I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4306 

To require the Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration to conduct an evaluation of the safety, security, and environmental risks of 

transporting liquefied natural gas by rail, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2019 

Mr. DEFAZIO (for himself and Mr. MALINOWSKI) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To require the Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration to conduct an evaluation of the safety, security, 

and environmental risks of transporting liquefied natural 

gas by rail, 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 ‘‘Protecting Commu5 nities from Liquefied Natural Gas Trains Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TRANSPORTATION OF LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS BY 

2 RAIL. 

3 (a) EVALUATION.—Not later than 18 months after 

4 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 

5 the Federal Railroad Administration, in coordination with 

6 the Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Mate7 rials Safety Administration, shall conduct an evaluation 

8 of the safety, security, and environmental risks of trans9 porting liquefied natural gas by rail. 

10 (b) TESTING.—In conducting the evaluation under 

11 subsection (a), the Administrator of the Federal Railroad 

12 Administration shall— 

13 (1) perform physical testing of rail tank cars, 

14 including, at a minimum, the DOT–113 specifica15 tion, to ensure such rail tank cars are able to with16 stand the effects of an accident or impact and pre17 vent or mitigate the release of liquefied natural gas; 

18 (2) analyze multiple release scenarios, including 

19 derailments, front-end collisions, rear-end collisions, 

20 side-impact collisions, grade-crossing collisions, 

21 punctures, and impact of an incendiary device, at a 

22 minimum of 3 speeds of travel with a sufficient 

23 range of speeds to evaluate the safety, security, and 

24 environmental risks posed under real-world oper25 ating conditions; and 


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1 (3) examine the effects of exposure to climate 

2 conditions across rail networks, including tempera3 ture, humidity, and any other factors that the Ad4 ministrator of the Federal Railroad Administration 

5 determines could influence performance of the inner 

6 or outer walls of rail tank cars. 

7 (c) OTHER FACTORS TO CONSIDER.—In conducting 

8 the evaluation under subsection (a), the Administrator of 

9 the Federal Railroad Administration shall evaluate the im10 pact of a discharge of liquefied natural gas from a rail 

11 tank car on public safety and the environment, and con12 sider— 

13 (1) the benefits of route restrictions, speed re14 strictions, enhanced brake requirements, personnel 

15 requirements, rail tank car technological require16 ments, and other operating controls; 

17 (2) the advisability of consist restrictions, in18 cluding limitations on the arrangement and quantity 

19 of rail cars carrying liquefied natural gas in any 

20 given consist; 

21 (3) the identification of potential impact areas, 

22 and the number of homes and structures that would 

23 be endangered by a discharge in rural, suburban, 

24 and urban environments; 


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1 (4) the impact of discharge on the environment, 

2 including examining environmentally sensitive areas 

3 with rail tracks that move through them; 

4 (5) the benefits of advanced notification to the 

5 Department of Transportation, State Emergency 

6 Response Commissions, and Tribal Emergency Re7 sponse Commissions of routes for moving liquefied 

8 natural gas by rail tank car; 

9 (6) how first responders respond to a discharge, 

10 including the extent to which specialized equipment 

11 or training would be required and the cost to com12 munities for acquiring any necessary equipment or 

13 training; 

14 (7) whether thermal radiation could occur from 

15 a discharge; 

16 (8) an evaluation of rail tank cars authorized 

17 by the Secretary of Transportation, a determination 

18 of which rail tank car would provide the best out19 come in the event of a discharge, and a determina20 tion of whether a new standard is necessary to en21 sure the safety of rail transport of liquefied natural 

22 gas; and 

23 (9) the risks posed by the transportation of liq24 uefied natural gas by International Standard for OrVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:23 Sep 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4306.IH H4306

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1 ganization containers authorized by the Federal 

2 Railroad Administration. 

3 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

4 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation 

5 shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and In6 frastructure of the House of Representatives and the Com7 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

8 Senate, and make available to the public— 

9 (1) a report based on the evaluation and testing 

10 conducted under subsections (a) and (b), which shall 

11 include the results of the evaluation and testing and 

12 recommendations for mitigating or eliminating the 

13 safety, security, environmental, and other risks of an 

14 accident or incident involving the transportation of 

15 liquefied natural gas by rail; and 

16 (2) a complete list of all research related to the 

17 transportation of liquefied natural gas by rail con18 ducted by the Federal Railroad Administration, the 

19 Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Adminis20 tration, or any other entity of the Department of 

21 Transportation since 2010 that includes, for each re22 search item— 

23 (A) the title of any reports or studies pro24 duced with respect to the research; 


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1 (B) the agency, entity, or organization per2 forming the research; 

3 (C) the names of all authors and co-au4 thors of any report or study produced with re5 spect to the research; and 

6 (D) the date any related report was pub7 lished or is expected to publish. 

8 (e) DATA REPORTING.—The Administrator of the 

9 Federal Railroad Administration and the Administrator of 

10 the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administra11 tion shall collect any relevant data necessary to complete 

12 the evaluation required by subsection (a). 

13 (f) GAO REPORT.—After the evaluation required by 

14 subsection (a) has been completed, the Comptroller Gen15 eral of the United States shall conduct an independent 

16 evaluation to ensure the Federal Railroad Administration 

17 and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Admin18 istration complied with the requirements of this Act, and 

19 transmit to the Committee on Transportation and Infra20 structure of the House of Representatives and the Com21 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

22 Senate a report on the findings of such independent eval23 uation. 

24 (g) CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW REQUIREMENTS.— 


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1 (1) REVIEW PERIOD DEFINED.—In this sub2 section, the term ‘‘review period’’ means the period 

3 beginning on the date of enactment of this Act and 

4 ending on the earlier of— 

5 (A) the date that is 1 year after the date 

6 of completion of the report under subsection (f); 

7 or 

8 (B) the date that is 4 years after the date 

9 of enactment of this Act. 

10 (2) CONGRESSIONAL AUTHORITY.—The Sec11 retary of Transportation may not issue any regula12 tion authorizing the transportation of liquefied nat13 ural gas by rail or authorize such transportation 

14 through issuance of a special permit or approval be15 fore the conclusion of the review period. 

Æ 


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