[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 49, Volume 4]
[Revised as of October 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 49CFR240.5]

[Page 609]
 
                        TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION
 
       CHAPTER II--FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF 
                             TRANSPORTATION
 
PART 240--QUALIFICATION AND CERTIFICATION OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS--Table of Contents
 
                           Subpart A--General
 
Sec. 240.5  Preemptive effect and construction.

    (a) Under 49 U.S.C. 20106, issuance of the regulations in this part 
preempts any State law, regulation, or order covering the same subject 
matter, except an additional or more stringent law, regulation, or order 
that is necessary to eliminate or reduce an essentially local safety 
hazard; is not incompatible with a law, regulation, or order of the 
United States Government; and does not impose an unreasonable burden on 
interstate commerce.
    (b) FRA does not intend by issuance of these regulations to preempt 
provisions of State criminal law that impose sanctions for reckless 
conduct that leads to actual loss of life, injury, or damage to 
property, whether such provisions apply specifically to railroad 
employees or generally to the public at large.
    (c) FRA does not intend, by use of the term locomotive engineer in 
this part, to preempt or otherwise alter the terms, conditions, or 
interpretation of existing collective bargaining agreements that employ 
other job classification titles when identifying persons authorized by a 
railroad to operate a locomotive.
    (d) FRA does not intend by issuance of these regulations to preempt 
or otherwise alter the authority of a railroad to initiate disciplinary 
sanctions against its employees, including managers and supervisors, in 
the normal and customary manner, including those contained in its 
collective bargaining agreements.
    (e) Nothing in this part shall be construed to create or prohibit an 
eligibility or entitlement to employment in other service for the 
railroad as a result of denial, suspension, or revocation of 
certification under this part.
    (f) Nothing in this part shall be deemed to abridge any additional 
procedural rights or remedies not inconsistent with this part that are 
available to the employee under a collective bargaining agreement, the 
Railway Labor Act, or (with respect to employment at will) at common law 
with respect to removal from service or other adverse action taken as a 
consequence of this part.

[56 FR 28254, June 19, 1991, as amended at 58 FR 19002, Apr. 9, 1993; 64 
FR 60988, Nov. 8, 1999]