II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1044 

To improve rail safety practices and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 29, 2023 

Mr. SCHUMER (for Mr. FETTERMAN (for himself, Mr. BROWN, and Mr. 

CASEY)) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To improve rail safety practices 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 ‘‘Railway Accountability 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. BROKEN RIM DERAILMENTS. 

7 (a) STUDY.—The Administrator of the Federal Rail8 road Administration shall conduct a study of— 

9 (1) broken rim derailments, particularly vertical 

10 split rim failures, including— 


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1 (A) the causes of such derailments and 

2 failures; 

3 (B) the effectiveness of current mitigation 

4 strategies; and 

5 (C) potential new mitigation strategies; 

6 (2) wheel impact load thresholds, including— 

7 (A) safe kip thresholds; and 

8 (B) potential remedial actions that address 

9 the mechanical condition of tank cars used in 

10 high-hazard flammable trains; 

11 (3) the deployment of ultrasonic wheel crack de12 tection systems; and 

13 (4) potential regulations that, if promulgated, 

14 would— 

15 (A) result in fewer broken rim derailments; 

16 and 

17 (B) improve avoidance or identification of 

18 mechanical defects. 

19 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

20 of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall sub21 mit a report to Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

22 Transportation of the Senate and Committee on Trans23 portation and Infrastructure of the House of Representa24 tives containing the results of the study conducted pursuVerDate Sep 11 2014 16:55 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1044.IS S1044

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1 ant to subsection (a), including any proposed regulations 

2 to reduce the frequency of broken rim derailments. 

3 SEC. 3. TRAIN CONSIST. 

4 (a) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 1 year after the 

5 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Trans6 portation shall conduct a review of existing regulations re7 lating to the practices regarding the establishment of a 

8 train consist. 

9 (b) WRITTEN SWITCHYARD SAFETY PROTOCOL

10 PLAN.—The Administrator of the Federal Railroad Ad11 ministration shall issue a regulation requiring each rail12 road to prepare and submit to the Administrator, not later 

13 than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

14 an updated Risk Reduction Program Plan that— 

15 (1) documents the railroad’s standards for train 

16 consist and safety protocol while trains are in the 

17 switchyard; and 

18 (2) strives to balance derailment risk and rail 

19 yard employee safety. 

20 SEC. 4. BRAKE INSPECTIONS. 

21 After completing the review required under section 

22 3(a)(1), the Secretary of Transportation shall issue regu23 lations that— 


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1 (1) prohibit any train from being moved out of 

2 the switchyard before all required brake inspections 

3 of such train have been completed; 

4 (2) prohibit conducting brake inspections of a 

5 train while such train is in motion; and 

6 (3) allow only the qualified mechanical inspec7 tor (as defined in section 232.5 of title 49, Code of 

8 Federal Regulations) assigned to inspect a loco9 motive or rail car to sign off on— 

10 (A) the Form FRA F6180–49A (com11 monly known as the ‘‘blue card’’) relating to lo12 comotive inspections; and 

13 (B) the satisfactory Class I brake inspec14 tion of end-of-train device form relating to rail 

15 car inspections. 

16 SEC. 5. SAFETY WAIVERS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Federal 

18 Railroad Administration shall post, on a publicly acces19 sible website, a list of all active safety waivers granted by 

20 the Federal Railroad Administration to Class I railroads 

21 pursuant to its authority under section 20103(d) of title 

22 49, United States Code, relating to brake procedures, 

23 unequipped locomotives, brake inspection requirements, 

24 and safety training for rail labor employees. 


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1 (b) CONTENTS.—The Administrator shall include, on 

2 the posting required under subsection (a), a summary of 

3 the waivers described in subsection (a), including— 

4 (1) the number of active waivers; 

5 (2) the number of such waivers that have been 

6 extended beyond their original termination date; 

7 (3) the average duration of each such waiver; 

8 and 

9 (4) a summary of the regulations that were so 

10 waived. 

11 SEC. 6. PROPER FUNCTIONING OF EMERGENCY BRAKE SIG12 NALS. 

13 The Administrator of the Federal Railroad Adminis14 tration shall amend part 232 of title 49, Code of Federal 

15 Regulations, to require— 

16 (1) more frequent communication checks be17 tween a head-of-train device and an end-of-train de18 vice; and 

19 (2) repetition of the emergency brake signal 

20 transmission until it is received by the end-of-train 

21 device. 

22 SEC. 7. CONFIDENTIAL CLOSE CALL REPORTING SYSTEM. 

23 Not later than 6 months after the date of the enact24 ment of this Act, any Class I railroad that was ordered 

25 to pay the maximum civil penalty for any violation of a 


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1 rail safety regulation set forth in section 5123(a) of title 

2 49, United States Code, or in chapter 201, 203, 204, 205, 

3 206, 207, 208, 209, or 211 during the 15-year period im4 mediately preceding such date of enactment shall join and 

5 actively participate in the Confidential Close Call Report6 ing System (commonly known as ‘‘C3RS’’). 

7 SEC. 8. REQUIRED WARNING EQUIPMENT AND LOOKOUTS. 

8 All railroads shall provide warning equipment to rail9 road watchmen and lookouts for roadway workers, 

10 which— 

11 (1) may include whistles, air horns, white disks, 

12 red flags, lanterns, and fuses; and 

13 (2) may not include the use of verbal warnings. 

Æ 


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