Appendix B to Part 225 - Procedure for Determining Reporting Threshold
49:4.1.1.1.20.0.15.25.41 : Appendix B
Appendix B to Part 225 - Procedure for Determining Reporting
Threshold
1. Wage data used in the calculation are collected from
railroads by the Surface Transportation Board (STB) on Form A - STB
Wage Statistics. Rail equipment data from the U.S. Department of
Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), LABSTAT Series reports are
used in the calculation. The equation used to adjust the reporting
threshold has two components: (a) The average hourly earnings of
certain railroad maintenance employees as reported to the STB by
the Class I railroads and Amtrak; and (b) an overall rail equipment
cost index determined by the BLS. The wage component is weighted by
40% and the equipment component by 60%.
2. For the wage component, the average of the data from Form A -
STB Wage Statistics for Group No. 300 (Maintenance of Way and
Structures) and Group No. 400 (Maintenance of Equipment and Stores)
employees is used.
3. For the equipment component, LABSTAT Series Report, Producer
Price Index (PPI) Series WPU 144 for Railroad Equipment is
used.
4. In the month of October, second-quarter and first-quarter
wage data for the current year, and fourth-quarter and
third-quarter wage data for the previous year are obtained from the
STB. For equipment costs, the corresponding BLS railroad equipment
indices for the same time period as the STB wage data are
obtained.
5. The wage data are reported in terms of dollars earned per
hour, while the equipment cost data are indexed to a base year of
1982.
6. The procedure for adjusting the reporting threshold is shown
in the formula below. The wage and equipment components appear as
fractional changes relative to the prior year. After performing the
calculation, the result is rounded to the nearest $100.
7. The weightings result from using STB wage data and BLS
equipment cost data to produce a reasonable estimation of the
reporting threshold that was calculated using the threshold formula
in effect immediately before calendar year 2006, a formula that
assumed damage repair costs, at levels at or near the threshold,
were split approximately evenly between labor and materials.
8. Formula:
New Threshold = Prior Threshold × [1 + 0.4(Wnew - Wprior)/Wprior +
0.6(Enew−Eprior)/Eprior] Where: Wnew = New average hourly wage rate
($). Wprior = Prior average hourly wage rate ($). Enew = New
equipment average PPI value. Eprior = Prior equipment average PPI
value. [85 FR 79135, Dec. 9, 2020]