I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2074 

To enhance rail safety and provide for the safe transport of hazardous 

materials, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 28, 2015 

Mr. NORCROSS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To enhance rail safety and provide for the safe transport 

of hazardous materials, 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 ‘‘Toxics by Rail Ac5 countability and Community Knowledge Act of 2015’’ or 

6 the ‘‘TRACK Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. CHEMICAL EXPOSURE RIGHT-TO-KNOW. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) LONG-LASTING OR IRREVERSIBLE HEALTH

10 CONSEQUENCES.—The term ‘‘long-lasting or irreVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 May 07, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2074.IH H2074

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1 versible health consequences’’ means those health 

2 consequences occurring at the exposure threshold de3 fined in the Acute Exposure Guideline Level AEGL– 

4 2 or AEGL–3, as established by the National Advi5 sory Committee for the Development of Acute Expo6 sure Guideline Levels for Hazardous Substances. 

7 (2) POST-ACCIDENT PUBLIC HEALTH ASSESS8 MENT.—The term ‘‘post-accident public health as9 sessment’’ means a scientific assessment of the im10 pacts of a hazardous material release on public 

11 health made by a qualified entity. 

12 (3) QUALIFIED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘qualified 

13 entity’’ means a Federal, State, or other govern14 mental entity responsible for emergency response, 

15 public health, chemical safety or transportation, or 

16 environmental protection. 

17 (b) RIGHT-TO-KNOW PROTECTIONS.—Beginning 180 

18 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, railroad 

19 carriers that are found to be at fault by an administrative, 

20 judicial, or investigatory process for an accident or inci21 dent during calendar year 2010 or later that led to an 

22 unintended release of hazardous materials shall— 

23 (1) periodically review any post-accident public 

24 health assessments regarding the extent to which in25 dividuals exposed to the hazardous material that was 


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1 released could experience long-lasting or irreversible 

2 health consequences; 

3 (2) timely inform individuals exposed to the 

4 hazardous material of any health information, in5 cluding information regarding long-lasting or irre6 versible health consequences, included in such re7 ports; and 

8 (3) offer to renegotiate any legal settlements 

9 made to individuals impacted by a hazardous mate10 rial release for which additional information about 

11 the potential for long-lasting or irreversible health 

12 consequences has been later disclosed in a post-acci13 dent public health assessment. 

14 (c) ENFORCEMENT.—Any railroad carrier violating 

15 subsection (b)(3), or a regulation prescribed pursuant to 

16 subsection (b)(3), shall be liable to the Federal Govern17 ment for a civil penalty for each violation or for each day 

18 the violation continues, as follows: 

19 (1) A railroad carrier that has annual carrier 

20 operating revenues that meet the threshold amount 

21 for Class I carriers, as determined by the Surface 

22 Transportation Board under section 1201.1–1 of 

23 title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, shall be liable 

24 for a civil penalty of not less than $100,000 and not 

25 more than $1,000,000. 


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1 (2) A railroad carrier that has annual carrier 

2 operating revenues that meet the threshold amount 

3 for Class II carriers, as determined by the Surface 

4 Transportation Board under section 1201.1–1 of 

5 title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, shall be liable 

6 for a civil penalty of not less than $25,000 and not 

7 more than $250,000. 

8 (3) A railroad carrier that has annual carrier 

9 operating revenues that meet the threshold amount 

10 for Class III carriers, as determined by the Surface 

11 Transportation Board under section 1201.1–1 of 

12 title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, shall be liable 

13 for a civil penalty of not less than $10,000 and not 

14 more than $100,000. 

15 SEC. 3. COMMODITY FLOW TRANSPARENCY. 

16 (a) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 2 years after the 

17 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Trans18 portation shall prescribe regulations requiring a railroad 

19 carrier transporting a hazardous material— 

20 (1) to provide first responders, emergency re21 sponse officials, and law enforcement personnel in 

22 the communities through which the hazardous mate23 rial is transported with accurate and current com24 modity flow data; and 


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1 (2) to assist with the development of emergency 

2 operations and response plans designed to protect 

3 public health and community safety in the event of 

4 a railroad accident or incident involving the haz5 ardous material. 

6 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—In prescribing regulations 

7 under subsection (a), the Secretary may consider which 

8 hazardous materials or classes of hazardous materials are 

9 most relevant to be included within commodity flow infor10 mation based on factors such as— 

11 (1) the volume of the hazardous material trans12 ported; and 

13 (2) the threat to public health and community 

14 safety posed by each hazardous material. 

15 SEC. 4. MOVEABLE BRIDGE INSPECTION BEFORE TRAIN 

16 MOVEMENT. 

17 (a) PROCEDURE REQUIRED.—Not later than 18 

18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

19 Secretary of Transportation shall prescribe regulations es20 tablishing a procedure for a railroad carrier to permit a 

21 train to pass a red signal aspect protecting a moveable 

22 bridge. 

23 (b) TRAINING AND QUALIFICATIONS.— 

24 (1) TRAINING PROGRAM.—The procedure estab25 lished pursuant to subsection (a) shall require a railVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 May 07, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2074.IH H2074

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1 road carrier that operates across a moveable bridge 

2 to have an active program to train and qualify its 

3 employees to determine whether a train can safely 

4 travel across a moveable bridge when a signal pro5 tecting the bridge is displaying a red signal aspect. 

6 (2) REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS.—A railroad 

7 carrier described in paragraph (1) shall ensure that 

8 only an individual qualified under the railroad car9 rier’s training program is given responsibility for de10 termining whether a train can safely travel across a 

11 moveable bridge when a signal protecting the bridge 

12 is displaying a red signal aspect. 

13 (c) ENFORCEMENT.—Any railroad carrier violating 

14 this section, or a regulation prescribed pursuant to this 

15 section, shall be liable to the Federal Government for a 

16 civil penalty for each violation or for each day the violation 

17 continues, as follows: 

18 (1) A railroad carrier that has annual carrier 

19 operating revenues that meet the threshold amount 

20 for Class I carriers, as determined by the Surface 

21 Transportation Board under section 1201.1–1 of 

22 title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, shall be liable 

23 for a civil penalty of not less than $100,000 and not 

24 more than $1,000,000. 


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1 (2) A railroad carrier that has annual carrier 

2 operating revenues that meet the threshold amount 

3 for Class II carriers, as determined by the Surface 

4 Transportation Board under section 1201.1–1 of 

5 title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, shall be liable 

6 for a civil penalty of not less than $25,000 and not 

7 more than $250,000. 

8 (3) A railroad carrier that has annual carrier 

9 operating revenues that meet the threshold amount 

10 for Class III carriers, as determined by the Surface 

11 Transportation Board under section 1201.1–1 of 

12 title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, shall be liable 

13 for a civil penalty of not less than $10,000 and not 

14 more than $100,000. 

15 SEC. 5. ROUTE RISK ASSESSMENT. 

16 (a) ROUTE RISK ASSESSMENT TOOLS.—The Sec17 retary of Transportation, in collaboration with the Sec18 retary of Homeland Security and the American Short Line 

19 and Regional Railroad Association, shall develop a route 

20 risk assessment tool for the use of short line and regional 

21 railroad carriers that— 

22 (1) addresses any known limitations of the Rail 

23 Corridor Risk Management Safety software tool for 

24 short line and regional railroad carriers; and 


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1 (2) allows for safety and security risk assess2 ments to be performed by short line and regional 

3 railroad carriers when alternative routes are not 

4 available. 

5 (b) ROUTE RISK ASSESSMENT AUDITS.—The Sec6 retary of Transportation, in collaboration with the Sec7 retary of Homeland Security and the American Short Line 

8 and Regional Railroad Association, shall conduct audits 

9 of short line and regional railroads to ensure that proper 

10 route risk assessments that identify safety and security 

11 vulnerabilities are being performed and are incorporated 

12 into a safety management system program. 

13 SEC. 6. RAILROAD SAFETY RISK REDUCTION PROGRAM 

14 AMENDMENTS. 

15 (a) SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS.—Section 

16 20156(d)(1) of title 49, United States Code, is amended— 

17 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

18 the end; 

19 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period 

20 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

21 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(C) the use of safety management sys23 tems and their associated key principles, includ24 ing top-down ownership and policies, analysis of 


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1 operational incidents and accidents, and contin2 uous evaluation and improvement programs.’’. 

3 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con4 gress that, under the Railroad Safety Risk Reduction Pro5 gram under section 20156 of title 49, United States Code, 

6 the Secretary of Transportation should include within the 

7 definition of ‘‘a railroad carrier that has an inadequate 

8 safety performance’’ any railroad carrier that is at fault 

9 for an incident, accident, or emergency involving haz10 ardous materials that has led to a fatality or personal in11 jury, an evacuation, or environmental damage within the 

12 last 5 years. 

13 SEC. 7. FIRST RESPONDER RIGHT-TO-KNOW. 

14 (a) REAL-TIME EMERGENCY RESPONSE NOTIFICA15 TION.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the enact16 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall 

17 prescribe regulations that— 

18 (1) require a railroad carrier transporting a 

19 hazardous material— 

20 (A) to have the capability to generate, 

21 maintain, retrieve, and promptly deliver accu22 rate and real-time consists that include the 

23 identity and location of the hazardous material 

24 on the train; and 


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1 (B) to provide such information promptly 

2 to first responders, emergency response offi3 cials, and law enforcement personnel in the 

4 event of an incident, accident, or emergency, or 

5 as required by such entities to protect public 

6 health and community safety; and 

7 (2) prohibit a railroad carrier, employee, or 

8 agent from withholding, or a railroad carrier from 

9 instructing its employees or agents to withhold, a 

10 train consist or a real-time train consist from first 

11 responders, emergency response officials, and law 

12 enforcement personnel in the event of an incident, 

13 accident, or emergency involving the transportation 

14 of hazardous materials by railroad that threatens 

15 public health or safety. 

16 (b) EMERGENCY RESPONSE STANDARDIZATION.— 

17 The Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with rail18 road carriers, shall ensure that emergency response infor19 mation carried by train crews transporting hazardous ma20 terials is consistent with, and is at least as protective as, 

21 the emergency response guidance provided in the Emer22 gency Response Guidebook issued by the Department of 

23 Transportation. 

24 (c) ENFORCEMENT.—Any railroad carrier violating 

25 subsection (a)(2) or a regulation prescribed pursuant to 


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1 subsection (a)(2) shall be liable to the Federal Govern2 ment for a civil penalty for each violation or each day the 

3 violation continues, as follows: 

4 (1) A railroad carrier that has annual carrier 

5 operating revenues that meet the threshold amount 

6 for Class I carriers, as determined by the Surface 

7 Transportation Board under section 1201.1–1 of 

8 title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, shall be liable 

9 for a civil penalty of not less than $100,000 and not 

10 more than $1,000,000. 

11 (2) A railroad carrier that has annual carrier 

12 operating revenues that meet the threshold amount 

13 for Class II carriers as determined by the Surface 

14 Transportation Board under section 1201.1–1 of 

15 title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, shall be liable 

16 for a civil penalty of not less than $25,000 and not 

17 more than $250,000. 

18 (3) A railroad carrier that has annual carrier 

19 operating revenues that meet the threshold amount 

20 for Class III carriers as determined by the Surface 

21 Transportation Board under section 1201.1–1 of 

22 title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, shall be liable 

23 for a civil penalty of not less than $10,000 and not 

24 more than $100,000. 


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1 SEC. 8. PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

2 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 

3 of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall prescribe 

4 regulations requiring railroad carriers transporting haz5 ardous materials to develop, implement, and periodically 

6 evaluate a public education program for the communities 

7 along railroad hazardous materials routes, which may in8 clude— 

9 (1) procedures for reporting the release of a 

10 hazardous material; 

11 (2) physical indications of a release of a haz12 ardous material, including a focus on hazardous ma13 terials that are most commonly transported in or 

14 near a given community; 

15 (3) methods of communication that will be used 

16 to alert the community in the event of a railroad in17 cident, accident, or emergency involving a hazardous 

18 material; 

19 (4) steps that should be taken by community 

20 residents to ensure public health and safety in the 

21 event of a hazardous material release; and 

22 (5) a discussion of possible public health and 

23 safety concerns associated with an unintended re24 lease of a hazardous material, including a focus on 

25 hazardous materials that are most commonly trans26 ported in or near a given community. 


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1 SEC. 9. INFLATION ADJUSTMENTS. 

2 The Secretary of Transportation shall issue a state3 ment of agency policy adjusting the penalty schedules for 

4 violations outlined in this Act as necessary to account for 

5 inflation, each time the Secretary is required by law to 

6 review the minimum and maximum civil monetary penalty 

7 for inflation under the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation 

8 Adjustment Act of 1990 (Public Law 101–410; 28 U.S.C. 

9 2461 note). The Secretary may subject the statement of 

10 agency policy to notice and comment, as the Secretary 

11 considers appropriate. 

Æ 


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