I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3106

To improve rail transportation safety, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 18, 1996

Mr. WYNN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Transportation and Infrastructure

A BILL

To improve rail transportation safety, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rail Safety Act of

5 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 For purposes of this Act, the following definitions

8 shall apply:

9 (1) PASSENGER CAB CAR.—The term ‘‘pas10 senger cab car’’ means the leading cab car on a pas11 senger train that does not have a locomotive or safe12 ty locomotive at the front of the train.
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1 (2) RAILROAD CARRIER.—The term ‘‘railroad

2 carrier’’ has the same meaning as in section

3 20102(2) of title 49, United States Code.

4 (3) SAFETY LOCOMOTIVE.—The term ‘‘safety

5 locomotive’’ means a cab-car locomotive (whether

6 operational or not) that is used at the front of a rail

7 passenger train to promote passenger safety.

8 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

9 the Secretary of Transportation.

10 (5) TRAIN EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘train em11 ployee’’ has the same meaning as in section

12 21101(5) of title 49, United States Code.

13 SEC. 3. HOURS OF SERVICE.

14 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 21103 of title 49, United

15 States Code, is amended to read as follows:

16 ‘‘§ 21103. Limitations on duty hours of train employ17 ees

18 ‘‘(a) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Transpor19 tation shall promulgate regulations concerning limitations

20 on duty hours of train employees that contain—

21 ‘‘(1) requirements concerning hours of work for

22 train employees and interim periods available for

23 rest that are no less stringent than the applicable re24 quirements under this section, as in effect on the
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1 day before the date of enactment of the Rail Safety

2 Act of 1996; and

3 ‘‘(2) any other related requirements that the

4 Secretary determines to be necessary to protect pub5 lic safety.

6 ‘‘(b) NEGOTIATED RULEMAKING.—In promulgating

7 regulations under this section, the Secretary shall use ne8 gotiated rulemaking in accordance with the procedures

9 under subchapter III of chapter 5 of title 5, United States

10 Code, unless the Secretary determines that the use of that

11 process is not appropriate.’’.

12 (b) PROMULGATION.—The Secretary shall promul13 gate the regulations described in section 21103 of title 49,

14 United States Code, as amended by subsection (a), within

15 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.

16 (c) CONTINUED EFFECT OF REQUIREMENTS.—The

17 requirements stated in section 21103 of title 49, United

18 States Code, as in effect on the day before the date of

19 enactment of this Act, shall continue in effect until the

20 Secretary promulgates final regulations under subsection

21 (b).

22 SEC. 4. SATELLITE-BASED POSITIVE TRAIN CONTROL SYS23 TEMS.

24 (a) STUDY AND REPORT.—Not later than 1 year

25 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall
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1 complete and transmit to the Congress a report detailing

2 the results of a study to determine the feasibility of requir3 ing satellite-based positive train control systems in the

4 United States by January 1, 2001.

5 (b) TIME FRAME FOR OPERATION.—

6 (1) DETERMINATION OF PRACTICABILITY.—

7 Upon completion of the study conducted under sub8 section (a), the Secretary shall determine whether

9 the installation of effective satellite-based positive

10 train control systems referred to in subsection (a)

11 could be accomplished practicably by January 1,

12 2001.

13 (2) AUTOMATED TRAIN CONTROL SYSTEMS RE14 QUIREMENT.—Within 180 days after the completion

15 of the study conducted under subsection (a), the

16 Secretary shall promulgate regulations to require, as

17 soon as practicable after the promulgation of the

18 regulations, the use of automated train control sys19 tems that are available at that time.

20 (3) WAIVERS.—If the appropriate official of a

21 railroad carrier establishes, to the satisfaction of the

22 Secretary, and in a manner specified by the Sec23 retary, that the railroad carrier will have in oper24 ation a satellite-based positive train control system

25 by January 1, 2001, the Secretary shall waive for
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1 that railroad carrier the application of the regula2 tions promulgated under paragraph (2), subject to

3 terms and conditions established by the Secretary.

4 (4) EXCEPTIONS AND CONDITIONS.—In promul5 gating regulations under this subsection, the Sec6 retary shall provide for any exceptions or conditions

7 that the Secretary determines to be necessary.

8 (5) MONITORING.—If the Secretary issues a

9 waiver for a railroad carrier under paragraph (3),

10 the railroad carrier shall, during the period that the

11 waiver is in effect, provide such information to the

12 Secretary as the Secretary determines to be nec13 essary to monitor the compliance of the railroad car14 rier with the terms and conditions of the waiver, in15 cluding information concerning the progress of the

16 railroad carrier in achieving an operational satellite17 based positive train control system.

18 (6) REVOCATION OF WAIVERS.—If, at any time

19 during the period that a waiver issued under para20 graph (3) is in effect, the Secretary determines that

21 the railroad carrier issued the waiver is not meeting

22 the terms or conditions of the waiver, or is not likely

23 to have in operation a satellite-based positive train

24 control system by January 1, 2001, the Secretary

25 shall revoke the waiver.
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1 SEC. 5. AUTOMATIC TRAIN ESCAPE DEVICE STUDY.

2 (a) STUDY.—Not later than 1 year after the date of

3 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall complete and

4 transmit to the Congress a report detailing the results of

5 a study of the technical, structural, and economic feasibil6 ity of installing in rail passenger cars devices which, in

7 the event of a collision, would automatically provide pas8 senger escape access.

9 (b) REGULATIONS.—If the Secretary finds in the

10 study that automatic train escape devices should be re11 quired on rail passenger trains, the Secretary shall, not

12 later than 180 days after the date the report is submitted

13 to Congress under subsection (a), promulgate regulations

14 to require automatic train escape devices on rail passenger

15 trains as soon as practicable after the promulgation of the

16 regulations.

17 SEC. 6. EMERGENCY SAFETY PRECAUTIONS.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the

19 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall deter20 mine what regulations are necessary to increase the ability

21 of passengers to escape from a rail car in the event of

22 an emergency. The Secretary shall consider whether regu23 lations are necessary to require—

24 (1) emergency lighting in each rail car;

25 (2) emergency windows that are clearly marked

26 and operate easily;
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1 (3) doors that are easy to operate in an emer2 gency situation;

3 (4) clear emergency procedure instructions to

4 be prominently displayed in all rail passenger cars;

5 and

6 (5) public address announcements at each train

7 stop that direct passengers to emergency procedure

8 instructions displayed in each car.

9 (b) REGULATIONS.—If the Secretary determines that

10 promulgating any of the regulations referred to in sub11 section (a) is necessary, the Secretary shall promulgate

12 such regulations, to take effect as soon as practicable after

13 the promulgation of the regulations.

14 SEC. 7. LOCOMOTIVE FUEL TANKS.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the

16 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall estab17 lish, by regulation, minimum safety standards for fuel

18 tanks of locomotives of rail passenger trains that take into

19 consideration environmental protection and public safety.

20 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The Secretary may limit the

21 applicability of the regulations promulgated under sub22 section (a) to new locomotives (as defined by the Sec23 retary) if the Secretary determines that the limitation is

24 appropriate.
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1 SEC. 8. PASSENGER CAR CRASHWORTHINESS.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the

3 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall deter4 mine whether to promulgate regulations, for the purpose

5 of protecting public safety, to—

6 (1) require crash posts at the corners of rail

7 passenger cars;

8 (2) require safety locomotives on rail passenger

9 trains;

10 (3) establish minimum crashworthiness stand11 ards for passenger cab cars; or

12 (4) carry out any combination of paragraphs

13 (1) through (3).

14 (b) REGULATIONS.—If the Secretary determines that

15 promulgating any of the regulations referred to in sub16 section (a) is necessary to protect public safety, the Sec17 retary shall, not later than 18 months after the date of

18 enactment of this Act, promulgate such regulations in

19 final form, to take effect as soon as practicable after the

20 promulgation of the regulations.

21 (c) REPORT.—If the Secretary determines under sub22 section (a) that taking any action referred to in para23 graphs (1) through (3) of such subsection is not necessary

24 to protect public safety, not later than the date of the de25 termination the Secretary shall submit a report to the

26 Congress that provides the reasons for that determination.
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1 SEC. 9. SIGNAL PLACEMENT.

2 (a) STUDY.—Not later than 1 year after the date of

3 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall complete a

4 study of the placement of rail signals along railways. In

5 conducting the study, the Secretary shall at a minimum

6 determine whether regulations should be promulgated to

7 require—

8 (1) that a signal be placed along a railway at

9 each exit of a rail station; and

10 (2) if practicable, that a signal be placed so

11 that it is visible only to the train employee of a train

12 that the signal is designed to influence.

13 (b) REGULATIONS.—If, upon completion of the study

14 conducted under subsection (a), the Secretary determines

15 that the regulations referred to in that subsection are nec16 essary for the protection of public safety, the Secretary

17 shall, not later than 180 days after the completion of the

18 study, promulgate those regulations.

19 (c) REPORT.—If, upon completion of the study con20 ducted under subsection (a), the Secretary determines

21 that promulgating any of the regulations referred to in

22 that subsection is not necessary for the protection of pub23 lic safety, not later than the date of the determination the

24 Secretary shall submit a report to the Congress that pro25 vides the reasons for that determination.

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