Responding to a legislative mandate, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) issued, in December 2003, an interim final rule that requires all locomotive horns be sounded, as a warning to highway users, while a train is approaching and entering a public rail crossing.

The rule, however, does not take effect until Dec. 18, 2004, one year after it was issued. The FRA believes the new rule would prevent numerous deaths, injuries and accidents.

Millions of people nationwide are affected by train-horn noise. It's important to note that this interim final rule provides an opportunity, not available until now, for thousands of communities to mitigate the effects of train horn noise by establishing a "quiet zone."

These zones, which would be equipped with supplementary safety measures, like four gates instead of two, are a segment of the railroad within which locomotive horns are not routinely sounded at one or more consecutive crossings.

Although there are currently no documented quiet zones on Long Island, any community could require a railroad to stop blowing horns by passing an ordinance before the Dec. 18 deadline. This ordinance would require the horns to be silenced during certain hours of the day, for example, 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

The quiet zone must not be less than one half mile and include all crossings in the zone, private and public, as well as be equipped with certain safety equipment. A zone may not be established at a railroad crossing unless the governing body of a municipality or a board of county commissioners follows the procedure provided and receives approval of the U.S. Department of Transportation's secretary or the secretary's designee.

Garden City Village Administrator Robert Schoelle, who is currently researching the creation of such zones, said, "This is a very complex regulation involving liability exposure issues and possibly significant costs to be assumed by the incorporated village.

"The Incorporated Village of Garden City will further explore the regulation, its ramifications and potential improvements to our quality of life, through our Environmental Advisory Board."

U.S. Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy noted that while circumstances do exist when a train must sound its whistle in residential areas, she believes it's best to leave that decision up to an engineer's best judgment.

Although efforts have been made to overturn horn bans, Senator Michael Balboni believes a balance must exist. "That you have to tell somebody you don't want the whistle blowing is quite frankly absurd. It should be an opt-out, not an opt-in. There has got to be a balance between noise pollution and quality of life versus state," he said.

"And it's a decision that must be made on a case by case basis and the municipalities are in the best position to do that. Maybe you can reduce the time period. For example, reduce the horns from one to four o'clock in the morning."

Although Senator Balboni acknowledges that danger does exist, he would like to research the historical side of the issue. "Has any car been hit in the middle of the night? I don't seem to recall any. If there are problems it's usually during rush hour."

The sounding of locomotive horns or whistles in advance of highway-rail grade crossings has been used as a universal safety measure by railroads since the late 1800s. The manner in which horns have been sounded (two long, one short and one long) was standardized in 1938.

Since that time, municipalities across the U.S. established "whistle bans" by local ordinance or through agreements with particular railroads. Typically, municipal governing bodies established such bans to address citizens' complaints and concerns about the noise and frequency of train whistles.

Global Rail Consulting Services (GRCS), a full service organization, can manage the logistics for obtaining railroad grade crossing quiet zones and maintain any existing pre-rule quiet zones.

The organization can provide a staff of experts to establish the zones and coordinate the diagnostic team. Each railroad crossing will be evaluated for any potential upgrades to qualify for the quiet zone and, should upgrades be necessary, the GRCS can facilitate and obtain cost estimates.

Financially speaking, implementing such a zone depends on how many grade crossings actually exist in the municipality. A Long Island Rail Road representative did not return calls as of press time. Other cost factors include conducting the diagnostics and preparing reports and submitting the final application.

A municipality's governing body shall consult with the railroad corporations that operate the rail lines through crossings that are within the proposed zone. The petition must include how the municipality intends to implement the supplemental safety measures that are required by the U.S. Department of Transportation. For more information, visit the Federal Railroad Administration at www.fra.dot.gov.