In addition to the requirements provided in § 972.204, the SMS must meet the following requirements:

The FWS shall have an SMS for all transportation facilities serving the Refuge System, as appropriate, funded under the FLHP.

The FWS SMS may be based on the guidance in “Safety Management Systems: Good Practices for Development and Implementation.”3

3 “Safety Management Systems: Good Practices for Development and Implementation,” FHWA and NHTSA, May 1996, may be obtained at the FHWA, Office of Safety, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590, or electronically at http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/media/documents.htm. It is available for inspection and copying as prescribed at 49 CFR part 7.

The FWS shall utilize the SMS to ensure that safety is considered and implemented as appropriate in all phases of transportation system planning, design, construction, maintenance, and operations.

The SMS may be utilized at various levels of complexity depending on the nature of the transportation facility involved.

The SMS shall be designed to fit the FWS goals, policies, criteria, and needs using, as a minimum, the following components as a basic framework for a SMS:

An ongoing program for the collection, maintenance and reporting of a database that includes:

Accident records with sufficient detail for analysis such as accident type using standard reporting descriptions (e.g., right-angle, rear-end, head-on, pedestrian-related, etc.), location, description of event, severity, weather and cause;

An inventory of safety appurtenances such as signs, delineators, and guardrails (including terminals);

Traffic information including volumes and vehicle classification (as appropriate); and

Accident rates by customary criteria such as location, roadway classification, and vehicle miles of travel.

Development, establishment and implementation of procedures for:

Routinely maintaining and upgrading safety appurtenances including highway-rail crossing warning devices, signs, highway elements, and operational features where appropriate; and

Identifying and investigating hazardous or potentially hazardous transportation system safety problems, roadway locations and features, then establishing countermeasures and setting priorities to correct the identified hazards and potential hazards.

A process for communication, coordination, and cooperation among the organizations responsible for the roadway, human, and vehicle safety elements; and

Development and implementation of public information and education activities on safety needs, programs, and countermeasures which affect safety on the FWS transportation systems.

While the SMS applies to appropriate transportation facilities serving the Refuge System funded under the FLHP, the extent of system requirements (e.g., data collection, analyses, and standards) for low volume roads may be tailored to be consistent with the functional classification of the roads. However, sufficient detail should be included for each functional classification to provide adequate information for use in making safety decisions in the RR program.