II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1462 

To improve the safety of oil shipments by rail and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 22, 2015 

Mr. SCHUMER (for himself, Mr. DURBIN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mrs. BOXER, and 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To improve the safety of oil shipments by rail 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 ‘‘Eliminating Dangerous 

5 Oil Cars and Ensuring Community Safety Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. RETROFITTING OR PHASING-OUT CERTAIN TANK 

7 CARS. 

8 Section 20155 of title 49, United States Code, is 

9 amended to read as follows: 

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1 ‘‘§ 20155. Tank cars 

2 ‘‘(a) RETROFITTING REQUIREMENT.—A rail carrier 

3 may not ship any hazardous material in any DOT–111 

4 or non-jacketed CPC–1232 tank car on or after the appli5 cable deadline set forth in subsection (b) unless the tank 

6 car has been retrofitted in accordance with the DOT–117 

7 specification design established by the May 2015 final rule 

8 for the safe transportation of flammable liquids by rail. 

9 ‘‘(b) DEADLINES.—The deadlines set forth in this 

10 subsection are as follows: 

11 ‘‘(1) For non-jacketed DOT–111 tank cars car12 rying materials in Packing Group I, January 1, 

13 2017. 

14 ‘‘(2) For jacketed DOT–111 tank cars carrying 

15 materials in Packing Group I or II and non-jacketed 

16 DOT–111 tank cars carrying materials in Packing 

17 Group II, May, 1, 2017. 

18 ‘‘(3) For non-jacketed CPC–1232 tank cars 

19 carrying materials in Packing Group I, May 1, 

20 2018. 

21 ‘‘(4) For non-jacketed CPC–1232 tank cars 

22 carrying materials in Packing Group II, May 1, 

23 2019. 

24 ‘‘(5) For jacketed CPC–1232 tank cars car25 rying materials in Packing Group I or II and all 

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1 tank cars carrying materials in Packing Group III, 

2 May 1, 2020. 

3 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘Pack4 ing Group I’, ‘Packing Group II’, and ‘Packing Group III’ 

5 have the meanings given such terms in section 173.127(b) 

6 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations.’’. 

7 SEC. 3. CRUDE OIL STABILITY REQUIREMENT. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 51 of title 49, United 

9 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 5110 

10 the following: 

11 ‘‘§ 5111. Crude oil volatility standard 

12 ‘‘Not later than 1 year after the date of the enact13 ment of the Eliminating Dangerous Oil Cars and Ensur14 ing Community Safety Act, the Secretary of Transpor15 tation, in consultation with the Administrator of the Pipe16 line and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, shall 

17 establish and begin enforcing a national maximum vola18 tility standard for the transport of crude oil by rail or by 

19 barge.’’. 

20 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—Chapter 51 of such 

21 title is amended by inserting after the item relating to sec22 tion 5110 the following: 

‘‘5111. Crude oil volatility standard.’’. 

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1 SEC. 4. SPEED RESTRICTIONS FOR TRAINS WITH TANK 

2 CARS THAT DO NOT COMPLY WITH FEDERAL 

3 SAFETY STANDARDS. 

4 (a) DOT–111 TANK CARS.—Any train carrying more 

5 than 10 cars, including at least 1 DOT–111 tank car car6 rying a hazardous material that has not been retrofitted 

7 in accordance with the DOT–117 specification design es8 tablished by the May 2015 final rule for the safe transpor9 tation of flammable liquids by rail, may not be operated 

10 at a speed greater than 40 miles per hour while traveling 

11 through a county (or county equivalent) that has a popu12 lation density of greater than 20 persons per square mile, 

13 as determined in the most recent decennial census. 

14 (b) UNJACKETED CPC–1232 TANK CARS.—Begin15 ning on the date that is 2 years after the date of the enact16 ment of this Act, any train carrying more than 10 cars, 

17 including at least 1 non-jacketed CPC–1232 tank car car18 rying a hazardous material that has not been retrofitted 

19 in accordance with the DOT–117 specification design es20 tablished by the May 2015 final rule for the safe transpor21 tation of flammable liquids by rail, may not be operated 

22 at a speed greater than 40 miles per hour while traveling 

23 through a county (or county equivalent) that has a popu24 lation density of greater than 20 persons per square mile, 

25 as determined in the most recent decennial census. 

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1 SEC. 5. INSPECTIONS. 

2 In addition to the track inspections required under 

3 sections 213.233 and 213.237 of title 49, Code of Federal 

4 Regulations, as of the date of the enactment of this Act, 

5 each rail carrier shall conduct, on main line routes that 

6 the rail carrier owns or has been assigned maintenance 

7 responsibility under section 213.5 of such title, and over 

8 which 1 or more high-hazard flammable trains are oper9 ated— 

10 (1) 2 additional inspections for internal defects 

11 of all rail in Classes 3, 4, and 5 for every 

12 40,000,000 gross tons transported on such lines, or 

13 annually, whichever interval is shorter; and 

14 (2) 4 track geometry inspections each calendar 

15 year. 

16 SEC. 6. POSITIVE TRAIN CONTROL REQUIREMENT. 

17 Chapter 201 of title 49, United States Code, is 

18 amended— 

19 (1) by striking section 20150; and 

20 (2) in section 20157— 

21 (A) by redesignating subsection (i) as sub22 section (j); and 

23 (B) by inserting after subsection (h) the 

24 following: 

25 ‘‘(i) TRAINS THAT CARRY CRUDE OIL OR ETH26 ANOL.—Beginning on December 1, 2018, each rail line 

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1 over which tank cars carrying crude oil or ethanol travel 

2 shall be equipped with a positive train control system.’’. 

3 SEC. 7. OIL SPILL RESPONSE PLANS. 

4 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Chapter 209 of title 49, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘§ 20904. Oil spill response plans 

8 ‘‘(a) COMPREHENSIVE OIL SPILL RESPONSE

9 PLANS.—Each rail carrier that transports crude oil, petro10 leum, or other hazardous products by rail shall develop 

11 comprehensive oil spill response plans, in accordance with 

12 part 130 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations. 

13 ‘‘(b) RESPONSE PLAN AUDIT PROGRAM.—The Ad14 ministrator of the Federal Railroad Administration shall 

15 develop a program to audit response plans for rail carriers 

16 of crude oil, petroleum, and other hazardous products to 

17 ensure that such plans include comprehensive procedures 

18 for— 

19 ‘‘(1) preventing or mitigating a substantial 

20 threat of a worst-case discharge of such products re21 sulting from a rail accident or incident; and 

22 ‘‘(2) responding to and cleaning up such a dis23 charge.’’. 

24 (b) RULEMAKING.—The Administrator of the Pipe25 line and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, in 

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1 consultation with the Administrator of the Federal Rail2 road Administration, shall update the regulations con3 tained in part 130 of title 49, Code of Federal Regula4 tions, by revising the spill response planning thresholds 

5 to require comprehensive response plans to effectively pro6 vide for the carrier’s ability to respond to worst-case dis7 charges resulting from accidents involving unit trains or 

8 blocks of tank cars transporting oil and petroleum prod9 ucts. 

10 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

11 in chapter 209 of title 49, United States Code, is amended 

12 by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘20904. Oil spill response plans.’’. 

13 SEC. 8. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

14 (a) CLOSE CALL REPORTING SYSTEMS.—Section 

15 20901 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by add16 ing at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(c) CLOSE CALL REPORTING SYSTEM.—Each rail 

18 carrier shall establish a system through which employees 

19 may anonymously report circumstances or incidents that 

20 endanger the safety of railroad operations.’’. 

21 (b) DERAILMENT REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Sec22 tion 20901 of such title, as amended by subsection (a), 

23 is further amended by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(d) DERAILMENT REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

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1 ‘‘(1) DEFINED TERM.—In this subsection, the 

2 term ‘high hazard flammable train’ means a train 

3 comprised of more than 10 loaded tank cars of a 

4 Class 3 flammable liquid. 

5 ‘‘(2) IMMEDIATE NOTIFICATION.—Immediately 

6 after the derailment of any high hazard flammable 

7 train operated by a rail carrier, the rail carrier shall 

8 provide the Federal Railroad Administration and the 

9 county emergency management contact (or equiva10 lent) in the county in which the train derailed 

11 with— 

12 ‘‘(A) information about the train, includ13 ing— 

14 ‘‘(i) the train number; 

15 ‘‘(ii) the models of locomotive at16 tached to the train; 

17 ‘‘(iii) end-of-train device information; 

18 ‘‘(iv) the number and position of tank 

19 cars in the train; 

20 ‘‘(v) tank car reporting marks; and 

21 ‘‘(vi) tank car specifications and rel22 evant attributes, including information re23 lated to thermal protection, shell and head 

24 thickness, steel specification and grade, 

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1 head shield, and pressure relief valve set2 ting; 

3 ‘‘(B) information contained on the waybill, 

4 including the origin and destination of the 

5 train, the goods being transported, and the 

6 name and contact information for consignors of 

7 such goods; 

8 ‘‘(C)(i) the safety data sheet for each haz9 ardous chemical being transported by the train, 

10 as required under section 1910.1200(g) of title 

11 29, Code of Federal Regulations; or 

12 ‘‘(ii) any other documents used to provide 

13 comprehensive emergency response and incident 

14 mitigation information for Class 3 flammable 

15 liquids. 

16 ‘‘(3) SUBSEQUENT NOTIFICATION.—Not later 

17 than 90 minutes after the derailment of any high 

18 hazard flammable train operated by a rail carrier, 

19 the rail carrier shall provide the Federal Railroad 

20 Administration with— 

21 ‘‘(A) the results of any product testing un22 dertaken before transportation that was used to 

23 properly characterize the Class 3 flammable liq24 uids for transportation; 

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1 ‘‘(B) the results from any analysis of prod2 uct samples taken before being offered into 

3 transportation from tank cars involved in the 

4 derailment; 

5 ‘‘(C) if a flammable liquid is involved in 

6 the derailment, the type of liquid and the name 

7 and location of the company extracting the ma8 terial; 

9 ‘‘(D) the identification of the company that 

10 conducted the initial testing of the material, in11 cluding sampling and analysis; 

12 ‘‘(E) the name and location of the com13 pany transporting the material from the well 

14 head to the loading facility or terminal; 

15 ‘‘(F) the name and location of the com16 pany that owns and that operates the terminal 

17 or loading facility that loaded the product for 

18 rail transportation; 

19 ‘‘(G) the name of the railroads handling 

20 the tank cars at any time from point of origin 

21 to destination; and 

22 ‘‘(H) a timeline of handling changes be23 tween railroads.’’. 

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