I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 52

To amend title 18, United States Code, to further protect rail and mass 

transportation, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 4, 2005

Mrs. CAPITO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL

To amend title 18, United States Code, to further protect 

rail and mass transportation, 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 ‘‘Railroad Carriers and 

5 Mass Transportation Protection Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ATTACKS AGAINST RAILROAD CARRIERS AND MASS 

7 TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 97 of title 18, United 

9 States Code, is amended by striking sections 1992 through 

10 1993 and inserting the following: 
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1 ‘‘§ 1992. Terrorist attacks and other violence against 

2 railroad carriers and against mass trans3 portation systems on land, on water, or 

4 through the air 

5 ‘‘(a) GENERAL PROHIBITIONS.—Whoever, in a cir6 cumstance described in subsection (c), knowingly—

7 ‘‘(1) wrecks, derails, sets fire to, or disables 

8 railroad on-track equipment or a mass transpor9 tation vehicle; 

10 ‘‘(2) with intent to endanger the safety of any 

11 person, or with a reckless disregard for the safety of 

12 human life, and without the authorization of the 

13 railroad carrier or mass transportation provider—

14 ‘‘(A) places any biological agent or toxin, 

15 destructive substance, or destructive device in, 

16 upon, or near railroad on-track equipment or a 

17 mass transportation vehicle; or 

18 ‘‘(B) releases a hazardous material or a bi19 ological agent or toxin on or near any property 

20 described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of para21 graph (3); 

22 ‘‘(3) sets fire to, undermines, makes unwork23 able, unusable, or hazardous to work on or use, or 

24 places any biological agent or toxin, destructive sub25 stance, or destructive device in, upon, or near any—
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1 ‘‘(A) tunnel, bridge, viaduct, trestle, track, 

2 electromagnetic guideway, signal, station, depot, 

3 warehouse, terminal, or any other way, struc4 ture, property, or appurtenance used in the op5 eration of, or in support of the operation of, a 

6 railroad carrier, without the authorization of 

7 the railroad carrier, and with intent to, or 

8 knowing or having reason to know such activity 

9 would likely, derail, disable, or wreck railroad 

10 on-track equipment; 

11 ‘‘(B) garage, terminal, structure, track, 

12 electromagnetic guideway, supply, or facility 

13 used in the operation of, or in support of the 

14 operation of, a mass transportation vehicle, 

15 without the authorization of the mass transpor16 tation provider, and with intent to, or knowing 

17 or having reason to know such activity would 

18 likely, derail, disable, or wreck a mass transpor19 tation vehicle used, operated, or employed by a 

20 mass transportation provider; or 

21 ‘‘(4) removes an appurtenance from, damages, 

22 or otherwise impairs the operation of a railroad sig23 nal system or mass transportation signal or dis24 patching system, including a train control system, 

25 centralized dispatching system, or highway-railroad 
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1 grade crossing warning signal, without authorization 

2 from the railroad carrier or mass transportation pro3 vider; 

4 ‘‘(5) with intent to endanger the safety of any 

5 person, or with a reckless disregard for the safety of 

6 human life, interferes with, disables, or incapacitates 

7 any dispatcher, driver, captain, locomotive engineer, 

8 railroad conductor, or other person while the person 

9 is employed in dispatching, operating, or maintain10 ing railroad on-track equipment or a mass transpor11 tation vehicle; 

12 ‘‘(6) commits an act, including the use of a 

13 dangerous weapon, with the intent to cause death or 

14 serious bodily injury to any person who is on prop15 erty described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of para16 graph (3), except that this subparagraph shall not 

17 apply to rail police officers acting in the course of 

18 their law enforcement duties under section 28101 of 

19 title 49, United States Code; 

20 ‘‘(7) conveys false information, knowing the in21 formation to be false, concerning an attempt or al22 leged attempt that was made, is being made, or is 

23 to be made, to engage in a violation of this sub24 section; or 
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1 ‘‘(8) attempts, threatens, or conspires to engage 

2 in any violation of any of paragraphs (1) through 

3 (7); 

4 shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 

5 20 years, or both. 

6 ‘‘(b) AGGRAVATED OFFENSE.—Whoever commits an 

7 offense under subsection (a) of this section in a cir8 cumstance in which—

9 ‘‘(1) the railroad on-track equipment or mass 

10 transportation vehicle was carrying a passenger or 

11 employee at the time of the offense; 

12 ‘‘(2) the railroad on-track equipment or mass 

13 transportation vehicle was carrying high-level radio14 active waste or spent nuclear fuel at the time of the 

15 offense; 

16 ‘‘(3) the railroad on-track equipment or mass 

17 transportation vehicle was carrying a hazardous ma18 terial at the time of the offense that—

19 ‘‘(A) was required to be placarded under 

20 subpart F of part 172 of title 49, Code of Fed21 eral Regulations; and 

22 ‘‘(B) is identified as class number 3, 4, 5, 

23 6.1, or 8 and packing group I or packing group 

24 II, or class number 1, 2, or 7 under the haz-
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1 ardous materials table of section 172.101 of 

2 title 49, Code of Federal Regulations; or 

3 ‘‘(4) the offense results in the death of any per4 son; 

5 shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for any term 

6 of years or life, or both. In the case of a violation described 

7 in paragraph (2) of this subsection, the term of imprison8 ment shall be not less than 30 years; and, in the case of 

9 a violation described in paragraph (4) of this subsection, 

10 the offender shall be fined under this title and imprisoned 

11 for life and be subject to the death penalty. 

12 ‘‘(c) CIRCUMSTANCES REQUIRED FOR OFFENSE.—A 

13 circumstance referred to in subsection (a) is any of the 

14 following: 

15 ‘‘(1) Any of the conduct required for the offense 

16 is, or, in the case of an attempt, threat, or con17 spiracy to engage in conduct, the conduct required 

18 for the completed offense would be, engaged in, on, 

19 against, or affecting a mass transportation provider 

20 or railroad carrier engaged in or affecting interstate 

21 or foreign commerce. 

22 ‘‘(2) Any person travels or communicates across 

23 a State line in order to commit the offense, or trans24 ports materials across a State line in aid of the com25 mission of the offense. 
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1 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section—

2 ‘‘(1) the term ‘biological agent’ has the meaning 

3 given to that term in section 178(1); 

4 ‘‘(2) the term ‘dangerous weapon’ means a 

5 weapon, device, instrument, material, or substance, 

6 animate or inanimate, that is used for, or is readily 

7 capable of, causing death or serious bodily injury, including a pocket knife with a blade of more than 21 8 ⁄2

9 inches in length and a box cutter; 

10 ‘‘(3) the term ‘destructive device’ has the mean11 ing given to that term in section 921(a)(4); 

12 ‘‘(4) the term ‘destructive substance’ means an 

13 explosive substance, flammable material, infernal 

14 machine, or other chemical, mechanical, or radio15 active device or material, or matter of a combustible, 

16 contaminative, corrosive, or explosive nature, except 

17 that the term ‘radioactive device’ does not include 

18 any radioactive device or material used solely for 

19 medical, industrial, research, or other peaceful pur20 poses; 

21 ‘‘(5) the term ‘hazardous material’ has the 

22 meaning given to that term in chapter 51 of title 49; 

23 ‘‘(6) the term ‘high-level radioactive waste’ has 

24 the meaning given to that term in section 2(12) of 
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1 the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 

2 10101(12)); 

3 ‘‘(7) the term ‘mass transportation’ has the 

4 meaning given to that term in section 5302(a)(7) of 

5 title 49, except that the term includes school bus, 

6 charter, and sightseeing transportation; 

7 ‘‘(8) the term ‘on-track equipment’ means a 

8 carriage or other contrivance that runs on rails or 

9 electromagnetic guideways; 

10 ‘‘(9) the term ‘railroad on-track equipment’ 

11 means a train, locomotive, tender, motor unit, 

12 freight or passenger car, or other on-track equip13 ment used, operated, or employed by a railroad car14 rier; 

15 ‘‘(10) the term ‘railroad’ has the meaning given 

16 to that term in chapter 201 of title 49; 

17 ‘‘(11) the term ‘railroad carrier’ has the mean18 ing given to that term in chapter 201 of title 49; 

19 ‘‘(12) the term ‘serious bodily injury’ has the 

20 meaning given to that term in section 1365; 

21 ‘‘(13) the term ‘spent nuclear fuel’ has the 

22 meaning given to that term in section 2(23) of the 

23 Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 

24 10101(23)); 
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1 ‘‘(14) the term ‘State’ has the meaning given to 

2 that term in section 2266; 

3 ‘‘(15) the term ‘toxin’ has the meaning given to 

4 that term in section 178(2); and 

5 ‘‘(16) the term ‘vehicle’ means any carriage or 

6 other contrivance used, or capable of being used, as 

7 a means of transportation on land, on water, or 

8 through the air.’’. 

9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

10 (1) The table of sections at the beginning of 

11 chapter 97 of title 18, United States Code, is 

12 amended—

13 (A) by striking ‘‘RAILROADS’’ in the 

14 chapter heading and inserting ‘‘RAILROAD 

15 CARRIERS AND MASS TRANSPOR16 TATION SYSTEMS ON LAND, ON 

17 WATER, OR THROUGH THE AIR’’; 

18 (B) by striking the items relating to sec19 tions 1992 and 1993; and 

20 (C) by inserting after the item relating to 

21 section 1991 the following:

‘‘1992. Terrorist attacks and other violence against railroad carriers and 

against mass transportation systems on land, on water, or 

through the air.’’.

22 (2) The table of chapters at the beginning of 

23 part I of title 18, United States Code, is amended 
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1 by striking the item relating to chapter 97 and in2 serting the following:

‘‘97. Railroad carriers and mass transportation systems 

on land, on water, or through the air ............ 1991’’.

3 (3) Title 18, United States Code, is amended—

4 (A) in section 2332b(g)(5)(B)(i), by strik5 ing ‘‘1992 (relating to wrecking trains), 1993 

6 (relating to terrorist attacks and other acts of 

7 violence against mass transportation systems),’’ 

8 and inserting ‘‘1992 (relating to terrorist at9 tacks and other acts of violence against railroad 

10 carriers and against mass transportation sys11 tems on land, on water, or through the air),’’; 

12 (B) in section 2339A, by striking ‘‘1993,’’; 

13 and 

14 (C) in section 2516(1)(c) by striking 

15 ‘‘1992 (relating to wrecking trains),’’ and in16 serting ‘‘1992 (relating to terrorist attacks and 

17 other acts of violence against railroad carriers 

18 and against mass transportation systems on 

19 land, on water, or through the air),’’.

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