II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 844 

To authorize the declaration of a hazardous train event, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 16, 2023 

Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mr. FETTERMAN, and Mr. BROWN) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To authorize the declaration of a hazardous train event, 

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 ‘‘Assistance for Local 

5 Heroes During Train Crises Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. HAZARDOUS TRAIN EVENTS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 209 of title 49, United 

8 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘§ 20904. Hazardous train events 

2 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

3 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘Adminis4 trator’ means the Administrator of the Federal Rail5 road Administration. 

6 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en7 tity’ means a State or local emergency response 

8 group, including a law enforcement agency, a fire 

9 department, and an emergency response agency, lo10 cated in an area affected by a hazardous train event. 

11 ‘‘(3) FUND.—The term ‘Fund’ means the Haz12 ardous Train Event Emergency Reimbursement 

13 Fund established under subsection (c). 

14 ‘‘(4) HAZARDOUS TRAIN EVENT.—The term 

15 ‘hazardous train event’ means an train incident that 

16 the Administrator has declared to be a hazardous 

17 train event pursuant to subsection (b). 

18 ‘‘(b) DECLARATION.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in con20 sultation with the Administrator of the Federal 

21 Emergency Management Agency and the Adminis22 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency, may 

23 declare that a hazardous train event has occurred 

24 not later than 3 days after the occurrence of a train 

25 derailment, train crash, or other incident involving a 

26 train carrying hazardous materials, hazardous waste, 


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1 or other materials that pose a threat to public 

2 health, safety, and the environment, as determined 

3 by the Administrator. 

4 ‘‘(2) EFFECT OF DECLARATION.—Upon a dec5 laration pursuant to subsection (a), the Adminis6 trator shall immediately award at least $250,000 

7 from the Fund to 1 or more eligible entities pursu8 ant to subsection (d). 

9 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL FUNDING AWARD.—Not later 

10 than 5 days after a declaration pursuant to sub11 section (a), the Administrator may award additional 

12 amounts to the initially awarded entities for further 

13 costs or other eligible entities from the Fund, not to 

14 exceed $3,000,000 per hazardous train event. 

15 Amounts awarded pursuant to this paragraph shall 

16 be allocated based on additional needs, as deter17 mined by the Administrator. 

18 ‘‘(c) HAZARDOUS TRAIN EVENT EMERGENCY REIM19 BURSEMENT FUND.—There is established within the 

20 Treasury of the United States a fund, which— 

21 ‘‘(1) shall be known as the ‘Hazardous Train 

22 Event Emergency Reimbursement Fund’; and 

23 ‘‘(2) shall be administered by the Adminis24 trator. 

25 ‘‘(d) ASSISTANCE FOR ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may use 

2 amounts from the Fund to reimburse eligible enti3 ties, in accordance with subsection (b)— 

4 ‘‘(A) for the cost of replacing equipment 

5 that is damaged, contaminated, or otherwise 

6 rendered unusable as a result of the response of 

7 the eligible entity to a hazardous train event; 

8 ‘‘(B) for overtime pay for firefighters, law 

9 enforcement officers, or other emergency re10 sponders who work at the scene of a hazardous 

11 train event; 

12 ‘‘(C) for operational costs for actions taken 

13 to respond to a hazardous train event; 

14 ‘‘(D) for any other purpose related to a 

15 hazardous train event, as determined by the 

16 Administrator; and 

17 ‘‘(E) to retroactively cover a cost described 

18 in any of subparagraphs (A) through (D) that 

19 is incurred after the date of a hazardous train 

20 event or within 30 days of the receipt of 

21 amounts under this subsection. 

22 ‘‘(2) DOCUMENTATION OF COSTS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 

24 days after the date on which the Administrator 

25 declares a hazardous train event for which an 


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1 eligible entity receives assistance under this 

2 subsection, the eligible entity shall submit docu3 mentation to the Administrator for each item 

4 for which such assistance is used through pro5 curement or reimbursement. 

6 ‘‘(B) REIMBURSEMENT.—If the Adminis7 trator determines that an eligible entity has 

8 used assistance received under this subsection 

9 in violation of this subsection, the eligible entity 

10 shall reimburse the Fund for the amount of 

11 such assistance. Reimbursements to the Fund 

12 shall be made eligible for future hazardous 

13 train events.’’. 

14 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap15 ter 209 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by 

16 adding at the end the following: 

‘‘20904. Hazardous train events.’’. 

17 SEC. 3. ADVANCE WARNING REQUIREMENT. 

18 The Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with 

19 the Administrator of the Transportation Security Admin20 istration, shall issue regulations requiring any railroad 

21 that transports hazardous materials by train through any 

22 community in the United States to provide county and 

23 local emergency response groups in such community, in24 cluding police departments, fire departments, and emer25 gency response agencies, with— 


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1 (1) advance warning of such train’s load and 

2 timing; and 

3 (2) real-time location information on such a 

4 train when it enters and exits its service area the ap5 plicable service area. 

6 SEC. 4. HAZARDOUS MATERIALS EMERGENCY REIMBURSE7 MENT FEE. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5108(g) of title 49, 

9 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(4) HAZARDOUS MATERIALS EMERGENCY RE12 IMBURSEMENT FEE FOR SHIPPERS AND CARRIERS

13 OF HAZARDOUS MATERIAL.— 

14 ‘‘(A) SCHEDULE OF FEES.—The Secretary 

15 shall prescribe a schedule of annual fees for 

16 shippers and carriers of hazardous materials by 

17 rail that have total annual collections of not less 

18 than $10,000,000. 

19 ‘‘(B) DEPOSITS INTO TRUST FUND.—Fees 

20 collected pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be 

21 deposited into the Hazardous Train Event 

22 Emergency Reimbursement Fund established 

23 under section 20904.’’. 

24 (b) DEPOSITS INTO TRUST FUND.—Amounts col25 lected from shippers and carriers pursuant to section 


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1 5108(g)(4), United States Code, as added by subsection 

2 (a), shall be regularly deposited into the Hazardous Train 

3 Event Emergency Reimbursement Fund established under 

4 section 20904 of title 49, United States Code, as added 

5 by section 2. 

Æ 


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