II

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2132

To authorize appropriations to carry out the Federal Railroad Safety Act

of 1970, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 18 (legislative day, MAY 16), 1994

Mr. EXON introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to

the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To authorize appropriations to carry out the Federal

Railroad Safety Act of 1970, 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 ‘‘Federal Railroad Safe5 ty Authorization Act of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

7 Section 214(a) of the Federal Railroad Safety Act of

8 1970 (45 U.S.C. 444(a)) is amended by striking the first

9 sentence and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

10 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this
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1 Act not to exceed $68,289,000 for fiscal year 1995 and

2 such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 1996,

3 1997, and 1998.’’.

4 SEC. 3. HOURS OF SERVICE PILOT PROJECT.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Hours of Service Act (45

6 U.S.C. 61 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the

7 following new section:

8 ‘‘SEC. 7. HOURS OF SERVICE PILOT PROJECT.

9 ‘‘(a) A railroad or railroads, and all labor organiza10 tions representing any directly affected covered service

11 employees of the railroad or railroads, may jointly petition

12 the Secretary of Transportation for approval of one or

13 more pilot projects to demonstrate the possible benefits

14 of implementing alternatives to the requirements of this

15 Act, including, but not limited to, those concerning maxi16 mum on-duty and minimum off-duty periods. Based on

17 such a joint petition, the Secretary, after notice and op18 portunity for comment, may waive, in whole or in part,

19 compliance with this Act for a period of no more than 2

20 years, if the Secretary determines that such waiver of com21 pliance is in the public interest and is consistent with rail22 road safety. Any such waiver may, based on a new peti23 tion, be extended for additional periods of up to 2 years,

24 after notice and opportunity for comment. An explanation
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1 of any waiver granted under this section shall be published

2 in the Federal Register.

3 ‘‘(b) The Secretary shall submit to Congress no later

4 than June 1, 1996, a report that explains and analyzes

5 the effectiveness of any pilot projects approved under this

6 section.’’.

7 (b) CIVIL PENALTY.—The first sentence of section

8 5(a)(1) of the Hours of Service Act (45 U.S.C. 64a(a)(1))

9 is amended by inserting immediately before ‘‘shall be lia10 ble’’ the following: ‘‘or that violates any provision of a

11 waiver applicable to that person that has been granted

12 under section 7 of this Act,’’.

13 SEC. 4. TECHNICAL AMENDMENT TO FEDERAL RAILROAD

14 SAFETY ACT OF 1970.

15 The first sentence of section 209(f) of the Federal

16 Railroad Safety Act of 1970 (45 U.S.C. 438(f)) is amend17 ed by inserting ‘‘any of the Federal railroad safety laws,

18 as defined in section 212(e) of this title (except for the

19 Hazardous Materials Transportation Act), or’’ imme20 diately after ‘‘individual’s violation of’’.

21 SEC. 5. BIENNIAL REPORTING ON IMPLEMENTATION OF

22 FEDERAL RAILROAD SAFETY ACT OF 1970.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 211(a) of the Federal

24 Railroad Safety Act of 1970 (45 U.S.C. 440(a)) is amend25 ed—
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1 (1) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘on or be2 fore July 1 of each year a comprehensive report on

3 the administration of this title for the preceding cal4 endar year’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘every 2

5 years, on or before July 1 of the year due, a com6 prehensive report on the administration of this title

7 for the preceding 2 calendar years’’;

8 (2) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘occurring in

9 such year’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘occurring

10 during each of the 2 preceding calendar years, by

11 calendar year’’;

12 (3) in paragraphs (2), (3), and (6), respectively,

13 by striking ‘‘year’’ and inserting in lieu thereof

14 ‘‘years’’; and

15 (4) in paragraphs (9) and (10), by striking

16 ‘‘during the preceding calendar year’’ each place it

17 appears and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘during the

18 preceding 2 calendar years’’.

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The section head20 ing for section 211 of the Federal Railroad Safety Act

21 of 1970 (45 U.S.C. 440) is amended by striking ‘‘AN22 NUAL REPORT’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘BIENNIAL

23 REPORT’’.

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