collection Procedures and Duty to Pay

Sec. 245.301  Collection procedures.

    (a) After March 15th of each year (August 15th for the fiscal year 
ending September 30, 1992), FRA will publish in the Federal Register a 
notice containing FRA's preliminary estimates of the total user fee to 
be collected, the assessment rate per train mile, the assessment rate 
per employee hour, and the assessment rate per road mile (as adjusted by 
the sliding scale). The information published by FRA will be sufficient 
to enable each railroad to calculate its estimated user fee bill for the 
fiscal year on the basis of the train mile, employee hour, and road mile 
information provided by the railroad to FRA.
    (b) After June 1st of each year, (August 15th for the fiscal year 
ending September 30, 1992), FRA will provide to each covered railroad a 
notice (the ``Assessment Notice'') containing FRA's final calculations 
of the total user fee to be collected, the assessment rate per train 
mile, the assessment rate per employee hour, the assessment rate per 
road mile (as adjusted by the sliding scale), the train miles, employee 
hours, and road miles for the railroad for the prior calendar year, the 
user fee to be paid by the railroad, and a statement and payment record 
form. FRA will mail the Assessment Notice sufficiently in advance of the 
end of the fiscal year in order to allow all collections to be completed 
prior to the end of the fiscal year. FRA will mail the Assessment Notice 
to the billing address designated by the railroad on FRA Form 6180.91--
Annual Report of Railroads Subject to User Fees.

Sec. 245.303  Duty to pay.

    (a) Beginning in the fiscal year ending September 30, 1991, each 
railroad

[[Page 687]]

subject to this part shall pay an annual railroad user fee to the FRA. 
Payment in full shall be received by FRA no later than thirty days after 
the Assessment Notice is mailed. Payment is made only when received by 
FRA. Payments in excess of ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00) shall be 
made by wire transfer through the Federal Reserve communications, 
commonly known as Fedwire, to the account of the U.S. Treasury in 
accordance with the instructions provided in the Assessment Notice. 
Payments of ten thousand dollars or less shall be by check or money 
order payable to the Federal Railroad Administration. The payment shall 
be identified as the railroad's user fee by noting it with the User Fee 
Bill Number as assigned by FRA and by returning the payment record 
received with the Assessment Notice. Payment shall be sent to the 
address stated in the assessment notice. Any railroad making an 
aggregate payment for one r more subsidiaries or affiliates should 
return the payment records for each and list all applicable Bill Numbers 
with the payment.
    (b) The responsibility for paying the user fee rests with the 
responsible entity (see Sec. 245.5(h)). Parties involved in purchase and 
sale transactions of railroad(s) or portions of a railroad shall be 
responsible for allocating the user fee amongst the interested entities 
in an appropriate fashion. FRA will not prorate user fee bills.
    (c) No user fee will be collected from railroads that properly 
report zero train miles and zero road miles on FRA Form 6180.91--Annual 
Report of Railroads Subject to User Fees.
    (d) Payments not received by the due date will be subject to 
allowable interest charges, penalties, and administrative charges (31 
U.S.C. 3717). Follow-up demands for payment and other actions intended 
to assure timely collection, including referral to local collection 
agencies or court action, will be conducted in accordance with Federal 
Claims Collection Standards (4 CFR chapter II) and Departmental 
procedures (49 CFR 89).




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