(a) General duty. (1) Each railroad required to establish an RRP under this part shall in good faith consult with, and use its best efforts to reach agreement with, all of its directly affected employees, including any non-profit labor organization representing a class or craft of directly affected employees, on the contents of the RRP plan.

(2) A railroad that consults with a non-profit employee labor organization is considered to have consulted with the directly affected employees represented by that organization. For directly affected employees represented by a non-profit employee labor organization, the primary point of contact shall be either the general chairperson of the non-profit employee labor organization or a non-profit employee labor organization primary point of contact the railroad and the non-profit employee labor organization agree on at the beginning of the consultation process.

(b) Preliminary meeting. A railroad shall have a preliminary meeting with its directly affected employees to discuss how the consultation process will proceed. A railroad is not required to discuss the substance of an RRP plan during this preliminary meeting.

(1) A Class I railroad shall meet no later than October 15, 2020 with its directly affected employees to discuss the consultation process. The Class I railroad shall notify the directly affected employees of this meeting no less than 60 days before it is scheduled.

(2) A railroad determined to have inadequate safety performance shall meet no later than 30 days following FRA's notification with its directly affected employees to discuss the consultation process. The inadequate safety performance railroad shall notify the directly affected employees of this meeting no less than 15 days before it is scheduled.

(3) A railroad that the STB reclassifies or newly classifies as a Class I railroad shall meet with its directly affected employees to discuss the consultation process no later than 30 days following the effective date of the classification or reclassification. The reclassified or newly classified Class I railroad shall notify the directly affected employees of this meeting no less than 15 days before it is scheduled.

(4) A voluntarily-compliant railroad that files a notification with FRA of its intent to file an RRP plan under § 271.301(b)(4)(i) shall meet with its directly affected employees to discuss the consultation process no later than 30 days following the date that the railroad filed the notification. The voluntarily-compliant railroad shall notify the directly affected employees of this meeting no less than 15 days before it is scheduled.

(5) Compliance with the mandatory preliminary meeting requirements of this paragraph (b) does not constitute full compliance with the consultation requirements of this section.

(c) Guidance. Appendix A to this part contains guidance on how a railroad could comply with the requirements of this section.

(d) Railroad consultation statements. A railroad required to submit an RRP plan under § 271.301 shall also submit, together with that plan, a consultation statement that includes the following information:

(1) A detailed description of the process the railroad utilized to consult with its directly affected employees;

(2) If the railroad could not reach agreement with its directly affected employees on the contents of its RRP plan, identification of any known areas of non-agreement and an explanation why it believes agreement was not reached; and

(3) A service list containing the names and contact information for each international/national president of any non-profit employee labor organization representing a class or craft of the railroad's directly affected employees, or each non-profit employee labor organization primary point of contact the railroad and the non-profit employee labor organization agree on at the beginning of the process. The service list must also contain the name and contact information for any directly affected employee who significantly participated in the consultation process independently of a non-profit employee labor organization. When a railroad submits its RRP plan and consultation statement to FRA under § 271.301, it shall also simultaneously send a copy of these documents to all individuals identified in the service list. A railroad may send the documents to the identified individuals via electronic means or other service means reasonably calculated to succeed.

(e) Statements from directly affected employees. (1) If a railroad and its directly affected employees cannot reach agreement on the proposed contents of an RRP plan, the directly affected employees may file a statement explaining their views on the plan on which agreement was not reached with the FRA Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety and Chief Safety Officer, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590. The FRA Associate Administrator shall consider any such views during the plan review and approval process.

(2) A railroad's directly affected employees have 30 days following the railroad's submission of a proposed RRP plan to submit the statement described in paragraph (e)(1) of this section.