(a) Following FRA's initial approval of the passenger rail operation's SSP plan pursuant to § 270.201, the passenger rail operation shall annually conduct an assessment of the extent to which:

(1) The system safety program is fully implemented;

(2) The passenger rail operation is in compliance with the implemented elements of the approved system safety program; and

(3) The passenger rail operation has achieved the goals set forth in § 270.103(c).

(b) As part of its SSP plan, the passenger rail operation shall set forth a statement describing the processes used to:

(1) Conduct internal system safety program assessments;

(2) Internally report the findings of the internal system safety program assessments;

(3) Develop, track, and review recommendations as a result of the internal system safety program assessments;

(4) Develop improvement plans based on the internal system safety program assessments. Improvement plans shall, at a minimum, identify who is responsible for carrying out the necessary tasks to address assessment findings and specify a schedule of target dates with milestones to implement the improvements that address the assessment findings; and

(5) Manage revisions and updates to the SSP plan based on the internal system safety program assessments.

(c)(1) Within 60 days of completing its internal SSP plan assessment pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section, the passenger rail operation shall:

(i) Submit to FRA a copy of the passenger rail operation's internal assessment report that includes a system safety program assessment and the status of internal assessment findings and improvement plans to the FRA Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety and Chief Safety Officer, Mail Stop 25, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590; and

(ii) Outline the specific improvement plans for achieving full implementation of the SSP plan, as well as achieving the goals of the plan.

(2) The passenger rail operation's chief official responsible for safety shall certify the results of the internal SSP plan assessment.