Just outside the town, and those are the things im concerned to have you all been able to better coordinate with the First Responders and with the state coordinators, First Responders . We have. I have said to the railroads i think notifications of First Responders should be a priority, we have an emergency order that went into place in me 2014 i remain simplistic we have reiterated its importance with the railroads. Wrote them a letter reminded and expectation is there to be sharing that information with First Responders so that those individuals have as much information as possible. Are you getting pushback . To the states still say they dont have the info . It depends on the state. Some states have said they want more, were asking the railroads to please work with him to give them all of the impression they could possibly need. Some are satisfied, and then depending on whether that information is made public prickly depends on the state you put a working group together worked with robert executives and engineers and people on the front line and all the people on the rails trying to get input from them to try to better this or do the things that they simply are acceptable and candidates because yes, we have a task force is seeking to do that. Thank you. My time has expired. Thank you, senator manchin. I had senator wicker followed by senator klobuchar and senator blumenthal. Senator wicker. Thank you, ms. Feinberg. I think weve been kind today but i do think the committee on both sides of the aisle, the members are a little confused and frustrated by the lack of a specific proposal concerning the extension. Now, they chairman king and and clarified that apparently fra the chairman came in stand by the cruel american recommendation concerning extensions on a case make a basis. His natural position . What but as for integral america act was not a blanket extension but flexibly to work with railroads that we could prioritize where ptc would be turned on. So the statute is very black and white and offers literally really no wiggle room. So we asked for indie grow america act was flexible to work with railroads posted january 1st 2 turn up portions of ptc before waiting for an entire system spirit if i were a railroad and struggle to meet this deadline i would find that so uncertain that i dont know if i could develop a business plan. It seems to me that when that what that would do is come easily put up entirely to the discretion of the fra and the people trying to get this thing done good faith would be so frustrated that they would know where they stood. You know, it seems to me, ms. Feinberg, and were going to have to extend this for a period of time just to get people out there in the country the ability to know where they stand. And so to me it would be helpful, i dont think, i think we can all acknowledge that the grow america act will not be passed by the house and senate, passed out of committee, signed by the president before the end of this year. And so i would appreciate you coming back to us from the administration coming back to us about what vehicle we might have. Do we need to put it on the cr . If we do we need to move pretty quick and understand the cr, the folks design that are intending for it to be very clean and not have a lot of new provisions. Do we need to put it, cannot wait until the omnibus of the end of the year because it looks like thats where we are headed is this, is the reauthorization of the transportation bill in an appropriate way. But i would appreciate a specific recommendation as to the length of time that might be appropriate. Is at six months, a year, two years cracks you deal with this every day. Were trying to do with 100 things. I really would ask you to get back to us and provide some leadership there in terms of letting us know how industry can get this done. And i realize weve spent a lot of time on this topic so let me switch, let me be provincial then and ask you about gulf coast service. You know, the house and senate, we have been quite gotten a bill to the president desk yet, but i think, would you acknowledge that we have made it clear in legislation that it is the federal intent to have a working group formed to restore the gulf coast Passenger Service that we lost after Hurricane Katrina . Would you agree that that congressional intent is becoming clear based on the legislation so far . Yes, sir. And are you aware that a working group is proposed to develop and answer the question how we implement this . Yes, sir. And what you acknowledge that fira outrageous that we get the legislation is actually connected to form such a working group . Yes, sir. Ive met we just have on this. I am supportive of gold service being, of gulf shores service being restored. Weve had a good conversation and i will be down there next month. They are lovely and actually speeded where is the down there . Im sorry. I will be in louisiana and mississippi. Wonderful. You know, governor bright, senator cochran and i would like to host you on the right although the proposed route with the other members of the delegation, which amtrak president boardman and ceo csx ceo ward and others to assess the line. Are going to join us on that right if we can work out absolutely. Look forward to it. Wonderful. And i look forward to working with you on that. Thank you for your service. Senator klobuchar i believe this next. Thank you very much, senator wicker. Ms. Feinberg, congratulations. Any friend of senator manchin is a friend of ours. So first i wanted to talk to you about a block crossing issues. As i travel across minnesota i hear from people all over the state who has spent an excessive amount of time, sometimes hours struggling at it blocked rail crossing. Block rail crossings not only inconvenience drivers but they delayed emergency vehicles. Angela i was on the canadian border, major crossing but a very small town. Their rail crossing blocking is six to eight hours a day in the town. So in the drive act, we put a provision in their contractor sector of the transportation to develop highway rail crossing action plans including tools and data, safety, other things. That is the amendment that is into. Acting administrator feinberg hi,as this process moves forward what steps can the fra take to minimize blocked rail crossings. Antithank you the best practices in place . Thank you for the question. We are also very concerned about blocked crossings. We do not actually regulations in place that govern how long a train can block a crossing. But we frequently hear from communities in minnesota and elsewhere where you have folks who are waiting for some time while a train is blocking a crossing, he can sometimes lead to safety concerns as well when you have First Responders who are stuck on who are stuck on one side of the crossing and cant get to the other side of a crossing. So we preclude work with railroads individually to address specific problems. Weve also suggested that we do a study so that we can understand the effects of blocked crossings, but we are also worried about those and attempting to resolve them. So would be dictated by this bill, once i know well pass it eventually this year. Also i hear from communities that they dont have the capacity to prepare or to respond to a drill that are Hazardous Material spill. Firefighters and First Responders in some cases simply dont have the resources to purchase the equipment. What is the fra doing to ensure local units of government have these resources to be able to properly prepare and do you need any Additional Authority for the . I dont know that we need Additional Authority. We worked closely with our Sister Agency pipelines and hashes major hasan programs that will assist with training First Responders to making sure they had information that they need, the resources they need. There are training separately happened after training and testing facility in pueblo, colorado, which is actual facility for training. We will continue to look for resources where we can assist First Responders and appreciate your focus on it as a. And then one last question. I will in short and to be addressed in writing so my colleagues and ask questions before the vote. Would you support leaders from local government and First Responder serving on the redwood Safety Advisory Committee . That isnt happening yet and we think that would be helpful. Certainly. I will say that they are, theres more that can present at any point. They can come and reject those and we can make sure that they have a role in our meetings of process com and were happy to give it a look and make sure that they feel that their welcome and listened to at our meetings. We would like them on the boards we can discuss that later ill put the rest of my questions in writing and turn it over to senator blumenthal. Thank you. Actually, senator daines is next. Okay. There you are. Thank you anyway. Thank you. Appreciate that. Ms. Feinberg, congratulations on your nomination. Its nice to see you here again. Nation of montana is alternately 3200 miles of Railroad Track that moves our agriculture commodities, record amounts of crude oil, coal and other manufactured products across the rail system every day. Infector export the majority of our Energy Company of her wheat harvest goes to asia, and most of that by real the last summer there were challenges to rail capacity delays in shipping some for goods or car phone to ring a lot. A lot of concerns about this. This year i know the santa fe has made investments to increase capacity come and safety come and we expect smooth and efficient shipments of issues harvest as well as of those commodities. Additionally, we have the runs along the high line, muchneeded transportation and connectivity for a rural communities. Lasher noted 120,000 people boarded and i recall as a kid hearing stories about how my great grandparents would take Passenger Rail from shelby with the empire builder stops there, that someone, go back and forth when it first came out to montana a century ago. Needless to say its imperative to montana we continue to these passengers and commodities in a safe and efficient manner so my question will be the same horse we been beating here during this hearing which is regarding ptc. We all saw in the report released yesterday the gao has recommended again the congress extended december 31, 2015, ptc deadline. The largest railroad in my home state in montana is bnsf. They been working diligently. Have invested 1. 5 billion. Effect in another 500 Million Investment plan to implement ptc across the nation including on n the nearly 2000 miles of track in montana. This deadline is approaching. Descent highway bill contains an extension on a casebycase basis. I think we must continue to the passengers and, in a safe and efficient manner. Without israel connections we are in a trouble in montana. So my question is, administrator, what would you do in the immediate future to ensure our railroads do not come to a grinding halt on january 1, 2016, beyond the threat of fines . Well, senator, its good to see you again. I cannot, i cannot, i cannot give the railroad individual legal advice. I dont think thats an appropriate role for the fra administrator. We have said as good as we can possibly say that we will enforce the deadline. I know that many railroads are considering not operating starting on january 1 because they will not be in compliance with the ptc law, but would you have your cell phone we could forward the calls to montana tuc been taken state i am getting the calls. Yes, yes, im happy take yours as well stick im talking about from the people of montana because this will be a crisis. Im sorry. I interrupted you. Go ahead. I am also worried about a crisis that could ensue in january 1 as well. Weve tried to be as clear as we can possibly be. We will continue to try to assist this committee and the congress in a way that we can as you contemplate the possible extension of the deadline. And we work with you anyway that we possibly can speak we are down to about 100 days, plus or minus. Theres something called thanksgiving in the way. Theres the christmas holidays. So time is of the essence that given Everything Else going on in this town, a tennessee crisis trip it would be nice to avoid another crisis driven event. I completely agree. I do not have the authority to extend the deadline, the secretary of transportation does not. And we will work with this committee in any way that we can but are not able to do it ourselves. In your testimony making this a 1 billion loan from fra the new York Transit Authority to the template Safety Measures are often the focus of Passenger Rail is on the northeast corridor and understand the reason why because of the dense populations, but it sometimes perpetuates this urbanrural divide that we see across our country. As administrator what efforts would fra take to ensure that Passenger Rail service is not diminished in Rural America, places like montana . Well known for being made editable to Passenger Rail in these rural areas . The rrif program is certainly available and has come its frequently sort of the gets the most interest from short lines which tend to be functioning in these rural areas. I say west virginia, some from Rural America i contend that i am a strong supporter of the importance of Passenger Service between rural areas. We are working close with amtrak all the time. The northeast corridor is important to its 50 million people, 100 until zbig and Economic Impacts but it gets a lot of attention but it no way takes all of our attention, and we are laser focused on state routes as well. Thanks, ms. Feinberg. Thank you. Thank you, senator daines. Were still waiting for Passenger Rail to come to south dakota. Habit in wyoming. Montana and south dakota i think of the only 248 laura that dont have it. Senator blumenthal up and in senator cantwell. The vote has just been called. Ill be quick, try to get my main reason for speak is to say how carefully i support Passenger Rail in south dakota. [laughter] i agree. First of all, ms. Feinberg, i want to thank you for the fresh of breath air youve already brought to the fra. Due diligence and determination have made a significant difference already in the enforcement and the vigilance and vigor of oversight by an agency that had been asleep at the switch for much too long. There are still 64 recommendations i believe from the ntsb that have not been closed either Agency Budget made a lot of progress over a short period of time. And i hope that you will continue to focus not only on positive train control but im very significant other rail safety issues. Close call reporting, signal protection, Commuter Rail inspection practices, cameras, speed restrictions, fatigue, and so many other issues. I think your agency obviously can focus on more than one issue at once, and these other challenges are as important as positive train control, and a lot less expensive. So i hope that youll continue this effort because rail safety in the United States is sorely lacking. And will continue the catastrophes, often with fatal results and tremendous costs if the nation fails to do better, and you are at the tip of the spear so far as real safety is concerned. I hope you continue your efforts in that regard. Theres a vast difference in different kinds of extensions of ptc. I strongly support the railroad by railroad, year by year vigilant oversight approach. Which i believe was embodied in the coal act as opposed to the unlimited, indeterminate, openended approach which is currently embodied in the drive act. And i will oppose that kind of extension if it is incorporated in any sort of continuing resolution or shortterm fix. I believe that approach is simply an invitation to disaster. And i know that you have walked a fine line in your testimony today in a very understandable effort to be accommodating to the different views that are on this committee, but id like a commitment from you that you will vigorously enforce whatever ptc extension is adopted, if one is adopted by this committee and congress. Absolutely. We intend to vigorously enforce the deadline that is in front of us now and should be moved we will vigorously enforce valid. And i take it you would favor the limited and year by year, casebycase approach involving to go after thats bandied ministrations policy, is it not . Welcome the coal act, our purpose was to ask for flexibility for railroads that have made progress and when we are trying to prioritize ptc implementation in certain places. Certainly we are supportive of getting ptc and women as safe and as sufficient as humanly possible. I want to focus in the short time i have remaining on the need for greater oversight on the hartford line. I want to thank you and secretary fox for hosting the meeting including myself and the connecticut delegation and our governor. Id like you to commit as you did in a meeting that you will ensure that amtrak manages this project more ably and officially. You have my commitment that we will remain very vigilant over the project. Its one of those important projects in the country. And as was said in a meeting we are lucky to have good partners in connecticut that are actually prioritizing this kind of work and so we remain very focused on. There is an opportunity and obligation for more collaboration and cooperation here. The contention and disagreement that weve heard really are regrettable and ultimately will contribute to delay and cost overruns of this line, which are great . Yes, sir. Thank you very much. Thank you, thank you for the opportunity. Thank you, senator blumenthal. Senator campbell . Thank you. Weve talked many times about Railroad Issues as the northwest experiences mo