II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 955 

To require the Federal Railroad Administration and the Federal Highway 

Administration to provide recommendations for reducing the number 

of very rural highway-rail grade crossing collisions, to authorize a public 

outreach and educational program to reduce such collisions, and to authorize grants to improve grade crossing safety. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 24, 2021 

Mr. TESTER (for himself and Mrs. FISCHER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To require the Federal Railroad Administration and the Federal Highway Administration to provide recommendations 

for reducing the number of very rural highway-rail grade 

crossing collisions, to authorize a public outreach and 

educational program to reduce such collisions, and to 

authorize grants to improve grade crossing safety. 

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 ‘‘Right Track Act’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 955 IS

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Collisions at nonsignalized highway-rail 

4 grade crossings continue to lead to fatalities in very 

5 rural areas. 

6 (2) In States with extensive rail infrastructure, 

7 additional information for protecting grade crossings 

8 would be valuable to the general public, State and 

9 local governments, and rail operators. 

10 SEC. 3. RECOMMENDATIONS. 

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

12 Railroad Administration and the Administrator of the 

13 Federal Highway Administration, after consultation with 

14 railroads, technology developers, manufacturers, relevant 

15 State and local agencies, institutions of higher education, 

16 and law enforcement agencies, shall jointly provide rec17 ommendations for reducing the number of collisions at 

18 highway-rail grade crossings in counties with 10 or fewer 

19 residents per square mile (according to the most recent 

20 decennial census) to— 

21 (1) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

22 Senate; 

23 (2) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

24 Transportation of the Senate; 

25 (3) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

26 House of Representatives; 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 955 IS

1 (4) the Committee on Transportation and In2 frastructure of the House of Representatives; 

3 (5) stakeholders involved in consultations under 

4 this subsection; and 

5 (6) the general public. 

6 (b) USE OF RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Administra7 tors shall use the recommendations referred to in sub8 section (a) to provide technical assistance to States seek9 ing to make rail safety infrastructure improvements. 

10 SEC. 4. PUBLIC OUTREACH AND EDUCATION. 

11 The Administrator of the Federal Railroad Adminis12 tration and the Administrator of the Federal Highway Ad13 ministration shall jointly conduct a public outreach and 

14 educational initiative, in cooperation with Operation Life15 saver, to reduce collisions at public highway-rail grade 

16 crossings in counties with 10 or fewer residents per square 

17 mile that includes multimedia resources, including re18 sources that are not available online. 

19 SEC. 5. GRADE CROSSING SAFETY IMPROVEMENT GRANTS. 

20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Transpor21 tation shall use amounts set aside pursuant to subsection 

22 (c) for grants to eligible recipients (as described in section 

23 22907(b) of title 49, United States Code) to improve 

24 grade crossing safety in counties with 10 or fewer resi25 dents per square mile. The Secretary shall prioritize the 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 955 IS

1 projects receiving grants under this subsection in accord2 ance with the criteria set forth in section 22907(e) of title 

3 49, United States Code. 

4 (b) PRIORITY.—In selecting grant recipients under 

5 subsection (a), the Secretary shall prioritize projects based 

6 on the application of the hazard indices and accident pre7 diction formulae described in the Federal Highway Admin8 istration’s Highway-Rail Crossing Handbook 

9 (c) FUNDING.—During each of the fiscal years 2022 

10 through 2026, $10,000,000 of the amounts appropriated 

11 for grants under section 22907 of title 49, United States 

12 Code, shall be set aside for grants authorized under sub13 section (a). The set aside required under this subsection 

14 shall not overlap with the rural set aside required under 

15 subsection (g) of such section 22907. 

16 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the date 

17 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transpor18 tation shall submit a report to the Committee on Com19 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 

20 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the 

21 House of Representatives that describes the implementa22 tion of this section. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS