Official websites use .gov
A
.gov website belongs to an official government
organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A
lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to
the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official,
secure websites.
State Safety Oversight Grant Program
20.528
To improve public transportation safety by assisting States with the financing of safety oversight of rail fixed guideway public transportation systems in the jurisdiction of the state not regulated by the Federal Railroad Administration.
This chart shows obligations for the program by fiscal year. All data for this chart was provided by the
administering agency and sourced from SAM.gov, USASpending.gov, and Treasury.gov.
For more information on each of these data sources, please see the
About the data page.
On March 16, 2016 FTA published a Final Rule for the SSO program that significantly strengthens state safety oversight and enforcement authority to prevent and mitigate accidents and incidents on rail transit systems. It applies to States where a rail transit system operates, and carries out several explicit Federal statutory requirements, including that a State must submit its State Safety Oversight (SSO) program to FTA for certification and that the designated SSO Agency must have financial and legal independence from the rail transit agencies it oversees. In addition, the final rule requires that a State must ensure that the SSO Agency adopts and enforces relevant Federal and state safety laws, has investigatory authority, and has appropriate financial and human resources for the number, size and complexity of the rail transit systems within its jurisdiction. Furthermore, SSO Agency personnel responsible for performing safety oversight activities must have proper training and certification. Within three years of the effective date of this final rule, States with an operating rail transit system must have a SSO program certified by FTA. FTA has already certified two of the affected 30 States as being compliant: California and Massachusetts. Most of the remaining 28 States have also already taken some actions toward compliance with these critical safety requirements. On March 16, 2016 FTA published a Final Rule for the SSO program that significantly strengthens state safety oversight and enforcement authority to prevent and mitigate accidents and incidents on rail transit systems. It applies to States where a rail transit system operates, and carries out several explicit Federal statutory requirements, including that a State must submit its State Safety Oversight (SSO) program to FTA for certification and that the designated SSO Agency must have financial and legal independence from the rail transit agencies it oversees. In addition, the final rule requires that a State must ensure that the SSO Agency adopts and enforces relevant Federal and state safety laws, has investigatory authority, and has appropriate financial and human resources for the number, size and complexity of the rail transit systems within its jurisdiction. Furthermore, SSO Agency personnel responsible for performing safety oversight activities must have proper training and certification. Within three years of the effective date of this final rule, States with an operating rail transit system must have an SSO program certified by FTA.
Funding for this program will continue. The SSO final rule was published March 16, 2016 and the States have three years to comply with 49 CFR 674. The State Safety Oversight (SSO) Program is not a typical federal assistance project, but a program that requires routine monitoring of 30 States by the FTA to review, approve, and certify programmatic aspects, as well as provide technical assistance, as needed.
By 2020 all States certified and met the April 15, 2019 deadline regarding changes in Federal public transportation law requiring states to strengthen the oversight of rail transit systems. It applied to all federally funded rail fixed guideway public transportation systems such as heavy rail, light rail, monorail, and streetcar systems.
To achieve FTA certification, a SSO Program had to meet several federal statutory requirements, including establishing a SSO agency that is financially and legally independent from the rail transit agencies it oversees. In addition, a state had to ensure that its SSO agency adopts and enforces relevant federal and state safety laws, has investigatory authority, and has appropriate financial and human resources for the number, size and complexity of the rail transit systems within the state’s jurisdiction. Furthermore, SSO agency personnel responsible for performing safety oversight activities had to be appropriately trained. If a state had failed to meet the deadline, FTA would have been prohibited by law from awarding any new federal transit funds to transit agencies within the state until certification was achieved.
If a state had failed to meet the deadline, FTA would have been prohibited by law from awarding any new federal transit funds to transit agencies within the state until certification was achieved.
The State Safety Oversight Program significantly strengthens an SSO Agency’s (SSOA) authority to investigate accidents and oversee a rail transit agency’s (RTA).
FTA has the authority to review and approve each State’s SSO program and take enforcement actions against those States with non-existent or non-compliant safety oversight programs. As a result, the Nation’s Rail Transit Agencies are safer than in previous years.
FTA issued a special directive to all State Safety Oversight Agencies (SSOA). For example, A Risk-Based Inspection Toolkit has been provided as a tool for State Safety Oversight Agencies (SSOAs), the agencies that oversee safety at rail transit systems, to help them develop and implement a risk-based inspection program. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law identified actions that FTA, SSOAs, and rail transit agencies (RTAs) must take to implement effective risk-based inspection programs.
Single Audit Applies (2 CFR Part 200 Subpart F):
For additional information on single audit requirements for this program, review the current Compliance Supplement.
OMB is working with the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) and agency offices of inspectors general to include links to relevant oversight reports. This section will be updated once this information is made available.
