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    1. Rail

    FRA issues NOFO for rail trespassing enforcement grant program

    Oct. 24, 2019
    The grant program is open to agencies with a demonstrated rail trespassing problem on FRA-regulated track.
    Massachusetts Department of Transportation
    File photo from 2012 shows an MBTA police officer and an officer from a local jurisdiction speaking with a trespasser on the MBTA Franklin Line.
    File photo from 2012 shows an MBTA police officer and an officer from a local jurisdiction speaking with a trespasser on the MBTA Franklin Line.

    The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) in the Oct. 22 edition of the Federal Register for $150,000 in grants available under its Railroad Trespassing Enforcement Grant Program.

    Trespassing is the leading cause of rail-related deaths in the United States and FRA, as part of its National Strategy to Prevent Trespassing on Railroad Property, established the grant program to fund enforcement of trespassing laws.  FRA says such activities may include investigating trespass incidents as well as issuing warnings and citations to trespassers.

    Eligible applicants include state, county, municipal, local and regional law enforcement agencies with at least one mile of FRA-regulated track within the boundaries of the applicant’s jurisdiction. Funding under this NOFO is limited to hourly wages for law enforcement officials to enforce trespassing laws at rail trespass hot spots within their respective jurisdictions or at areas that demonstrate a rail trespassing problem in their community on FRA-regulated track.

    FRA said it would give preference to law enforcement agencies in one of the 10 states with the highest incidence of rail trespass related casualties, which include California, Texas, Illinois, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, North Carolina and Georgia.

    Applications are due by Dec. 23, 2019.

    About the Author

    Mischa Wanek-Libman | Group Editorial Director

    Mischa Wanek-Libman is director of communications with Transdev North America. She has more than 20 years of experience working in the transportation industry covering construction projects, engineering challenges, transit and rail operations and best practices.

    Wanek-Libman has held top editorial positions at freight rail and public transportation business-to-business publications including as editor-in-chief and editorial director of Mass Transit from 2018-2024. She has been recognized for editorial excellence through her individual work, as well as for collaborative content.

    She is an active member of the American Public Transportation Association's Marketing and Communications Committee and served 14 years as a Board Observer on the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) Board of Directors.  

    She is a graduate of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Mass Communication.