II

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2399

To promote railroad safety and enhance interstate commerce.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

AUGUST 16 (legislative day, AUGUST 11), 1994

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

the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To promote railroad safety and enhance interstate commerce.

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 ‘‘Railroad Grade Cross5 ing Safety and Research Act of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. INSTITUTE FOR RAILROAD AND GRADE CROSSING

7 SAFETY.

8 The Secretary of Transportation (hereinafter Sec9 retary), in conjunction with a university or college having

10 expertise in highway driver and railroad safety, shall es11 tablish within one year of enactment of this Act, an Insti-
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1 tute for Railroad and Grade Crossing Safety (hereinafter

2 Institute). The Institute shall research, develop, fund, or

3 test measures for reducing the number of fatalities and

4 injuries in rail operations. The Institute shall focus on im5 provements in railroad grade crossing safety, railroad tres6 pass prevention, prevention of railroad vandalism and the

7 improved enforcement of laws in such areas. There is here8 by authorized to be appropriated an additional $1,000,000

9 for each of the fiscal years 1996 through 2000 for the

10 Institute, which will make periodic reports to the Sec11 retary of Transportation and the Congress.

12 SEC. 3. RAILROAD GRADE CROSSING, TRESPASSING AND

13 VANDALISM PREVENTION STRATEGY.

14 (a) Not later than one year after the date of enact15 ment of this Act, and in consultation with affected parties,

16 the Secretary shall evaluate and review current local, State

17 and Federal codes regarding trespass on railroad property

18 and vandalism affecting railroad safety and develop model

19 prevention and enforcement codes and enforcement strate20 gies for the consideration of State and local legislatures

21 and governmental entities.

22 (b) Within one year of enactment of this Act, the Sec23 retary shall develop and maintain a comprehensive out24 reach program to improve communications among Federal

25 railroad safety inspectors, Federal Rail Administration-
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1 certified State inspectors, railroad police, and State and

2 local law enforcement, for the purpose of addressing tres3 pass and vandalism dangers on railroad property, and

4 strengthening relevant law enforcement strategies. This

5 program shall increase public and police awareness of the

6 legality of, dangers inherent in, and the extent of, tres7 passing on railroad rights-of-way, to develop strategies to

8 improve the prevention of trespass and vandalism, and to

9 improve the enforcement of laws relating to railroad tres10 pass, vandalism and grade crossing safety.

11 (c) For purposes of this Act, a trespasser is defined

12 as a person who is on that part of railroad property used

13 in railroad operations and whose presence is prohibited,

14 forbidden or unlawful.

15 SEC. 4. CIVIL PENALTY FOR VANDALISM.

16 Not later than six months after the date of enactment

17 of this Act, the Secretary shall amend the Secretary’s reg18 ulations under section 202 of the Federal Railroad Safety

19 Act of 1970 (45 U.S.C. 431) to make subject to a civil

20 penalty of up to $5,000.00 under such Act any person who

21 defaces, disables, damages, vandalizes or commits any act

22 that adversely affects the function of any railroad grade

23 crossing related signal system, sign, gate, device, sensor,

24 or equipment.
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1 SEC. 5. CIVIL PENALTY FOR TRESPASS ON RAILROAD

2 PROPERTY.

3 Not later than six months after the date of enactment

4 of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall amend

5 the Secretary’s regulations under section 202 of the Fed6 eral Railroad Safety Act of 1970 (45 U.S.C. 431) to make

7 subject to a civil penalty of up to $2,500.00 under such

8 an Act any person who trespasses on a railroad owned

9 or railroad leased right-of-way, road or bridge.

10 SEC. 6. WARNING OF CIVIL LIABILITY.

11 The Secretary shall permit and encourage railroads

12 to warn the public about potential Federal civil liability

13 for violations of Federal regulations related to vandalism

14 of railroad crossing related devices, signs and equipment

15 and trespass on railroad property.

16 SEC. 7. WHISTLE BAN PROHIBITION.

17 Upon the date of enactment, no state or political sub18 division thereof shall impose a whistle ban with respect

19 to any railroad grade crossing or series of railroad grade

20 crossings unless one of the following actions has been

21 taken:

22 (1) The affected crossing is closed during the

23 pendency of the ban.

24 (2) Crossing gates and median barriers have

25 been installed and are operational at the affected

26 crossing.
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1 (3) Four quadrant gates have been installed

2 and are in operation at the affected crossing.

3 (4) An automated horn system crossing device

4 has been installed.

5 (5) The Federal rail administrator has granted

6 specific, time-limited permission for such ban.

7 SEC. 8. RAIL CAR VISIBILITY.

8 (a) The Secretary shall conduct a review of the De9 partment of Transportation’s rules with respect to rail car

10 visibility. As part of this review, the Secretary shall collect

11 relevant data from operational experience of railroads hav12 ing enhanced visibility measures in service.

13 (b) Not later than June 30, 1996, the Secretary shall

14 initiate a rulemaking proceeding to issue regulations re15 quiring substantially enhanced visibility standards for

16 newly manufactured and remanufactured rail cars. In

17 such rulemaking proceedings the Secretary shall consider

18 at a minimum—

19 (1) visibility from the perspective of automobile

20 drivers;

21 (2) whether certain rail car paint colors should

22 be prohibited or required;

23 (3) the use of reflective materials;

24 (4) the visibility of lettering on rail cars;
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1 (5) the effect of any enhanced visibility meas2 ures on the health and safety of train crew members;

3 and

4 (6) the ratio of cost to benefit of any new regu5 lations.

6 (c) In issuing regulations under paragraph (b), the

7 Secretary may exclude from any specific visibility require8 ment any category of trains or rail operations if the Sec9 retary determines that such an exclusion is in the public

10 interest and is consistent with rail safety including rail11 road grade crossing safety.

12 (d) As used in this subsection, the term ‘‘railcar visi13 bility’’ means the enhancement of driver, pedestrian and

14 railroad worker ability to observe trains consistent with

15 public safety with particular consideration of enhancing

16 safety at railroad grade crossings.

17 SEC. 9. STATEWIDE RAILROAD GRADE CROSSING FREEZE.

18 Not later than two years after the date of enactment

19 of this Act, the Secretary shall initiate a rulemaking pro20 ceeding to issue regulations which—

21 (1) impose a freeze on the total number of rail22 road grade crossings in each State of the United

23 States of America;

24 (2) after the effective date of the regulation re25 quire any new railroad grade crossing opening to re-
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1 ceive the specific approval of the Federal Rail Ad2 ministrator;

3 (3) require that unless otherwise in the public

4 interest, or necessary to facilitate interstate com5 merce, three existing railroad grade crossings be

6 closed in the requesting State for each new railroad

7 grade crossing opened after the effective date of this

8 regulation; and

9 (4) permit the Federal Rail Administrator to

10 waive the application of this regulation once a State

11 has achieved significant and sufficient reductions in

12 the total number railroad grade crossings or has an

13 optimal number of railroad grade crossings for the

14 entire State.

15 SEC. 10. RESEARCH PRIORITIES.

16 The Secretary of Transportation shall incorporate the

17 enhancement of railroad grade crossing safety, the preven18 tion of trespassing on railroad property and the prevention

19 of vandalism to railroad grade crossing safety devices,

20 signs and equipment into the research, technology develop21 ment and testing priorities of the Department of Trans22 portation. In carrying out activities authorized by this Act,

23 the Secretary shall consult with such other governmental

24 agencies concerning the availability and affordability of

25 appropriate technologies, especially defense related tech-
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1 nologies for application to railroad crossing safety, tres2 pass and vandalism prevention and other rail safety initia3 tives.

4 SEC. 11. EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION OF GRADE CROSSING

5 PROBLEMS.

6 TOLL FREE TELEPHONE NUMBER.—The Secretary

7 of Transportation shall designate not later than one year

8 after the date of enactment of this Act, and thereafter

9 maintain an emergency notification system utilizing a toll

10 free ‘‘800’’ telephone number that can be used by the pub11 lic to convey to railroads, either directly or through public

12 safety personnel, information about malfunctions or other

13 safety problems at railroad-highway grade crossings.

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