I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3335

To make certain administrative reforms relating to the Federal Railroad

Administration and to make further improvements to the laws governing

railroad safety.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 25, 1996

Ms. MOLINARI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

A BILL

To make certain administrative reforms relating to the Federal Railroad Administration and to make further improvements to the laws governing railroad safety.

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 ‘‘Federal Railroad Ad5 ministration Performance, Personnel, and Enforcement

6 Act of 1996’’.

7 SEC. 2. REGIONAL SAFETY OFFICES.

8 Section 103(a) of title 49, United States Code, is

9 amended by striking the second and third sentences.
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1 SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATOR’S QUALIFICATIONS.

2 Section 103(b) of title 49, United States Code, is

3 amended by inserting after ‘‘consent of the Senate.’’ the

4 following new sentence: ‘‘The Administrator shall be ap5 pointed on the basis of technical qualification, professional

6 standing, and demonstrated knowledge in transportation,

7 transportation regulation, or transportation safety.’’.

8 SEC. 4. CONSULTATION WITH FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINIS9 TRATION.

10 Section 103(c) of title 49, United States Code, is

11 amended by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:

12 ‘‘The Administrator shall consult with the Federal Transit

13 Administration on all commuter rail passenger service

14 matters within the jurisdiction of the Administrator, and

15 shall establish procedures for regular oversight of such

16 matters.’’.

17 SEC. 5. FINAL AGENCY ACTION.

18 Subsection (d) of section 103 of title 49, United

19 States Code, is amended to read as follows:

20 ‘‘(d) A decision of the Administrator in carrying out

21 a duty or power specified by subsection (c)(1) and involv22 ing notice and hearing required by law is administratively

23 final. A failure by the Secretary, by the Administrator,

24 or by any person acting on behalf of the Secretary or the

25 Administrator, to comply with a statutory deadline for

26 regulatory action within the jurisdiction of the Adminis-
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1 tration shall be considered a final agency action for pur2 poses of judicial review.’’.

3 SEC. 6. STUDY OF RULEMAKING PROCESS.

4 The Comptroller General shall, before October 1,

5 1997, complete and transmit to the Congress a report de6 tailing the results of a study of the rulemaking process

7 employed by the Federal Railroad Administration. The

8 study shall address—

9 (1) the adequacy of resources devoted to that

10 rulemaking process; and

11 (2) improvements that could be made in that

12 process, including achieving timely issuance of regu13 lations required by statute and adhering to statutory

14 deadlines.

15 SEC. 7. CONVERSION OF HOURS OF SERVICE PROVISIONS

16 TO ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS.

17 (a) REPEAL.—(1) Chapter 211 of title 49, United

18 States Code, and the item relating thereto in the table of

19 chapters of subtitle V of title 49, are repealed.

20 (2) Paragraph (1) shall take effect on October 1,

21 1996.

22 (b) CONVERSION TO ADMINISTRATIVE REGULA23 TIONS.—On the repeal of chapter 211 under subsection

24 (a), the provisions of sections 21101 through 21107 of

25 that chapter shall continue in effect with full force and
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1 effect as if issued as administrative regulations by the Sec2 retary of Transportation under that chapter. Such provi3 sions, and any regulations issued by the Secretary relating

4 thereto, shall be subject to modification to the full extent

5 of the Secretary’s authority over railroad safety matters

6 under section 20103(a) of title 49, United States Code.

7 SEC. 8. HOURS OF SERVICE PILOT PROJECTS.

8 (a) AMENDMENT.—Chapter 201 of title 49, United

9 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the follow10 ing new section:

11 ‘‘§ 20154. Hours of service pilot projects

12 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of Transportation

13 may approve the implementation of pilot projects to dem14 onstrate the possible benefits of implementing alternatives

15 to the strict application of the requirements of chapter

16 211, regulations issued thereunder, and successor regula17 tions thereto, including requirements concerning maxi18 mum on-duty and minimum off-duty periods. If, as of Au19 gust 1, 1996, less than 3 such projects are underway with

20 projected completion dates of not later than June 30,

21 1998, the Secretary shall order the implementation of suf22 ficient projects to ensure that at least 3 such projects are

23 underway no later than December 1, 1996.

24 ‘‘(b) REPORT.—Not later than June 30, 1998, the

25 Secretary shall transmit to the Congress a report that—
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1 ‘‘(1) explains and analyzes the effectiveness of

2 all pilot projects established pursuant to subsection

3 (a); and

4 ‘‘(2) recommends appropriate modifications to

5 the Secretary’s hours of service regulations.’’.

6 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec7 tions of chapter 201 of title 49, United States Code, is

8 amended by adding at the end the following new item:

‘‘20154. Hours of service pilot projects.’’.

9 SEC. 9. TRAIN CONTROL SYSTEMS REPORTS.

10 (a) AMENDMENT.—Chapter 201 of title 49, United

11 States Code, as amended by section 8 of this Act, is fur12 ther amended by adding at the end the following new sec13 tion:

14 ‘‘§ 20155. Train control systems reports

15 ‘‘(a) APPLICATION OF TRAIN CONTROL SYSTEMS TO

16 COMMUTER CORRIDORS.—Not later than December 31,

17 1997, the Secretary of Transportation shall transmit to

18 the Congress a report—

19 ‘‘(1) evaluating the current state of train con20 trol technology suitable for application to commuter

21 rail corridors; and

22 ‘‘(2) proposing a practicable schedule for the in23 stallation of such train control technology on key

24 commuter rail corridors.
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1 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION OF ADVANCED TRAIN CONTROL

2 TO THE NATIONAL RAIL FREIGHT SYSTEM.—Not later

3 than June 30, 1998, the Secretary shall transmit to the

4 Congress a report—

5 ‘‘(1) evaluating the suitability of advanced train

6 control systems (including systems that employ radio

7 frequency data links and systems using the Global

8 Positioning System) for immediate use where appro9 priate on freight railroads’ route systems;

10 ‘‘(2) outlining a feasible schedule for installa11 tion of any such suitable systems on major rail

12 freight corridors; and

13 ‘‘(3) evaluating the costs and benefits of ad14 vanced train control systems, including business ben15 efits.’’.

16 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec17 tions of chapter 201 of title 49, United States Code, is

18 amended by adding at the end the following new item:

‘‘20155. Train control systems reports.’’.

19 SEC. 10. RAIL SAFETY PERFORMANCE-BASED STANDARDS.

20 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 20103 of title 49, United

21 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the follow22 ing new subsection:

23 ‘‘(g) PERFORMANCE-BASED STANDARDS.—The Sec24 retary shall, to the maximum extent feasible, adopt per25 formance-based standards for achieving rail safety in all
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1 activities to which this part applies. The Secretary shall

2 adopt a performance-based standard whenever—

3 ‘‘(1) the performance-based standard can rea4 sonably be expected to achieve an equal or greater

5 level of safety than alternative proposed or existing

6 standards; and

7 ‘‘(2) the administrative and enforcement costs

8 are not significantly greater than those of other

9 types of standards.’’.

10 (b) REPORT.—Not later than June 30, 1998, the

11 Secretary of Transportation shall transmit to the Con12 gress a report on progress made in implementing section

13 20103(g). Such report shall include an estimate of the sav14 ings achieved, as a result of such implementation, in ad15 ministering rail safety programs as of the reporting date,

16 as well as a projection of savings expected to be achieved

17 for each fiscal year through September 30, 2002. Such

18 report shall also include an analysis of the effects of adopt19 ing performance-based standards on—

20 (1) railroad safety; and

21 (2) administrative and enforcement costs.

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