WASHINGTON — The Federal Transit Administration this week announced it would not enforce a safety regulation finalized last October until at least March, citing an executive order signed last month by President Donald Trump calling for a freeze of new regulations.
The FTA rule in question allows state agencies with oversight of rail transit operations to conduct inspections of those operations without advance notice, and requires them to identify safety risks and develop inspection programs accordingly [see “FTA updates rules rules regarding safety oversight …,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 21, 2024].
The rule took effect Jan. 1. The FTA, in a notice published on Monday, Feb. 24, in the Federal Register, said that while its regulation was not specifically covered by the executive order, it will not exercise enforcement “consistent with the intent” of that order until March 20.
The executive order calls for a 60-day postponement of rules that had been published but had not yet taken effect, and says that postponement is to review “any questions of fact, law, and policy that the rules may raise.” It also calls for delaying proposed rules for the same 60-day period.
If any safety related incident happens during this pause what happens then?