(a) A railroad bridge engineer shall be a person who is determined by the track owner to be competent to perform the following functions as they apply to the particular engineering work to be performed:

(1) Determine the forces and stresses in railroad bridges and bridge components;

(2) Prescribe safe loading conditions for railroad bridges;

(3) Prescribe inspection and maintenance procedures for railroad bridges; and

(4) Design repairs and modifications to railroad bridges.

(b) The educational qualifications of a railroad bridge engineer shall include either:

(1) A degree in engineering granted by a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by ABET, Inc. or its successor organization as a professional engineering curriculum, or a degree from a program accredited as a professional engineering curriculum by a foreign organization recognized by ABET, Inc. or its successor; or

(2) Current registration as a professional engineer.

(c) Nothing in this part affects the States' authority to regulate the professional practice of engineering.

A railroad bridge inspector shall be a person who is determined by the track owner to be technically competent to view, measure, report and record the condition of a railroad bridge and its individual components which that person is designated to inspect. An inspector shall be designated to authorize or restrict the operation of railroad traffic over a bridge according to its immediate condition or state of repair.

A railroad bridge supervisor shall be a person, regardless of position title, who is determined by the track owner to be technically competent to supervise the construction, modification or repair of a railroad bridge in conformance with common or particular specifications, plans and instructions applicable to the work to be performed, and to authorize or restrict the operation of railroad traffic over a bridge according to its immediate condition or state of repair.

Each track owner shall designate those individuals qualified as railroad bridge engineers, railroad bridge inspectors and railroad bridge supervisors. Each individual designation shall include the basis for the designation in effect and shall be recorded.