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• FRA grants waivers if in the public interest and consistent with the safety of highway and railroad users of the highway -rail grade crossings. 8. Summary of major changes to the Interim Final Rule • The final rule provides a one-year grace period to comply with New Quiet Zone standards for communities with pre-existing whistle bans that were in effect on December 18, 2003, but were adopted after October 9, 1996. These communities are considered "Intermediate" Quiet Zones under the final rule. • The final rule addresses quiet zones that prohibit sounding of horns during the evening and/or nighttime hours. These are referred to as Partial Quiet Zones. • The final rule requires diagnostic team reviews of pedestrian crossings that are located within proposed New Quiet Zones and New Partial Quiet Zones. • The final rule requires quiet zone communities to retain automatic bells at public highway -rail grade crossings that are subject to pedestrian traffic. • The final rule extends "recognized State agency" status to State agencies that wish to participate in the quiet zone development process. • The final rule contains a 60 -day comment period on quiet zone applications. • The final rule requires public authorities to provide notification of their intent to create a New Quiet Zone. During the 60 -day period after the Notice of Intent is mailed, comments may be submitted to the public authority. • The final rule provides quiet zone risk reduction credit for certain pre-existing SSMs. • The final rule provides quiet zone risk reduction credit for pre-existing modified SSMs. • The final rule contains a new category of ASMs that addresses engineering improvements other than modified SSMs. Additional information, including the full text of the Final Rule, the Final Environmental Impact Statement, and background documents, are available athttp://www.fra.dot.gov. Disclaimer: This is a summary of the Final Rule for initial briefing purposes only. Entities subject to the rule should refer to the rule text as published in the Federal Register on April 27, 2005.