FRA grants unions’ request for another extension to file certification petitions

(Source: Progressive Railroading 06/08/2020)

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) last week granted another 60-day extension to time limits in which certain petitions for review must be filed with the Locomotive Engineer Review Board (LERB) and the Operating Crew Review Board (OCRB). 

The extension followed a second joint petition filed by two railroad unions, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the SMART Transportation Division (SMART-TD). 

Under FRA regulations governing certification of locomotive engineers, a petition seeking review of a railroad’s decision to deny certification or recertification must be filed with the LERB no more than 180 days after the date of the railroad’s denial decision. A petition seeking review of the railroad’s decision to revoke certification must be filed no more than 120 days after the date of the railroad’s denial decision, union officials said in a press release issued by the BLET.

Similarly, under FRA regulations governing certification of conductors, a petition seeking review of a railroad decision to deny certification or recertification, or to revoke certification, must be filed with the OCRB no more than 120 days after the railroad’s denial.

Under the FRA’s waiver extension, the agency granted temporary relief from the 180- and 120-day filing deadlines.

The FRA concluded the “previously granted relief would be in the public interest, necessary to address the COVID-19 public health emergency and is not inconsistent with railroad safety,” agency officials wrote in their response to the unions’ extension request.

Originally, the unions requested an extension on March 30, which the FRA granted on April 7.