(a) General requirement. Each state oversight agency shall develop and distribute a program standard. The program standard is a compilation of processes and procedures that governs the conduct of the oversight program at the state oversight agency level, and provides guidance to the regulated rail transit properties concerning processes and procedures they must have in place to be in compliance with the state safety oversight program. The program standard and any referenced program procedures must be submitted to FTA as part of the initial submission. Subsequent revisions and updates must be submitted to FTA as part of the oversight agency's annual submission.

(b) Contents. Each oversight agency shall develop a written program standard that meets the requirements specified in this part and includes, at a minimum, the areas identified in this section.

(1) Program management section. This section shall include an explanation of the oversight agency's authority, policies, and roles and responsibilities for providing safety and security oversight of the rail transit agencies within its jurisdiction. This section shall provide an overview of planned activities to ensure on-going communication with each affected rail transit agency relating to safety and security information, as well as FTA reporting requirements, including initial, annual and periodic submissions.

(2) Program standard development section. This section shall include a description of the oversight agency's process for the development, review, and adoption of the program standard, the modification and/or update of the program standard, and the process by which the program standard and any subsequent revisions are distributed to each affected rail transit agency.

(3) Oversight of rail transit agency internal safety and security reviews. This section shall specify the role of the oversight agency in overseeing the rail transit agency internal safety and security review process. This includes a description of the process used by the oversight agency to receive rail transit agency checklists and procedures and approve the rail transit agency's annual reports on findings, which must be submitted under the signature of the rail transit agency's top management.

(4) Oversight agency safety and security review section. This section shall lay out the process and criteria to be used at least every three years in conducting a complete review of each affected rail transit agency's implementation of its system safety program plan and system security plan. This section includes the process to be used by the affected rail transit agency and the oversight agency to manage findings and recommendations from this review. This also includes procedures for notifying the oversight agency before the rail transit agency conducts an internal review.

(5) Accident notification section. This section shall include the specific requirements for the rail transit agency to notify the oversight agency of accidents. This section shall also include required timeframes, methods of notification, and the information to be submitted by the rail transit agency. Additional detail on this portion is included in §659.33 of this part.

(6) Investigations section. This section contains the oversight agency identification of the thresholds for incidents that require an oversight agency investigation. The roles and responsibilities for conducting investigations shall include: coordination with the rail transit agency investigation process, the role of the oversight agency in supporting investigations and findings conducted by the NTSB, review and concurrence of investigation report findings, and procedures for protecting the confidentiality of investigation reports.

(7) Corrective actions section. This section shall specify oversight agency criteria for the development of corrective action plan(s) and the process for the review and approval of a corrective action plan developed by the rail transit agency. This section shall also identify the oversight agency's policies for the verification and tracking of corrective action plan implementation, and its process for managing conflicts with the rail transit agency relating to investigation findings and corrective action plan development.

(8) System safety program plan section. This section shall specify the minimum requirements to be contained in the rail transit agency's system safety program plan. The contents of the system safety plan are discussed in more detail in §659.19 of this part. This section shall also specify information to be included in the affected rail transit agency's system safety program plan relating to the hazard management process, including requirements for on-going communication and coordination relating to the identification, categorization, resolution, and reporting of hazards to the oversight agency. More details on the hazard management process are contained in §659.31 of this part. This section shall also describe the process and timeframe through which the oversight agency must receive, review, and approve the rail transit agency system safety program plan.

(9) System security plan section. This section shall specify the minimum requirements to be included in the rail transit agency's system security plan. More details about the system security plan are contained in §§659.21 through 659.23 of this part. This section shall also describe the process by which the oversight agency will review and approve the rail transit agency system security program plan. This section also shall identify how the state will prevent the system security plan from public disclosure.