I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3418

To improve the quality of life and safety of persons living and working 

near railroad tracks. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 30, 2003

Mr. ROTHMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL

To improve the quality of life and safety of persons living 

and working near railroad tracks.

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 ‘‘Local Participation 

5 in Railroad Operations Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LOCAL INPUT. 

7 (a) AMENDMENT.—Chapter 109 of title 49, United 

8 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing new section: 
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1 ‘‘§ 10908. Local input 

2 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.—A rail carrier providing trans3 portation subject to the jurisdiction of the Board under 

4 this part shall not construct, develop, or expand railroad 

5 maintenance facilities, intermodal rail transfer facilities, 

6 railroad sidings, railroad bridges, railroad yards, or other 

7 railroad facilities unless the Board determines that the rail 

8 carrier has—

9 ‘‘(1) provided local communities with appro10 priate notice of such activities; 

11 ‘‘(2) conducted an assessment of negative envi12 ronmental impacts and appropriate mitigation ac13 tions pursuant to any State or local law that, re14 gardless of whether the rail carrier is required to 

15 comply with such law, requires such assessments to 

16 be made in similar circumstances; 

17 ‘‘(3) held at least one public hearing in each 

18 municipality which is directly affected by such con19 struction, development, or expansion activities; and 

20 ‘‘(4) made good faith efforts to address con21 cerns raised in response to such notice. 

22 ‘‘(b) APPROPRIATE NOTICE.—Not later than 6 

23 months after the date of the enactment of this section, 

24 the Board shall by regulation prescribe procedures that 

25 constitute appropriate notice under various foreseeable cir26 cumstances, including emergency circumstances. 
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1 ‘‘(c) APPROVAL OF CERTAIN AT-GRADE CROSS2 INGS.—A rail carrier providing transportation subject to 

3 the jurisdiction of the Board under this part shall not con4 struct an at-grade crossing over a public road without first 

5 obtaining approval from the local governmental entity with 

6 jurisdiction over the location of the proposed grade cross7 ing.’’. 

8 (b) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of sections for 

9 such chapter 109 is amended by adding at the end the 

10 following new item:

‘‘10908. Local input.’’.

11 SEC. 3. PUBLIC MEETINGS. 

12 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Within 6 months after the date 

13 of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 

14 Secretary of Transportation shall convene 6 public meet15 ings, including at least one in northern New Jersey, to 

16 provide an opportunity for the participants to present 

17 their views, respond to the views of others, and discuss 

18 issues relating to the quality of life and safety of persons 

19 who live, work, or are for any other reason near railroad 

20 tracks. The goal of such meetings shall be the identifica21 tion of appropriate solutions to the quality-of-life and safe22 ty problems that are discussed. The meetings shall be held 

23 in diverse geographic locations where the Secretary con24 siders the need for and benefits to be derived from such 

25 meetings to be the greatest. 
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1 (b) PARTICIPATION.—The Secretary of Transpor2 tation shall make every effort to ensure participation at 

3 such meetings by local elected officials, appropriate rep4 resentatives of the Department of Transportation, State 

5 and local environmental protection agencies, local public 

6 health officials, railroad management, railroad labor, rail7 road shippers, and individuals representing community in8 terests. 

9 (c) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary of 

10 Transportation shall, within 3 months after the comple11 tion of each round of public meetings convened pursuant 

12 to subsection (a), transmit to the Congress a report sum13 marizing the results of the public meetings, and including 

14 recommendations to Congress for measures to help im15 prove the quality of life and safety of persons who live, 

16 work, or are for any other reason near railroad tracks. 

17 SEC. 4. PROTECTING LOCAL RESIDENTS IN RAILROAD 

18 TRANSACTIONS. 

19 Section 11324 of title 49, United States Code, is 

20 amended by adding at the end the following new sub21 section: 

22 ‘‘(g) The Board shall not approve a transaction de23 scribed in section 11323(a) unless the Board has received 

24 assurances that the rail carriers who will be responsible 

25 for rail operations resulting from or affected by the trans-
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1 action have addressed adequately and will continue to ad2 dress adequately problems identified with respect to the 

3 quality of life and safety of persons who live, work, or are 

4 for any other reason near railroad tracks.’’. 

5 SEC. 5. REGULATIONS TO REDUCE NOISE POLLUTION 

6 ALONG RAILROAD LINES. 

7 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Within 6 months after the date 

8 of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the En9 vironmental Protection Agency, after consultation with the 

10 Secretary of Transportation, shall publish in the Federal 

11 Register proposed regulations for reducing noise pollution 

12 generated from railroad operations and railroad facilities. 

13 (b) PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE.—Such regula14 tions shall be prescribed to protect the public health and 

15 welfare, including the health and welfare of persons who 

16 live, work, or are for any other reason near railroad 

17 tracks, taking into account the degree of noise reduction 

18 improvements achievable through the application of the 

19 best available technology and the cost of compliance. 

20 (c) AUDIBLE WARNINGS.—In prescribing such regu21 lations, the Administrator shall give strong consideration 

22 to section 20153 of title 49, United States Code, and shall 

23 seek to ensure that public safety is not compromised. 

24 (d) FINAL REGULATIONS.—Within 90 days after 

25 publication of proposed regulations under subsection (a), 
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1 the Administrator shall promulgate final regulations. Reg2 ulations issued under this section shall be in lieu of any 

3 Federal railroad-related noise regulations for locomotives 

4 and rail cars. Such regulations may be revised, from time 

5 to time, in accordance with this section. 

6 (e) REPEAL.—Upon the issuance of final regulations 

7 under subsection (d), section 17 of the Noise Control Act 

8 of 1972 (42 U.S.C. 4916) is repealed.

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