II 

Calendar No. 590 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1889 

[Report No. 110–270] 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to improve railroad safety by reducing 

accidents and to prevent railroad fatalities, injuries, and hazardous materials releases, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 26, 2007 

Mr. LAUTENBERG (for himself, Mr. SMITH, Mrs. CLINTON, Mr. KERRY, Mr. 

SCHUMER, and Mr. BROWN) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

MARCH 3, 2008 

Reported by Mr. INOUYE, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to improve railroad 

safety by reducing accidents and to prevent railroad fatalities, injuries, and hazardous materials releases, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS; AMEND2 MENT OF TITLE 49. 

3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

4 ‘‘Railroad Safety Enhancement Act of 2007’’. 

5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

6 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents; amendment of title 49. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

Sec. 3. Authorization of appropriations. 

TITLE I—RAILROAD RISK REDUCTION AND STRATEGY 

Sec. 101. Establishment of chief safety officer. 

Sec. 102. Railroad safety strategy. 

Sec. 103. Railroad safety risk reduction pilot program. 

Sec. 104. Railroad safety risk reduction program. 

Sec. 105. Positive train control system implementation.

Sec. 106. Hours of service reform. 

Sec. 107. Protection of railroad safety risk analyses information. 

TITLE II—HIGHWAY-RAIL GRADE CROSSING AND PEDESTRIAN 

SAFETY AND TRESPASSER PREVENTION 

Sec. 201. Pedestrian crossing safety. 

Sec. 202. State action plans. 

Sec. 203. Improvements to sight distance at highway-rail grade crossings. 

Sec. 204. National crossing inventory. 

Sec. 205. Telephone number to report grade crossing problems. 

Sec. 206. Operation Lifesaver. 

Sec. 207. Trespasser prevention and highway-rail crossing safety. 

Sec. 208. Fostering introduction of new technology to improve safety at highway-rail grade crossings. 

TITLE III—FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION 

Sec. 301. Human capital increases. 

Sec. 302. Civil penalty increases. 

Sec. 303. Enforcement report. 

Sec. 304. Prohibition of individuals from performing safety-sensitive functions 

for a violation of hazardous materials transportation law. 

Sec. 305. Railroad radio monitoring authority. 

Sec. 306. Emergency waivers. 

Sec. 307. Federal rail security officers’ access to information. 

Sec. 308. Update of Federal Railroad Administration’s website. 

TITLE IV—RAILROAD SAFETY ENHANCEMENTS 

Sec. 401. Employee training. 

Sec. 402. Certification of certain crafts or classes of employees. 

Sec. 403. Track inspection time study. 


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Sec. 404. Study of methods to improve or correct station platform gaps. 

Sec. 405. Use of distracting devices in locomotive cabs. 

Sec. 406. Railroad safety technology grants. 

Sec. 407. Railroad safety infrastructure improvement grants. 

Sec. 408. Amendment to the movement-for-repair provision. 

Sec. 409. Development and use of rail safety technology.

Sec. 410. Employee sleeping quarters. 

TITLE V—RAIL PASSENGER DISASTER FAMILY ASSISTANCE 

Sec. 501. Assistance by National Transportation Safety Board to families of 

passengers involved in rail passenger accidents. 

Sec. 502. Rail passenger carrier plan to assist families of passengers involved 

in rail passenger accidents. 

Sec. 503. Establishment of task force. 

TITLE VI—CLARIFICATION OF FEDERAL JURISDICTION OVER 

SOLID WASTE FACILITIES 

Sec. 601. Clarification of Federal jurisdiction over solid waste facilities. 

1 (c) AMENDMENT OF TITLE 49.—Except as otherwise 

2 expressly provided, whenever in this Act an amendment 

3 or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or 

4 a repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference shall 

5 be considered to be made to a section or other provision 

6 of title 49, United States Code. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—In this Act: 

9 (1) CROSSING.—The term ‘‘crossing’’ means a 

10 location within a State, other than a location where 

11 one or more railroad tracks cross one or more rail12 road tracks either at grade or grade-separated, 

13 where— 

14 (A) a public highway, road, or street, or a 

15 private roadway, including associated sidewalks 


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1 and pathways, crosses one or more railroad 

2 tracks either at grade or grade-separated; or 

3 (B) a pathway explicitly authorized by the 

4 property owner that is dedicated for the use of 

5 nonvehicular traffic, including pedestrians, 

6 bicyclists, and others, that is not associated 

7 with a public highway, road, or street, or a pri8 vate roadway, crosses one or more railroad 

9 tracks either at grade or grade-separated. 

10 (2) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

11 means the Department of Transportation. 

12 (3) RAILROAD.—The term ‘‘railroad’’ has the 

13 meaning given that term by section 20102 of title 

14 49, United States Code. 

15 (4) RAILROAD CARRIER.—The term ‘‘railroad 

16 carrier’’ has the meaning given that term by section 

17 20102 of title 49, United States Code. 

18 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

19 the Secretary of Transportation. 

20 (6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means a State 

21 of the United States, the District of Columbia, or 

22 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 

23 (b) IN TITLE 49.—Section 20102 is amended— 

24 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 

25 paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively; 


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1 (2) by inserting before paragraph (2), as redes2 ignated, the following: 

3 ‘‘(1) ‘Class I railroad’ means a railroad carrier 

4 that has annual carrier operating revenues that meet 

5 the threshold amount for Class I carriers, as deter6 mined by the Surface Transportation Board under 

7 section 1201.1–1 of title 49, Code of Federal Regu8 lations.’’; and 

9 (3) by adding at the end thereof the following: 

10 ‘‘(4) ‘safety-related railroad employee’ means— 

11 ‘‘(A) a railroad employee who is subject to 

12 chapter 211; 

13 ‘‘(B) another operating railroad employee 

14 who is not subject to chapter 211; 

15 ‘‘(C) an employee who maintains the right 

16 of way of a railroad carrier; 

17 ‘‘(D) an employee of a railroad carrier who 

18 is a hazmat employees as defined in section 

19 5102(3) of this title; 

20 ‘‘(E) an employee who inspects, repairs, or 

21 maintains locomotives, passenger cars or freight 

22 cars; and 

23 ‘‘(F) any other employee of a railroad who 

24 directly affects railroad safety, as determined 

25 by the Secretary.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 Section 20117(a) is amended to read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—(1) There are authorized to be 

4 appropriated to the Secretary of Transportation to carry 

5 out this part and to carry out responsibilities under chap6 ter 51 as delegated or authorized by the Secretary— 

7 ‘‘(A) $245,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; 

8 ‘‘(B) $260,000,000 for fiscal year 2009; 

9 ‘‘(C) $270,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; 

10 ‘‘(D) $280,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; 

11 ‘‘(E) $290,000,000 for fiscal year 2012; and 

12 ‘‘(F) $300,000,000 for fiscal year 2013. 

13 ‘‘(2) With amounts appropriated pursuant to para14 graph (1), the Secretary shall purchase 6 Gage Restraint 

15 Measurement System vehicles and 5 track geometry vehi16 cles or other comparable technology to enable the deploy17 ment of 1 Gage Restraint Measurement System vehicle 

18 and 1 track geometry vehicle or other comparable tech19 nology in each region. 

20 ‘‘(3) There are authorized to be appropriated to the 

21 Secretary $18,000,000 for the period encompassing fiscal 

22 years 2008 through 2011 to design, develop, and construct 

23 the Facility for Underground Rail Station and Tunnel 

24 Testing and Training at the Transportation Technology 

25 Center, Inc., in Pueblo, Colorado. The facility shall be 

26 used to test and evaluate the safety and security 


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1 vulnerabilities of above-ground and underground rail tun2 nels to prevent accidents and incidents in such tunnels, 

3 to mitigate and remediate the consequences of any such 

4 accidents or incidents, and to provide a realistic scenario 

5 for training emergency responders. 

6 ‘‘(4) Such sums as may be necessary from the 

7 amount appropriated pursuant to paragraph (1) for each 

8 of the fiscal years 2008 through 2013 shall be made avail9 able to the Secretary for personnel in regional offices and 

10 in Washington, DC, whose duties primarily involve rail se11 curity.’’. 

12 TITLE I—RAILROAD SAFETY 

13 RISK REDUCTION AND STRAT14 EGY 

15 SEC. 101. ESTABLISHMENT OF CHIEF SAFETY OFFICER. 

16 Section 103 is amended— 

17 (1) by redesignating subsections (c), (d), and 

18 (e) as subsections (e), (f), and (g); and 

19 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(c) SAFETY AS HIGHEST PRIORITY.—In carrying 

22 out its duties, the Administration shall consider safety as 

23 the highest priority, recognizing the clear intent, encour24 agement, and dedication of Congress to the furtherance 

25 of the highest degree of safety in railroad transportation. 


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1 ‘‘(d) CHIEF SAFETY OFFICER.—The Administration 

2 shall have an Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety 

3 appointed in the career service by the Secretary. The Asso4 ciate Administrator shall be the Chief Safety Officer of 

5 the Administration. The Associate Administrator shall 

6 carry out the duties and powers prescribed by the Admin7 istrator.’’. 

8 SEC. 102. RAILROAD SAFETY STRATEGY. 

9 (a) SAFETY GOALS.—In conjunction with existing 

10 federally-required and voluntary strategic planning efforts 

11 ongoing at the Department and the Federal Railroad Ad12 ministration on the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec13 retary shall develop a long-term strategy for improving 

14 railroad safety to cover a period of not less than 5 years. 

15 The strategy shall include an annual plan and schedule 

16 for achieving, at a minimum, the following goals: 

17 (1) Reducing the number and rates of acci18 dents, injuries, and fatalities involving railroads in19 cluding train collisions and derailments and human 

20 factors. 

21 (2) Improving the consistency and effectiveness 

22 of enforcement and compliance programs. 

23 (3) Improving the identification of high-risk 

24 highway-rail grade crossings and strengthening enVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:10 Mar 04, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889

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1 forcement and other methods to increase grade 

2 crossing safety. 

3 (4) Improving research efforts to enhance and 

4 promote railroad safety and performance. 

5 (5) Preventing railroad trespasser accidents, in6 juries, and fatalities. 

7 (b) RESOURCE NEEDS.—The strategy and annual 

8 plan shall include estimates of the funds and staff re9 sources needed to accomplish the goals established by sub10 section (a). Such estimates shall also include the staff 

11 skills and training required for timely and effective accom12 plishment of each such goal. 

13 (c) SUBMISSION WITH THE PRESIDENT’S BUDG14 ET.—The Secretary shall submit the strategy and annual 

15 plan to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

16 Transportation and the House of Representatives Com17 mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure at the same 

18 time as the President’s budget submission. 

19 (d) ACHIEVEMENT OF GOALS.— 

20 (1) PROGRESS ASSESSMENT.—No less fre21 quently than annually, the Secretary shall assess the 

22 progress of the Department toward achieving the 

23 strategic goals described in subsection (a). The Sec24 retary shall identify any deficiencies in achieving the 


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1 goals within the strategy and develop and institute 

2 measures to remediate such deficiencies. 

3 (2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 

4 November 1st of each year, the Secretary shall 

5 transmit a report to the Senate Committee on Com6 merce, Science, and Transportation and the House 

7 of Representatives Committee on Transportation 

8 and Infrastructure on the performance of the Fed9 eral Railroad Administration containing the progress 

10 assessment required by paragraph (1) toward 

11 achieving the goals of the railroad safety strategy 

12 and annual plans under subsection (a). 

13 SEC. 103. RAILROAD SAFETY RISK REDUCTION PILOT PRO14 GRAM. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 201 is 

16 amended by adding at the end thereof the following: 

17 ‘‘§ 20156. Railroad safety risk reduction pilot pro18 gram 

19 (a) PILOT PROGRAM.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transpor21 tation shall develop a 2-year railroad safety risk re22 duction pilot program to systematically evaluate and 

23 manage railroad safety risks with the goal of reduc24 ing the numbers and rates of railroad accidents, in25 juries, and fatalities. Not later than 9 months after 


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1 the date of enactment of the Railroad Safety En2 hancement Act of 2007, the Secretary shall, in co3 ordination with selected railroads, railroad facilities, 

4 and the nonprofit employee labor organizations that 

5 represent safety-related railroad employees employed 

6 at such railroad or railroad facility, at a minimum— 

7 ‘‘(A) identify the aspects of a selected rail8 road or railroad facility, including operating 

9 practices, infrastructure, equipment, employee 

10 levels and schedules, safety culture, manage11 ment structure, employee training, and other 

12 matters, including those not covered by railroad 

13 safety regulations or other Federal regulations, 

14 that impact railroad safety; 

15 ‘‘(B) evaluate how these aspects of a se16 lected railroad or railroad facility increase or 

17 decrease risks to railroad safety; 

18 ‘‘(C) develop a safety risk reduction pro19 gram to improve the safety of a selected rail20 road or railroad facility by reducing the num21 bers and rates of accidents, injuries, and fatali22 ties through— 

23 ‘‘(i) the mitigation of the aspects of a 

24 selected railroad or railroad facility that 

25 increase risks to railroad safety; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the enhancement of aspects of a 

2 selected railroad or railroad facility that 

3 decrease risks to railroad safety; and 

4 ‘‘(D) incorporate into the program the con5 sideration and use of existing, new, or novel 

6 technology, operating practices, risk manage7 ment practices or other behavior-based practices 

8 that could improve railroad safety at the se9 lected railroad or railroad facility. 

10 ‘‘(2) IMPLEMENTATION DEADLINE.—Not later 

11 than 12 months after the date of enactment of the 

12 Railroad Safety Enhancement Act of 2007, the se13 lected railroad or railroad facility shall implement 

14 the safety risk reduction program developed under 

15 paragraph (1)(C) on the selected railroad or railroad 

16 facility and ensure that all employees at the selected 

17 railroad or railroad facility have received and are 

18 complying with training related to the program. 

19 ‘‘(b) SELECTION OF RAILROAD OR RAILROAD FACIL20 ITY FOR PILOT PROGRAM.—Not later than 3 months after 

21 the date of enactment of the Railroad Safety Enhance22 ment Act of 2007, the Secretary shall develop a voluntary 

23 application process to select 1 or more railroad or railroad 

24 facilities where the pilot project will be implemented. The 

25 application process shall include criteria for rating appliVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:10 Mar 04, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889

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1 cants, such as safety performance, accident and incident 

2 history, existence of risk management or behavior-based 

3 practices at the railroad or railroad facility, number of em4 ployees employed at the railroad or railroad facility, and 

5 other relevant criteria determined by the Secretary. 

6 ‘‘(c) EVALUATION.—Not later than 6 months after 

7 the completion of the safety risk reduction program pilot 

8 program, the Secretary shall submit a report to Congress 

9 evaluating the pilot program, which shall include— 

10 ‘‘(1) a summary of the railroad safety risk re11 duction pilot program and description of the actions 

12 taken by the Secretary and selected railroad or rail13 road facilities during the program; 

14 ‘‘(2) an analysis of the difference in the number 

15 and rates of accidents, injuries, and fatalities at a 

16 selected railroad or railroad facility before and after 

17 the implementation of the risk reduction pilot pro18 gram at a selected railroad or railroad facility; and 

19 ‘‘(3) guidelines on the preparation and imple20 mentation of railroad safety risk reduction program 

21 for the railroad carriers required to develop such 

22 plans under section 20157 that reflect that best 

23 practices developed during the pilot program.’’. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal2 ysis for chapter 201 is amended by inserting after the item 

3 relating to section 20155 the following: 

‘‘20156. Railroad safety risk reduction pilot program.’’. 

4 SEC. 104. RAILROAD SAFETY RISK REDUCTION PROGRAM. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 201, as 

6 amended by section 103, is amended by adding at end 

7 thereof the following: 

8 ‘‘§ 20157. Railroad safety risk reduction program 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

10 ‘‘(1) PROGRAM REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 

11 2 years after the Secretary of Transportation sub12 mits the report required by section 20156, the Sec13 retary, by regulation, shall require each railroad car14 rier that is a Class I railroad, a railroad carrier that 

15 has inadequate safety performance (as determined 

16 by the Secretary), or a railroad that provides inter17 city passenger or commuter rail passenger transpor18 tation— 

19 ‘‘(A) to develop a railroad safety risk re20 duction program under subsection (d) that sys21 tematically evaluates railroad safety risks and 

22 manages those risks in order to reduce the 

23 numbers and rates of railroad accidents, inju24 ries, and fatalities; 


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1 ‘‘(B) to submit its program, including any 

2 required plans, to the Federal Railroad Admin3 istration for its review and approval; and 

4 ‘‘(C) to implement the program and plans 

5 approved by the Federal Railroad Administra6 tion. 

7 ‘‘(2) RELIANCE ON PILOT PROGRAM.—The Sec8 retary shall use the information and experience gath9 ered through the pilot program under section 20156 

10 in developing regulations under this section. 

11 ‘‘(3) WAIVERS.—The Secretary may grant a 

12 waiver under section 20103(d) to a railroad carrier 

13 from compliance with all or a part of the require14 ments of this section if the Secretary determines 

15 that the safety performance of the railroad carrier is 

16 sufficient to warrant the waiver. 

17 ‘‘(4) VOLUNTARY COMPLIANCE.—A railroad 

18 carrier that is not required to submit a railroad 

19 safety risk reduction program under this section 

20 may voluntarily submit a program that meets the re21 quirements of this section to the Federal Railroad 

22 Administration. The Federal Railroad Administra23 tion shall approve or disapprove any program sub24 mitted under this paragraph. 


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1 ‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION.—The chief official responsible 

2 for safety of each railroad carrier required to submit a 

3 railroad safety risk reduction program under subsection 

4 (a) shall certify that the contents of the program are accu5 rate and that the railroad will implement the contents of 

6 the program as approved by the Federal Railroad Admin7 istration. 

8 ‘‘(c) RISK ANALYSIS.—In developing its railroad safe9 ty risk reduction program each railroad required to submit 

10 such a program under subsection (a) shall identify and 

11 analyze the aspects of its railroad, including operating 

12 practices, infrastructure, equipment, employee levels and 

13 schedules, safety culture, management structure, employee 

14 training, and other matters, including those not covered 

15 by railroad safety regulations or other Federal regulations, 

16 that impact railroad safety. 

17 ‘‘(d) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each railroad required to 

19 submit a railroad safety risk reduction program 

20 under subsection (a) shall develop a comprehensive 

21 safety risk reduction program to improve safety by 

22 reducing the number and rates of accidents, injuries, 

23 and fatalities that is based on the risk analysis re24 quired by subsection (c) through— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the mitigation of aspects that in2 crease risks to railroad safety; and 

3 ‘‘(B) the enhancement of aspects that de4 crease risks to railroad safety. 

5 ‘‘(2) REQUIRED COMPONENTS.—Each railroad’s 

6 safety risk reduction program shall include a tech7 nology implementation plan that meets the require8 ments of subsection (e) and a fatigue management 

9 plan that meets the requirements of subsection (f). 

10 ‘‘(e) TECHNOLOGY IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As part of its railroad safe12 ty risk reduction program, a railroad required to 

13 submit a railroad safety risk reduction program 

14 under subsection (a) shall develop a 10-year tech15 nology implementation plan that describes the rail16 road’s plan for development, adoption, implementa17 tion, and use of current, new, or novel technologies 

18 on its system over a 10-year period to reduce safety 

19 risks identified under the railroad safety risk reduc20 tion program. 

21 ‘‘(2) TECHNOLOGY ANALYSIS.—A railroad’s 

22 technology implementation plan shall include an 

23 analysis of the safety impact, feasibility, and cost 

24 and benefits of implementing technologies, including 

25 processor-based technologies, positive train control 


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1 systems (as defined in section 20158(b)), electroni2 cally controlled pneumatic brakes, rail integrity in3 spection systems, rail integrity warning systems, 

4 switch position indicators, trespasser prevention 

5 technology, highway rail grade crossing technology, 

6 and other new or novel railroad safety technology, as 

7 appropriate, that may mitigate risks to railroad safe8 ty identified in the risk analysis required by sub9 section (c). 

10 ‘‘(3) IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE.—A rail11 road’s technology implementation plan shall contain 

12 a prioritized implementation schedule for the devel13 opment, adoption, implementation, and use of cur14 rent, new, or novel technologies on its system to re15 duce safety risks identified under the railroad safety 

16 risk reduction program. 

17 ‘‘(f) FATIGUE MANAGEMENT PLAN.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As part of its railroad safe19 ty risk reduction program, a railroad required to 

20 submit a railroad safety risk reduction program 

21 under subsection (a) for which the analysis under 

22 subsection (c) has shown fatigue to be a significant 

23 source of risk shall develop a fatigue management 

24 plan that is designed to reduce the fatigue experi25 enced by safety-related railroad employees and to reVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:10 Mar 04, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889

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1 duce the likelihood of accidents, injuries, and fatali2 ties caused by fatigue. 

3 ‘‘(2) TARGETED FATIGUE COUNTER4 MEASURES.—A railroad’s fatigue management plan 

5 shall take into account the varying circumstances of 

6 operations by the railroad on different parts of its 

7 system, and shall prescribe appropriate fatigue coun8 termeasures to address those varying circumstances. 

9 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL ELEMENTS.—A railroad shall 

10 consider the need to include in its fatigue manage11 ment plan elements addressing each of the following 

12 items, as applicable: 

13 ‘‘(A) Employee education and training on 

14 the physiological and human factors that affect 

15 fatigue, as well as strategies to reduce or miti16 gate the effects of fatigue, based on the most 

17 current scientific and medical research and lit18 erature. 

19 ‘‘(B) Opportunities for identification, diag20 nosis, and treatment of any medical condition 

21 that may affect alertness or fatigue, including 

22 sleep disorders. 

23 ‘‘(C) Effects on employee fatigue of an em24 ployee’s short-term or sustained response to 

25 emergency situations, such as derailments and 


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1 natural disasters, or engagement in other inten2 sive working conditions. 

3 ‘‘(D) Scheduling practices for employees, 

4 including innovative scheduling practices for 

5 employees, including scheduling procedures, on6 duty call practices, work and rest cycles, in7 creases in consecutive days off for employees, 

8 changes in shift patterns, appropriate sched9 uling practices for varying types of work, and 

10 other aspects of employee scheduling that would 

11 reduce employee fatigue and cumulative sleep 

12 loss. 

13 ‘‘(E) Methods to minimize accidents and 

14 incidences that occur as a result of working at 

15 times when scientific and medical research have 

16 shown increased fatigue disrupts employees’ cir17 cadian rhythm. 

18 ‘‘(F) Alertness strategies, such as policies 

19 on napping, to address acute sleepiness and fa20 tigue while an employee is on duty. 

21 ‘‘(G) Opportunities to obtain restful sleep 

22 at lodging facilities, including employee sleeping 

23 quarters provided by the railroad carrier. 

24 ‘‘(H) The increase of the number of con25 secutive hours of off-duty rest, during which an 


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1 employee receives no communication from the 

2 employing railroad carrier or its managers, su3 pervisors, officers, or agents. 

4 ‘‘(I) Avoidance of abrupt changes in rest 

5 cycles for employees. 

6 ‘‘(J) Additional elements that the Sec7 retary considers appropriate. 

8 ‘‘(g) CONSENSUS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each railroad required to 

10 submit a railroad safety risk reduction program 

11 under subsection (a) shall consult with, employ good 

12 faith and use its best efforts to reach agreement 

13 with, all of its directly affected employees on the 

14 contents of the safety risk reduction program. 

15 ‘‘(2) STATEMENT.—If the railroad carrier and 

16 its directly affected employees, including any non17 profit employee labor organization representing a 

18 class or craft of directly affected employees of the 

19 railroad carrier, cannot reach consensus on the pro20 posed contents of the plan, then directly affected 

21 employees and such organization may file a state22 ment with the Secretary explaining their views on 

23 the plan on which consensus was not reached. The 

24 Secretary shall consider such views during review 

25 and approval of the program. 


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1 ‘‘(h) ENFORCEMENT.—The Secretary shall have the 

2 authority to assess civil penalties pursuant to chapter 213 

3 for a violation of this section, including the failure to sub4 mit, certify, or comply with a safety risk reduction pro5 gram, technology implementation plan, or fatigue manage6 ment plan.’’. 

7 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal8 ysis for chapter 201, as amended by section 103, is further 

9 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

10 20156 the following: 

‘‘20157. Railroad safety risk reduction program.’’. 

11 SEC. 105. POSITIVE TRAIN CONTROL SYSTEM IMPLEMENTA12 TION. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 201, as 

14 amended by section 104, is further amended by adding 

15 at end thereof the following: 

16 ‘‘§ 20158. Positive train control system implementa17 tion 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation 

19 shall ensure that each railroad required to submit a rail20 road safety risk reduction program pursuant to section 

21 20157 that includes in its technology implementation plan 

22 a schedule for implementation of a positive train control 

23 system complies with that schedule and implements its 

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1 less the Secretary determines that a railroad shall imple2 ment its positive train control system by an earlier date. 

3 ‘‘(b) POSITIVE TRAIN CONTROL SYSTEM DE4 FINED.—The term ‘positive train control system’ means 

5 a system designed to prevent train-to-train collisions, over6 speed derailments, and incursions into roadway worker 

7 work limits.’’. 

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal9 ysis for chapter 201, as amended by section 104, is further 

10 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

11 20157 the following: 

‘‘20158. Positive train control system implementation.’’. 

12 SEC. 106. HOURS OF SERVICE REFORM. 

13 (a) CHANGE IN DEFINITION OF SIGNAL EM14 PLOYEE.—Section 21101(4) is amended— 

15 (1) by striking ‘‘employed by a railroad car16 rier’’; and 

17 (2) by inserting ‘‘railroad’’ after ‘‘maintaining’’. 

18 (b) LIMITATION ON DUTY HOURS OF TRAIN EM19 PLOYEES.—Section 21103 is amended— 

20 (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 

21 following: 

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

23 (c) of this section, a railroad carrier and its officers and 

24 agents may not require or allow a train employee to re25 main or go on duty— 


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1 ‘‘(1) for a period in excess of 12 consecutive 

2 hours; 

3 ‘‘(2) unless the employee has had at least 10 

4 consecutive hours off duty during the prior 24 

5 hours; or 

6 ‘‘(3) unless the employee has had at least one 

7 period of at least 24 consecutive hours off duty in 

8 the past 7 consecutive days. 

9 The Secretary may waive paragraph (3) if a collective bar10 gaining agreement provides a different arrangement and 

11 such arrangement provides an equivalent level of safety 

12 and protection against fatigue for affected employees.’’; 

13 (2) by striking subsection (b)(4) and inserting 

14 the following: 

15 ‘‘(4)(A)(i) Time spent waiting for or in 

16 deadhead transportation to a duty assignment and, 

17 except as provided in clauses (ii) and (iii), time 

18 spent waiting for or in deadhead transportation from 

19 a duty assignment to the place of final release is 

20 time on duty. 

21 ‘‘(ii) Time spent waiting for or in deadhead 

22 transportation from a duty assignment to a place of 

23 final release is neither time on duty nor time off 

24 duty in situations involving delays in the operations 


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1 of the railroad carrier, when delays were caused 

2 by— 

3 ‘‘(I) a casualty; 

4 ‘‘(II) an accident; 

5 ‘‘(III) a track obstruction; 

6 ‘‘(IV) an act of God; 

7 ‘‘(V) a severe weather event; 

8 ‘‘(VI) a severe snowstorm; 

9 ‘‘(VII) a landslide; 

10 ‘‘(VIII) a track or bridge washout; 

11 ‘‘(IX) a derailment; 

12 ‘‘(X) a major equipment failure which pre13 vents a train from advancing; or 

14 ‘‘(XI) any other delay from a cause un15 known or unforeseeable to a railroad carrier 

16 and its officers and agents in charge of the em17 ployee when the employee left a designated ter18 minal. 

19 ‘‘(iii) In addition to any time qualifying as nei20 ther on duty nor off duty under clause (ii), the rail21 road carrier may elect to treat not more than 4 

22 hours a day and not more than 30 hours a month 

23 per employee of time spent waiting for or in 

24 deadhead transportation to the place of final release 

25 as neither time on duty nor time off duty for 3 years 


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1 after the date of enactment of the Railroad Safety 

2 Enhancement Act of 2007. 

3 ‘‘(B) Each railroad shall report to the Sec4 retary, in accordance with the procedures contained 

5 in section 228.19 of title 49, Code of Federal Regu6 lations, each instance in which an employee subject 

7 to this section spends time waiting for of in 

8 deadhead transportation from a duty assignment to 

9 the place of final release that is not time on duty. 

10 ‘‘(C) If— 

11 ‘‘(i) the time spent waiting for or in 

12 deadhead transportation from a duty assign13 ment to the place of final release, that is not 

14 time on duty, plus 

15 ‘‘(ii) the time on duty, 

16 exceeds 12 consecutive hours, the railroad carrier 

17 and its officers and agents shall provide, at the elec18 tion of the employees subject to this section, employ19 ees with additional time off duty equal to the num20 ber of hours that such sum exceeds 12 hours.’’; and 

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

22 ‘‘(d) COMMUNICATION DURING TIME OFF DUTY.— 

23 During a train employee’s minimum off-duty period of 10 

24 consecutive hours, as provided under subsection (a), or 

25 during an interim period of at least 4 consecutive hours 


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1 available for rest under subsection (b)(7), a railroad car2 rier, and its managers, supervisors, officers, and agents, 

3 shall not communicate with the train employee by tele4 phone, by pager, or in any other manner that could dis5 rupt the employee’s rest. Nothing in this subsection shall 

6 prohibit communication necessary to notify an employee 

7 of an emergency situation (as defined by the Secretary). 

8 The Secretary may waive the requirements of this para9 graph, subject to section 20103, for a railroad that pro10 vides commuter or intercity passenger transportation if 

11 the Secretary determines that it is necessary to maintain 

12 that railroad’s efficient operations and on-time perform13 ance of its trains.’’. 

14 (c) LIMITATION ON DUTY HOURS OF SIGNAL EM15 PLOYEES.—Section 21104 is amended— 

16 (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 

17 following: 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

19 (c) of this section, a railroad carrier, its officers and 

20 agents, and a contractor or subcontractor to a railroad 

21 may not require or allow a signal employee to remain or 

22 go on duty— 

23 ‘‘(1) for a period in excess of 12 consecutive 

24 hours; or 


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1 ‘‘(2) unless the employee has had at least 10 

2 consecutive hours off duty during the prior 24 

3 hours.’’; 

4 (2) by striking ‘‘duty, except that up to one 

5 hour of that time spent returning from the final 

6 trouble call of a period of continuous or broken serv7 ice is time off duty.’’ in subsection (b)(3) and insert8 ing ‘‘duty.’’; 

9 (3) by adding ‘‘A signal employee may not be 

10 allowed to remain or go on duty under the emer11 gency authority provided under this subsection to 

12 conduct routine repairs, maintenance, or inspection 

13 of signal systems.’’ at the end of subsection (c); and 

14 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(d) COMMUNICATION DURING TIME OFF DUTY.— 

16 During a signal employee’s minimum off-duty period of 

17 10 consecutive hours, as provided under subsection (a), 

18 a railroad carrier, and its managers, supervisors, officers, 

19 and agents, shall not communicate with the signal em20 ployee by telephone, by pager, or in any other manner that 

21 could disrupt the employee’s rest. Nothing in this sub22 section shall prohibit communication necessary to notify 

23 an employee of an emergency situation (as defined by the 

24 Secretary). 


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1 ‘‘(e) EXCLUSIVITY.—The hours of service, duty 

2 hours, and rest periods of signal employees shall be gov3 erned exclusively by this chapter. Signal employees oper4 ating motor vehicles shall not be subject to any hours of 

5 service rules, duty hours, or rest period rules promulgated 

6 by any Federal authority, including the Federal Motor 

7 Carrier Safety Administration, other than the Federal 

8 Railroad Administration.’’. 

9 (d) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 211 is amended by 

11 adding at the end thereof the following: 

12 ‘‘§ 21109. Regulatory authority 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation 

14 may issue regulations— 

15 ‘‘(1) to reduce the maximum hours an employee 

16 or class of employees may be required or allowed to 

17 go or remain on duty to a level less than the level 

18 established under this chapter; 

19 ‘‘(2) to increase the minimum hours an em20 ployee or class of employees may be required to rest 

21 to a level greater than the level established under 

22 this chapter; or 

23 ‘‘(3) to make other changes to the maximum 

24 hours or minimum hours an employee or class of 

25 employees may be allowed to go or remain on duty, 


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1 or may be required to rest, that will significantly in2 crease safety. 

3 ‘‘(b) REDUCTION OF LIMBO TIME.—Not later than 

4 2 years after the date of enactment of the Railroad Safety 

5 Enhancement Act of 2007, the Secretary shall issue regu6 lations that limit the time an employee spends waiting for 

7 or in deadhead transportation to the place of final release 

8 to be considered neither on duty nor off duty under section 

9 21103(b)(4)(A)(iii) to a number of hours per day and per 

10 month per employee that is necessary to maintain an ade11 quate level of safety, not to exceed 20 hours per month. 

12 ‘‘(c) CONSIDERATIONS.—In issuing regulations pur13 suant to subsection (a) and (b), the Secretary shall con14 sider the variations in freight and passenger railroad 

15 scheduling practices, the variations in duties performed by 

16 employees subject to this chapter, the railroad’s required 

17 or voluntary use of fatigue management plans covering 

18 employees subject to this chapter, scientific or medical re19 search or knowledge related to fatigue, the railroad’s use 

20 of new or novel technology intended to eliminate human 

21 error, and any other relevant factors. 

22 ‘‘(d) TIME LIMITS.—If the Secretary requests that 

23 the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee accept the task 

24 of developing regulations under subsection (a) and (b) and 

25 the Committee accepts the task, the Committee shall reach 


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1 consensus on the rulemaking within 24 months after ac2 cepting the task. If the Committee does not reach con3 sensus within 24 months after the Secretary makes the 

4 request, the Secretary shall prescribe appropriate regula5 tions within 1 year. If the Secretary does not request that 

6 the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee accept the task 

7 of developing regulations under subsections (a) and (b), 

8 the Secretary shall issue regulations within 3 years. 

9 ‘‘(e) PILOT PROJECTS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 

11 after the date of enactment of the Railroad Safety 

12 Enhancement Act of 2007, the Secretary shall con13 duct 2 pilot projects to analyze specific practices 

14 which may be used to reduce fatigue for railroad em15 ployees as follows: 

16 ‘‘(A) A pilot project at a railroad or rail17 road facility to evaluate the efficacy of commu18 nicating to employees notice of their assigned 

19 shift time 10 hours prior to the beginning of 

20 their assigned shift as a method for reducing 

21 employee fatigue. 

22 ‘‘(B) A pilot project at a railroad or rail23 road facility to evaluate the efficacy of requiring 

24 railroads who use employee scheduling practices 

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1 uled duty calls to assign employees to defined 

2 or specific unscheduled call shifts that are fol3 lowed by shifts not subject to call, as a method 

4 for reducing employee fatigue. 

5 ‘‘(2) WAIVER.—The Secretary may temporarily 

6 waive the requirements of this section, if necessary, 

7 to complete a pilot project under this subsection. 

8 ‘‘(f) DUTY CALL DEFINED.—In this section the term 

9 ‘duty call’ means a telephone call that a railroad places 

10 to an employee to notify the employee of his or her as11 signed shift time.’’. 

12 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter 

13 analysis for chapter 211 is amended by adding at 

14 the end thereof the following: 

‘‘21109. Regulatory authority.’’. 

15 SEC. 107. PROTECTION OF RAILROAD SAFETY RISK ANAL16 YSES INFORMATION. 

17 (a) AMENDMENT.—Subchapter I of chapter 201 is 

18 amended by adding at the end thereof the following: 

19 ‘‘§ 20118. Prohibition on public disclosure of required 

20 railroad safety analyses records 

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 552 of 

22 title 5 or any other provision of law, except as necessary 

23 for enforcement of any provision of Federal law by the 

24 Secretary of Transportation or by another Federal agency, 

25 the Secretary shall not disclose publicly any part of any 


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1 record (including, but not limited to, a railroad carrier’s 

2 analysis of its safety risks and its statement of the mitiga3 tion measures it has identified with which to address those 

4 risks) that the Secretary has obtained pursuant to a provi5 sion of, or regulation or order under, this chapter related 

6 to the establishment, implementation, or modification of 

7 a railroad safety risk reduction program if the record is— 

8 ‘‘(1) supplied to the Secretary pursuant to that 

9 safety risk reduction program; or 

10 ‘‘(2) made available for inspection and copying 

11 by an officer, employee, or agent of the Secretary 

12 pursuant to that safety risk reduction program. 

13 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), 

14 the Secretary may disclose any part of any record com15 prised of facts otherwise available to the public if, in the 

16 Secretary’s sole discretion, the Secretary determines that 

17 disclosure would be consistent with the confidentiality 

18 needed for that safety risk reduction program. 

19 ‘‘(c) DISCRETIONARY PROHIBITION OF DISCLO20 SURE.—The Secretary may prohibit the public disclosure 

21 of risk or risk mitigation analyses that the Secretary has 

22 obtained under other provisions of, or regulations or or23 ders under, this chapter if the Secretary determines that 

24 the prohibition of public disclosure is necessary to promote 

25 railroad safety. 


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1 ‘‘§ 20119. Discovery and admission into evidence of 

2 certain reports and surveys 

3 ‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no part 

4 of any report, survey, schedule, list, or data compiled or 

5 collected for the purpose of evaluating, planning, or imple6 menting a railroad safety risk reduction program or other 

7 risk or risk mitigation analysis designated by the Sec8 retary of Transportation under section 20118(c) pursuant 

9 to a provision of, or regulation or order under, this chapter 

10 (including a railroad carrier’s analysis of its safety risks 

11 and its statement of the mitigation measures with which 

12 it will address those risks) shall be subject to discovery 

13 or admitted into evidence in a Federal or State court pro14 ceeding, or considered for another purpose, in any action 

15 by a private party or parties for damages against the car16 rier, or its officers, employees, or contractors. The pre17 ceding sentence does not apply to any report, survey, list, 

18 or data otherwise available to the public.’’. 

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal20 ysis for chapter 201 is amended by inserting after the item 

21 relating to section 20117 the following: 

‘‘20118. Prohibition on public disclosure of required railroad safety risk analyses. 

‘‘20119. Discovery and admission into evidence of certain reports and surveys.’’. 


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1 TITLE II—HIGHWAY-RAIL GRADE 

2 CROSSING AND PEDESTRIAN 

3 SAFETY AND TRESPASSER 

4 PREVENTION 

5 SEC. 201. PEDESTRIAN CROSSING SAFETY. 

6 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

7 of this Act, the Secretary shall provide guidance to rail8 roads on strategies and methods to prevent pedestrian ac9 cidents, injuries, and fatalities at or near passenger sta10 tions, including— 

11 (1) providing audible warning of approaching 

12 trains to the pedestrians at railroad passenger sta13 tions; 

14 (2) using signs, signals, or other visual devices 

15 to warn pedestrians of approaching trains; 

16 (3) installing infrastructure at pedestrian cross17 ings to improve the safety of pedestrians crossing 

18 railroad tracks; 

19 (4) installing fences to prohibit access to rail20 road tracks; and 

21 (5) other strategies or methods as determined 

22 by the Secretary. 

23 SEC. 202. STATE ACTION PLANS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later than 6 

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1 retary shall identify on an annual basis the 10 States that 

2 receive Federal funds for highway-rail grade crossing safe3 ty projects that have had the most highway-rail grade 

4 crossing collisions in the preceding fiscal year. The Sec5 retary shall require as a condition of receiving such funds 

6 in the future (in addition to any requirements imposed 

7 under any other provision of law) that each of these States 

8 develop a State Grade Crossing Action Plan that identifies 

9 specific solutions for improving safety at crossings, includ10 ing highway-rail grade crossing closures or grade separa11 tions, particularly at crossings that have experienced mul12 tiple accidents, and shall provide assistance to the States 

13 in developing the plan. 

14 (b) REVIEW AND APPROVAL.—Not later than 60 days 

15 after the Secretary receives a plan under subsection (a), 

16 the Secretary shall review and approve or disapprove it. 

17 If the proposed plan is not approved, the Secretary shall 

18 notify the affected State as to the specific points in which 

19 the proposed plan is deficient, and the State shall correct 

20 all deficiencies within 30 days following receipt of written 

21 notice from the Secretary. 


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1 SEC. 203. IMPROVEMENTS TO SIGHT DISTANCE AT HIGH2 WAY-RAIL GRADE CROSSINGS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 201, as 

4 amended by section 105 of this Act, is further amended 

5 by inserting after section 20158 the following: 

6 ‘‘§ 20159. Roadway user sight distance at highway7 rail grade crossings 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after 

9 the date of enactment of the Railroad Safety Enhance10 ment Act of 2007, the Secretary of Transportation shall 

11 prescribe regulations that require each railroad carrier to 

12 remove from its rights-of-way at all public highway-rail 

13 grade crossings, and at all private highway-rail grade 

14 crossings open to unrestricted public access (as declared 

15 in writing by the holder of the crossing right), grass, 

16 brush, shrubbery, trees, and other vegetation which may 

17 obstruct the view of a pedestrian or a vehicle operator for 

18 a reasonable distance in either direction of the train’s ap19 proach, and to maintain its rights-of-way at all such cross20 ings free of such vegetation. In prescribing the regula21 tions, the Secretary shall take into consideration to the 

22 extent practicable— 

23 ‘‘(1) the type of warning device or warning de24 vices installed at such crossings; 

25 ‘‘(2) factors affecting the timeliness and effec26 tiveness of roadway user decisionmaking, including 


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•S 1889 RS 

1 the maximum allowable roadway speed, maximum 

2 authorized train speed, angle of intersection, and to3 pography; 

4 ‘‘(3) the presence or absence of other sight dis5 tance obstructions off the railroad right-of-way; and 

6 ‘‘(4) any other factors affecting safety at such 

7 crossings. 

8 ‘‘(b) PROTECTED VEGETATION.—In promulgating 

9 regulations pursuant to this section, the Secretary may 

10 make allowance for preservation of trees and other orna11 mental or protective growth where State or local law or 

12 policy would otherwise protect the vegetation from removal 

13 and where the roadway authority or private crossing hold14 er is notified of the sight distance obstruction and, within 

15 a reasonable period specified by the regulation, takes ap16 propriate action to abate the hazard to roadway users 

17 (such as by closing the crossing, posting supplementary 

18 signage, installing active warning devices, lowering road19 way speed, or installing traffic calming devices). 

20 ‘‘(c) MODEL LEGISLATION.—Not later than 18 

21 months after the date of enactment of the Railroad Safety 

22 Enhancement Act of 2007, the Secretary, after consulta23 tion with the Federal Railroad Administration, the Fed24 eral Highway Administration, and States, shall develop 

25 and make available to States model legislation providing 


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•S 1889 RS 

1 for improving safety by addressing sight obstructions, at 

2 highway-rail grade crossings that are equipped solely with 

3 passive warnings, as recommended by the Inspector Gen4 eral of the Department of Transportation in Report No. 

5 MH–2007–044.’’. 

6 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal7 ysis for chapter 201, as amended by section 105 of this 

8 Act, is amended by inserting after the item relating to sec9 tion 20158 the following new item: 

‘‘20159. Roadway user sight distance at highway-rail grade crossings.’’. 

10 SEC. 204. NATIONAL CROSSING INVENTORY. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 201, as 

12 amended by section 203 of this Act, is further amended 

13 by adding at the end the following new section: 

14 ‘‘§ 20160. National crossing inventory 

15 ‘‘(a) INITIAL REPORTING OF INFORMATION ABOUT

16 PREVIOUSLY UNREPORTED CROSSINGS.—Not later than 

17 1 year after the date of enactment of the Railroad Safety 

18 Enhancement Act of 2007 or 6 months after a new cross19 ing becomes operational, whichever occurs later, each rail20 road carrier shall— 

21 ‘‘(1) report to the Secretary of Transportation 

22 current information, including information about 

23 warning devices and signage, as specified by the Sec24 retary, concerning each previously unreported cross25 ing through which it operates; or 


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1 ‘‘(2) ensure that the information has been re2 ported to the Secretary by another railroad carrier 

3 that operates through the crossing. 

4 ‘‘(b) UPDATING OF CROSSING INFORMATION.— 

5 ‘‘(1) On a periodic basis beginning not later 

6 than 2 years after the date of enactment of the Rail7 road Safety Enhancement Act of 2007 and on or be8 fore September 30 of every year thereafter, or as 

9 otherwise specified by the Secretary, each railroad 

10 carrier shall— 

11 ‘‘(A) report to the Secretary current infor12 mation, including information about warning 

13 devices and signage, as specified by the Sec14 retary, concerning each crossing through which 

15 it operates; or 

16 ‘‘(B) ensure that the information has been 

17 reported to the Secretary by another railroad 

18 carrier that operates through the crossing. 

19 ‘‘(2) A railroad carrier that sells a crossing or 

20 any part of a crossing on or after the date of enact21 ment of the Railroad Safety Enhancement Act of 

22 2007 shall, not later than the date that is 18 

23 months after the date of enactment of that Act or 

24 3 months after the sale, whichever occurs later, or 

25 as otherwise specified by the Secretary, report to the 


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1 Secretary current information, as specified by the 

2 Secretary, concerning the change in ownership of the 

3 crossing or part of the crossing. 

4 ‘‘(c) RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.—The Secretary shall 

5 prescribe the regulations necessary to implement this sec6 tion. The Secretary may enforce each provision of the De7 partment of Transportation’s statement of the national 

8 highway-rail crossing inventory policy, procedures, and in9 struction for States and railroads that is in effect on the 

10 date of enactment of the Railroad Safety Enhancement 

11 Act of 2007, until such provision is superseded by a regu12 lation issued under this section. 

13 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 ‘‘(1) CROSSING.—The term ‘crossing’ means a 

15 location within a State, other than a location where 

16 one or more railroad tracks cross one or more rail17 road tracks either at grade or grade-separated, 

18 where— 

19 ‘‘(A) a public highway, road, or street, or 

20 a private roadway, including associated side21 walks and pathways, crosses one or more rail22 road tracks either at grade or grade-separated; 

23 or 

24 ‘‘(B) a pathway explicitly authorized by the 

25 property owner that is dedicated for the use of 


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1 nonvehicular traffic, including pedestrians, 

2 bicyclists, and others, that is not associated 

3 with a public highway, road, or street, or a pri4 vate roadway, crosses one or more railroad 

5 tracks either at grade or grade-separated. 

6 ‘‘(2) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means a State 

7 of the United States, the District of Columbia, or 

8 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.’’. 

9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal10 ysis for chapter 201, as amended by section 203 of this 

11 Act, is amended by inserting after the item relating to sec12 tion 20159 the following: 

‘‘20160. National crossing inventory.’’. 

13 (c) REPORTING AND UPDATING.—Section 130 of title 

14 23, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

15 the following: 

16 ‘‘(l) NATIONAL CROSSING INVENTORY.— 

17 ‘‘(1) INITIAL REPORTING OF CROSSING INFOR18 MATION.—Not later than 1 year after the date of 

19 enactment of the Railroad Safety Enhancement Act 

20 of 2007 or within 6 months of a new crossing be21 coming operational, whichever occurs later, each 

22 State shall report to the Secretary of Transportation 

23 current information, including information about 

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1 retary, concerning each previously unreported cross2 ing located within its borders. 

3 ‘‘(2) PERIODIC UPDATING OF CROSSING INFOR4 MATION.—On a periodic basis beginning not later 

5 than 2 years after the date of enactment of the Rail6 road Safety Enhancement Act of 2007 and on or be7 fore September 30 of every year thereafter, or as 

8 otherwise specified by the Secretary, each State shall 

9 report to the Secretary current information, includ10 ing information about warning devices and signage, 

11 as specified by the Secretary, concerning each cross12 ing located within its borders. 

13 ‘‘(3) RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.—The Secretary 

14 shall prescribe the regulations necessary to imple15 ment this subsection. The Secretary may enforce 

16 each provision of the Department of Transpor17 tation’s statement of the national highway-rail cross18 ing inventory policy, procedures, and instructions for 

19 States and railroads that is in effect on the date of 

20 enactment of the Railroad Safety Enhancement Act 

21 of 2007, until such provision is superseded by a reg22 ulation issued under this subsection. 

23 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the 

24 terms ‘crossing’ and ‘State’ have the meaning given 


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1 those terms by section 20160(d)(1) and (2), respec2 tively, of title 49.’’. 

3 (d) CIVIL PENALTIES.—(1) Section 21301(a)(1) is 

4 amended— 

5 (A) by inserting ‘‘with section 20160 or’’ after 

6 ‘‘comply’’ in the first sentence; and 

7 (B) by inserting ‘‘section 20157 of this title or’’ 

8 after ‘‘violating’’ in the second sentence. 

9 (2) Section 21301(a)(2) is amended by inserting 

10 ‘‘The Secretary shall impose a civil penalty for a violation 

11 of section 20160 of this title.’’ after the first sentence. 

12 SEC. 205. TELEPHONE NUMBER TO REPORT GRADE CROSS13 ING PROBLEMS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 20152 is amended to read 

15 as follows: 

16 ‘‘§ 20152. Notification of grade crossing problems 

17 ‘‘Not later than 18 months after the date of enact18 ment of the Railroad Safety Enhancement Act of 2007, 

19 the Secretary of Transportation shall require each railroad 

20 carrier to— 

21 ‘‘(1) establish and maintain a telephone service, 

22 which may be required to be a toll-free telephone for 

23 specific railroad carriers as determined by the Sec24 retary to be appropriate, for rights-of-way over 


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1 which it dispatches trains, to directly receive calls 

2 reporting— 

3 ‘‘(A) malfunctions of signals, crossing 

4 gates, and other devices to promote safety at 

5 the grade crossing of railroad tracks on those 

6 rights-of-way and public or private roads; 

7 ‘‘(B) disabled vehicles blocking railroad 

8 tracks at such grade crossings; 

9 ‘‘(C) obstructions to the view of a pedes10 trian or a vehicle operator for a reasonable dis11 tance in either direction of a train’s approach; 

12 or 

13 ‘‘(D) other safety information involving 

14 such grade crossings; 

15 ‘‘(2) upon receiving a report pursuant to para16 graph (1)(A) or (B), immediately contact trains op17 erating near the grade crossing to warn them of the 

18 malfunction or disabled vehicle; 

19 ‘‘(3) upon receiving a report pursuant to para20 graph (1)(A) or (B), and after contacting trains 

21 pursuant to paragraph (2), contact, as necessary, 

22 appropriate public safety officials having jurisdiction 

23 over the grade crossing to provide them with the in24 formation necessary for them to direct traffic, assist 


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1 in the removal of the disabled vehicle, or carry out 

2 other activities as appropriate; 

3 ‘‘(4) upon receiving a report pursuant to para4 graph (1)(C) or (D), timely investigate the report, 

5 remove the obstruction if possible, or correct the un6 safe circumstance; and 

7 ‘‘(5) ensure the placement at each grade cross8 ing on rights-of-way that it owns of appropriately lo9 cated signs, on which shall appear, at a minimum— 

10 ‘‘(A) a telephone number to be used for 

11 placing calls described in paragraph (1) to the 

12 railroad carrier dispatching trains on that 

13 right-of-way; 

14 ‘‘(B) an explanation of the purpose of that 

15 telephone number; and 

16 ‘‘(C) the grade crossing number assigned 

17 for that crossing by the National Highway-Rail 

18 Crossing Inventory established by the Depart19 ment of Transportation.’’. 

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal21 ysis for chapter 201 is amended by striking the item relat22 ing to section 20152 and inserting the following: 

‘‘20152. Notification of grade crossing problems.’’. 

23 SEC. 206. OPERATION LIFESAVER. 

24 (a) GRANT.—The Federal Railroad Administration 

25 shall make a grant or grants to Operation Lifesaver to 


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1 carry out a public information and education program to 

2 help prevent and reduce pedestrian, motor vehicle, and 

3 other incidents, injuries, and fatalities, and to improve 

4 awareness along railroad rights-of-way and at highway-rail 

5 grade crossings. This includes development, placement, 

6 and dissemination of Public Service Announcements in 

7 newspaper, radio, television, and other media. It will also 

8 include school presentations, brochures and materials, 

9 support for public awareness campaigns, and related sup10 port for the activities of Operation Lifesaver’s member or11 ganizations. As part of an educational program funded by 

12 grants awarded under this section, Operation Lifesaver 

13 shall provide information to the public on how to identify 

14 and report to the appropriate authorities unsafe or mal15 functioning highway-rail grade crossings. 

16 (b) PILOT PROGRAM.—The Secretary may allow 

17 funds provided under subsection (a) also to be used by 

18 Operation Lifesaver to implement a pilot program, to be 

19 known as the Railroad Safety Public Awareness Program, 

20 that addresses the need for targeted and sustained com21 munity outreach on the subjects described in subsection 

22 (a). Such a pilot program shall be established in 1 or more 

23 States identified under section 202 of this Act. In carrying 

24 out such a pilot program Operation Lifesaver shall work 

25 with the State, community leaders, school districts, and 


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1 public and private partners to identify the communities 

2 at greatest risk, to develop appropriate measures to reduce 

3 such risks, and shall coordinate the pilot program with 

4 the State grade crossing action plan. 

5 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

6 are authorized to be appropriated to the Federal Railroad 

7 Administration for carrying out this section— 

8 (1) $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008, 

9 2009, and 2010; and 

10 (2) $1,500,000 for each of fiscal years 20011, 

11 2012, and 2013. 

12 SEC. 207. TRESPASSER PREVENTION AND HIGHWAY-RAIL 

13 CROSSING SAFETY. 

14 (a) TRESPASSER PREVENTION AND HIGHWAY-RAIL

15 GRADE CROSSING WARNING SIGN VIOLATIONS.—Section 

16 20151 is amended— 

17 (1) by striking the section heading and insert18 ing the following: 

19 ‘‘§ 20151. Railroad trespassing, vandalism, and high20 way-rail grade crossing warning sign vio21 lation prevention strategy’’; 

22 (2) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 

23 following: 

24 ‘‘(a) EVALUATION OF EXISTING LAWS.—In consulta25 tion with affected parties, the Secretary of Transportation 


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1 shall evaluate and review current local, State, and Federal 

2 laws regarding trespassing on railroad property, van3 dalism affecting railroad safety, and violations of highway4 rail grade crossing warning signs and develop model pre5 vention strategies and enforcement laws to be used for the 

6 consideration of State and local legislatures and govern7 mental entities. The first such evaluation and review con8 cerning violations of grade crossing signals shall be com9 pleted within 1 year after the date of enactment of the 

10 Railroad Safety Enhancement Act of 2007. The Secretary 

11 shall revise the model prevention strategies and enforce12 ment codes periodically.’’; 

13 (3) by inserting ‘‘FOR TRESPASSING AND VAN14 DALISM PREVENTION’’ in the subsection heading of 

15 subsection (b) after ‘‘OUTREACH PROGRAM’’; 

16 (4) in subsection (c)— 

17 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and 

18 (2) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively; 

19 (B) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘MODEL LEG20 ISLATION.—’’; and 

21 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

22 paragraph: 

23 ‘‘(2) Within 18 months after the date of enactment 

24 of the Railroad Safety Enhancement Act of 2007, the Sec25 retary, after consultation with State and local governVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:10 Mar 04, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00049 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889

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1 ments and railroad carriers, shall develop and make avail2 able to State and local governments model State legisla3 tion providing for civil or criminal penalties, or both, for 

4 violations of highway-rail grade crossing warning signs.’’; 

5 and 

6 (5) by adding at the end the following new sub7 section: 

8 ‘‘(d) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘viola9 tion of highway-rail grade crossing warning signs’ includes 

10 any action by a motorist, unless directed by an authorized 

11 safety officer— 

12 ‘‘(1) to drive around a grade crossing gate in 

13 a position intended to block passage over railroad 

14 tracks; 

15 ‘‘(2) to drive through a flashing grade crossing 

16 signal; 

17 ‘‘(3) to drive through a grade crossing with pas18 sive warning signs without ensuring that the grade 

19 crossing could be safely crossed before any train ar20 rived; and 

21 ‘‘(4) in the vicinity of a grade crossing, who 

22 creates a hazard of an accident involving injury or 

23 property damage at the grade crossing.’’. 

24 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal25 ysis for chapter 201 of title 49, United States Code, is 


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1 amended by striking the item relating to section 20151 

2 and inserting the following: 

‘‘20151. Railroad trespassing, vandalism, and highway-rail grade crossing warning sign violation prevention strategy.’’. 

3 (c) EDUCATIONAL OR AWARENESS PROGRAM ITEMS

4 FOR DISTRIBUTION.—Section 20134(a) is amended by 

5 adding at the end of the subsection the following: ‘‘The 

6 Secretary may purchase items of nominal value and dis7 tribute them to the public without charge as part of an 

8 educational or awareness program to accomplish the pur9 poses of this section and of any other sections of this title 

10 related to improving the safety of highway-rail crossings 

11 and to preventing trespass on railroad rights of way, and 

12 the Secretary shall prescribe guidelines for the administra13 tion of this authority.’’. 

14 SEC. 208. FOSTERING INTRODUCTION OF NEW TECH15 NOLOGY TO IMPROVE SAFETY AT HIGHWAY16 RAIL GRADE CROSSINGS. 

17 (a) AMENDMENT.—Subchapter II of chapter 201, as 

18 amended by section 204 of this Act, is further amended 

19 by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘§ 20161. Fostering introduction of new technology to 

21 improve safety at highway-rail grade 

22 crossings 

23 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 


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1 ‘‘(1) Collisions between highway users and 

2 trains at highway-rail grade crossings continue to 

3 cause loss of life and serious personal injury and 

4 also threaten the safety of rail transportation. 

5 ‘‘(2) While elimination of at-grade crossings 

6 through consolidation of crossings and grade separa7 tions offers the greatest long-term promise for opti8 mizing the safety and efficiency of the two modes of 

9 transportation, over 140,000 public grade crossings 

10 remain on the general rail system—approximately 

11 one for each route mile on the general rail system. 

12 ‘‘(3) Conventional highway traffic control de13 vices such as flashing lights and gates are effective 

14 in warning motorists of a train’s approach to an 

15 equipped crossing. 

16 ‘‘(4) Since enactment of the Highway Safety 

17 Act of 1973, over $4,200,000,000 of Federal fund18 ing has been invested in safety improvements at 

19 highway-rail grade crossings, yet a majority of pub20 lic highway-rail grade crossings are not yet equipped 

21 with active warning systems. 

22 ‘‘(5) The emergence of new technologies sup23 porting Intelligent Transportation Systems presents 

24 opportunities for more effective and affordable warnVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:10 Mar 04, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00052 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889

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1 ings and safer passage of highway users and trains 

2 at remaining highway-rail grade crossings. 

3 ‘‘(6) Implementation of new crossing safety 

4 technology will require extensive cooperation between 

5 highway authorities and railroad carriers. 

6 ‘‘(7) Federal Railroad Administration regula7 tions establishing performance standards for proc8 essor-based signal and train control systems provide 

9 a suitable framework for qualification of new or 

10 novel technology at highway-rail grade crossings, 

11 and the Federal Highway Administration’s Manual 

12 on Uniform Traffic Control Devices provides an ap13 propriate means of determining highway user inter14 face with such new technology. 

15 ‘‘(b) POLICY.—It is the policy of the Department of 

16 Transportation to encourage the development of new tech17 nology that can prevent loss of life and injuries at high18 way-rail grade crossings. The Secretary of Transportation 

19 shall carry out this policy in consultation with States and 

20 necessary public and private entities. 

21 ‘‘(c) EFFECT OF SECRETARIAL APPROVAL.—If the 

22 Secretary approves new technology to provide warning to 

23 highway users at a highway-rail grade crossing and such 

24 technology is installed at a highway-rail grade crossing in 

25 accordance with the conditions of the approval, this deterVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:10 Mar 04, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00053 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889

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1 mination preempts any State law concerning the adequacy 

2 of the technology in providing warning at the crossing. 

3 Under no circumstances may a person (including a State, 

4 other public authority, railroad carrier, system designer, 

5 or supplier of the technology) be held liable for damages 

6 for any harm to persons or property because of an acci7 dent or incident at the crossing protected by such tech8 nology based upon the carrier’s failure to properly inspect 

9 and maintain such technology, if the carrier has inspected 

10 and maintained the technology in accordance with the 

11 terms of the Secretary’s approval.’’. 

12 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal13 ysis for chapter 201, as amended by section 204 of this 

14 Act, is further amended by inserting after the item relat15 ing to section 20160, the following: 

‘‘20161. Fostering introduction of new technology to improve safety at highwayrail grade crossings.’’. 

16 TITLE III—FEDERAL RAILROAD 

17 ADMINISTRATION 

18 SEC. 301. HUMAN CAPITAL INCREASES. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall increase the 

20 number of Federal Railroad Administration employees 

21 by— 

22 (1) 25 employees in fiscal year 2008; 

23 (2) 50 employees in fiscal year 2009; 

24 (3) 50 employees in fiscal year 2010; 


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1 (4) 25 employees in fiscal year 2011; 

2 (5) 25 employees in fiscal year 2012; and 

3 (6) 25 employees in fiscal year 2013. 

4 (b) FUNCTIONS.—In increasing the number of em5 ployees pursuant to subsection (a), the Secretary shall 

6 focus on hiring employees— 

7 (1) specifically trained to conduct on-site rail8 road and highway-rail grade crossing accident inves9 tigations; 

10 (2) to implement the Railroad Safety Strategy; 

11 (3) to administer and implement the Railroad 

12 Safety Risk Reduction Pilot Program and the Rail13 road Safety Risk Reduction Program; 

14 (4) to implement section 20166 of title 49, 

15 United States Code, and to focus on encouragement 

16 and oversight of the use of new or novel rail safety 

17 technology; 

18 (5) to conduct routine inspections and audits of 

19 railroad and hazardous materials facilities and 

20 records for compliance with railroad safety laws and 

21 regulations; and 

22 (6) to support the Federal Railroad Administra23 tion’s safety mission. 


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1 SEC. 302. CIVIL PENALTY INCREASES. 

2 (a) GENERAL VIOLATIONS OF CHAPTER 201.—Sec3 tion 21301(a)(2) is amended— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘$10,000’’ and inserting 

5 ‘‘$25,000’’; and 

6 (2) by striking ‘‘$20,000’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘$100,000’’. 

8 (b) ACCIDENT AND INCIDENT VIOLATIONS OF CHAP9 TER 201; VIOLATIONS OF CHAPTERS 203 THROUGH

10 209.—Section 21302(a)(2) is amended— 

11 (1) by striking ‘‘$10,000’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘$25,000’’; and 

13 (2) by striking ‘‘$20,000’’ and inserting 

14 ‘‘$100,000’’. 

15 (c) VIOLATIONS OF CHAPTER 211.—Section 

16 21303(a)(2) is amended— 

17 (1) by striking ‘‘$10,000’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘$25,000’’; and 

19 (2) by striking ‘‘$20,000’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘$100,000’’. 

21 SEC. 303. ENFORCEMENT REPORT. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 201, as 

23 amended by section 107 of this Act, is amended by adding 

24 at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘§ 20120. Enforcement Report. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than December 31, 

3 2008, the Secretary of Transportation shall make avail4 able to the public and publish on its public website an an5 nual report that— 

6 ‘‘(1) provides a summary of railroad safety and 

7 hazardous materials compliance inspections and au8 dits that Federal or state inspectors conducted in 

9 the prior fiscal year organized by type of alleged vio10 lation, including track, motive power and equipment, 

11 signal, grade crossing, operating practices, accident 

12 and incidence reporting, and hazardous materials; 

13 ‘‘(2) provides a summary of all enforcement ac14 tions taken by the Secretary or the Federal Railroad 

15 Administration during the prior fiscal year, includ16 ing— 

17 ‘‘(A) the number of civil penalties assessed 

18 against railroad carriers, hazardous material 

19 shippers, and individuals; 

20 ‘‘(B) the initial amount of civil penalties 

21 assessed against railroad carriers, hazardous 

22 materials shippers, and individuals; 

23 ‘‘(C) the number of civil penalty cases set24 tled against railroad carriers, hazardous mate25 rial shippers, and individuals; 


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1 ‘‘(D) the final amount of civil penalties as2 sessed against railroad carriers, hazardous ma3 terials shippers, and individuals; 

4 ‘‘(E) the difference between the initial and 

5 final amounts of civil penalties assessed against 

6 railroad carriers, hazardous materials shippers, 

7 and individuals; 

8 ‘‘(F) the number of administrative hear9 ings requested and completed related to haz10 ardous materials transportation law violations 

11 or enforcement actions against individuals; 

12 ‘‘(G) the number of cases referred to the 

13 Attorney General for civil or criminal prosecu14 tion; 

15 ‘‘(H) the number and subject matter of all 

16 compliance orders, emergency orders or pre17 cursor agreements; 

18 ‘‘(3) analyzes the effect of the number of in19 spections conducted and enforcement actions taken 

20 on the number and rate of reported accidents and 

21 incidents and railroad safety; 

22 ‘‘(4) identifies the number of locomotive engi23 neer certification denial or revocation cases appealed 

24 to and the average length of time it took to be de25 cided by— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the Locomotive Engineer Review 

2 Board; 

3 ‘‘(B) an Administrative Hearing Officer or 

4 Administrative Law Judge; or 

5 ‘‘(C) the Administrator of the Federal 

6 Railroad Administration; 

7 ‘‘(5) provides any explanation regarding 

8 changes in the Secretary’s or the Federal Railroad 

9 Administration’s enforcement programs or policies 

10 that may substantially affect the information re11 ported; and 

12 ‘‘(6) includes any additional information that 

13 the Secretary determines is useful to improve the 

14 transparency of its enforcement program.’’. 

15 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal16 ysis for chapter 201, as amended by section 107 of this 

17 Act, is amended by inserting after the item relating to sec18 tion 20119 the following: 

‘‘20120. Enforcement report.’’. 

19 SEC. 304. PROHIBITION OF INDIVIDUALS FROM PER20 FORMING SAFETY-SENSITIVE FUNCTIONS 

21 FOR A VIOLATION OF HAZARDOUS MATE22 RIALS TRANSPORTATION LAW. 

23 Section 20111(c) is amended to read as follows: 

24 ‘‘(c) ORDERS PROHIBITING INDIVIDUALS FROM PER25 FORMING SAFETY-SENSITIVE FUNCTIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) If an individual’s violation of this part, 

2 chapter 51 of this title, or a regulation prescribed, 

3 or an order issued, by the Secretary under this part 

4 or chapter 51 of this title is shown to make that in5 dividual unfit for the performance of safety-sensitive 

6 functions, the Secretary, after providing notice and 

7 an opportunity for a hearing, may issue an order 

8 prohibiting the individual from performing safety9 sensitive functions in the railroad industry for a 

10 specified period of time or until specified conditions 

11 are met. 

12 ‘‘(2) This subsection does not affect the Sec13 retary’s authority under section 20104 of this title 

14 to act on an emergency basis.’’. 

15 SEC. 305. RAILROAD RADIO MONITORING AUTHORITY. 

16 Section 20107 is amended by inserting at the end the 

17 following: 

18 ‘‘(c) RAILROAD RADIO COMMUNICATIONS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To carry out the Sec20 retary’s responsibilities under this part and under 

21 chapter 51, the Secretary may authorize officers, 

22 employees, or agents of the Secretary to conduct the 

23 following activities in circumstances the Secretary 

24 finds to be reasonable: 


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1 ‘‘(A) Intercepting a radio communication, 

2 with or without the consent of the sender or 

3 other receivers of the communication, but only 

4 where such communication is broadcast or 

5 transmitted over a radio frequency which is— 

6 ‘‘(i) authorized for use by one or more 

7 railroad carriers by the Federal Commu8 nications Commission; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) primarily used by such railroad 

10 carriers for communications in connection 

11 with railroad operations. 

12 ‘‘(B) Communicating the existence, con13 tents, substance, purport, effect, or meaning of 

14 the communication, subject to the restrictions 

15 in paragraph (3). 

16 ‘‘(C) Receiving or assisting in receiving the 

17 communication (or any information therein con18 tained). 

19 ‘‘(D) Disclosing the contents, substance, 

20 purport, effect, or meaning of the communica21 tion (or any part thereof of such communica22 tion) or using the communication (or any infor23 mation contained therein), subject to the re24 strictions in paragraph (3), after having re25 ceived the communication or acquired knowlVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:10 Mar 04, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00061 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889

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1 edge of the contents, substance, purport, effect, 

2 or meaning of the communication (or any part 

3 thereof). 

4 ‘‘(E) Recording the communication by any 

5 means, including writing and tape recording. 

6 ‘‘(2) ACCIDENT PREVENTION AND ACCIDENT

7 INVESTIGATION.—The Secretary, and officers, em8 ployees, and agents of the Department of Transpor9 tation authorized by the Secretary, may engage in 

10 the activities authorized by paragraph (1) for the 

11 purpose of accident prevention and accident inves12 tigation. 

13 ‘‘(3) USE OF INFORMATION.—(A) Information 

14 obtained through activities authorized by paragraphs 

15 (1) and (2) shall not be admitted into evidence in 

16 any administrative or judicial proceeding except— 

17 ‘‘(i) in a prosecution of a felony under 

18 Federal or State criminal law; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) to impeach evidence offered by a 

20 party other than the Federal Government re21 garding the existence, electronic characteristics, 

22 content, substance, purport, effect, meaning, or 

23 timing of, or identity of parties to, a commu24 nication intercepted pursuant to paragraphs (1) 

25 and (2) in proceedings pursuant to section 


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1 5122, 5123, 20702(b), 20111, 20112, 20113, 

2 or 20114 of this title. 

3 ‘‘(B) If information obtained through activities 

4 set forth in paragraphs (1) and (2) is admitted into 

5 evidence for impeachment purposes in accordance 

6 with subparagraph (A), the court, administrative law 

7 judge, or other officer before whom the proceeding 

8 is conducted may make such protective orders re9 garding the confidentiality or use of the information 

10 as may be appropriate in the circumstances to pro11 tect privacy and administer justice. 

12 ‘‘(C) No evidence shall be excluded in an ad13 ministrative or judicial proceeding solely because the 

14 government would not have learned of the existence 

15 of or obtained such evidence but for the interception 

16 of information that is not admissible in such pro17 ceeding under subparagraph (A). 

18 ‘‘(D) Information obtained through activities 

19 set forth in paragraphs (1) and (2) shall not be sub20 ject to publication or disclosure, or search or review 

21 in connection therewith, under section 552 of title 5. 

22 ‘‘(E) Nothing in this subsection shall be con23 strued to impair or otherwise affect the authority of 

24 the United States to intercept a communication, and 

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1 formation obtained thereby, under a provision of law 

2 other than this subsection. 

3 ‘‘(4) APPLICATION WITH OTHER LAW.—Section 

4 705 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

5 605) and chapter 119 of title 18 shall not apply to 

6 conduct authorized by and pursuant to this sub7 section.’’. 

8 SEC. 306. EMERGENCY WAIVERS. 

9 Section 20103 is amended— 

10 (1) by striking subsection (e) and inserting the 

11 following: 

12 ‘‘(e) HEARINGS.—Except as provided in subsection 

13 (g) of this section, the Secretary shall conduct a hearing 

14 as provided by section 553 of title 5 when prescribing a 

15 regulation or issuing an order under this chapter, includ16 ing a regulation or order establishing, amending, or 

17 waiving compliance with a railroad safety regulation pre18 scribed or order issued under this chapter. An opportunity 

19 for an oral presentation shall be provided.’’; and 

20 (2) by adding at the end thereof the following: 

21 ‘‘(g) EMERGENCY WAIVERS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall pre23 scribe procedures concerning the handling of re24 quests for waivers of regulations prescribed or or25 ders issued under this chapter in emergency situaVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:10 Mar 04, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00064 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889

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1 tions and may prescribe temporary emergency waiv2 er procedures without first providing an opportunity 

3 for public comment. The Secretary may grant a 

4 waiver request if the waiver is directly related to the 

5 emergency event or necessary to aid in any recovery 

6 efforts and is in the public interest and consistent 

7 with railroad safety. The relief shall not extend for 

8 a period of more than 9 months, including the pe9 riod of the relief granted under any renewal of the 

10 waiver pursuant to the emergency waiver procedures. 

11 For matters that may impact the missions of the 

12 Department of Homeland Security, the Secretary of 

13 Transportation shall consult and coordinate with the 

14 Secretary of Homeland Security as soon as prac15 ticable. 

16 ‘‘(2) WAIVER BEFORE HEARING.—If, under the 

17 emergency waiver procedures established under 

18 paragraph (1) of this subsection, the Secretary de19 termines the public interest would be better served 

20 by addressing a request for waiver prior to providing 

21 an opportunity for a hearing under section 553 of 

22 title 5 and an oral presentation, the Secretary may 

23 act on the waiver request and, if the request is 

24 granted, the Secretary shall subsequently provide no25 tice and an opportunity for a hearing and oral presVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:10 Mar 04, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00065 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889

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1 entation pursuant to procedures prescribed under 

2 paragraph (1) of this subsection. Should the Sec3 retary receive comment or a request for oral presen4 tation on a waiver request after granting the waiver, 

5 the Secretary may take any necessary action with re6 gard to that waiver (including rescission or modifica7 tion) based on the newly acquired information. 

8 ‘‘(3) EMERGENCY SITUATION; EMERGENCY

9 EVENT.—In this subsection, the terms ‘emergency 

10 situation’ and ‘emergency event’ mean a natural or 

11 manmade disaster, such as a hurricane, flood, earth12 quake, mudslide, forest fire, snowstorm, terrorist 

13 act, biological outbreak, release of a dangerous radi14 ological, chemical, explosive, or biological material, 

15 or a war-related activity, that poses a risk of death, 

16 serious illness, severe injury, or substantial property 

17 damage. The disaster may be local, regional, or na18 tional in scope.’’. 

19 SEC. 307. FEDERAL RAIL SECURITY OFFICERS’ ACCESS TO 

20 INFORMATION. 

21 (a) AMENDMENT.—Chapter 281 is amended by add22 ing at the end thereof the following: 


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1 ‘‘§ 28104. Federal rail security officers’ access to in2 formation 

3 ‘‘(a) ACCESS TO RECORDS OR DATABASE SYSTEMS

4 BY THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE FEDERAL RAILROAD

5 ADMINISTRATION.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the 

7 Federal Railroad Administration is authorized to 

8 have access to a system of documented criminal jus9 tice information maintained by the Department of 

10 Justice or by a State for the purpose of carrying out 

11 the civil and administrative responsibilities of the 

12 Administrator to protect the safety, including secu13 rity, of railroad operations and for other purposes 

14 authorized by law, including the National Crime 

15 Prevention and Privacy Compact (42 U.S.C. 14611– 

16 14616). The Administrator shall be subject to the 

17 same conditions or procedures established by the De18 partment of Justice or State for access to such an 

19 information system by other governmental agencies 

20 with access to the system. 

21 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—The Administrator may not 

22 use the access authorized under paragraph (1) to 

23 conduct criminal investigations. 

24 ‘‘(b) DESIGNATED EMPLOYEES OF THE FEDERAL

25 RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION.—The Administrator shall, 

26 by order, designate each employee of the Administration 


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1 whose primary responsibility is rail security who shall 

2 carry out the authority described in subsection (a). The 

3 Administrator shall strictly limit access to a system of doc4 umented criminal justice information to persons with secu5 rity responsibilities and with appropriate security clear6 ances. Such a designated employee may, insofar as author7 ized or permitted by the National Crime Prevention and 

8 Privacy Compact or other law or agreement governing an 

9 affected State with respect to such a State— 

10 ‘‘(1) have access to and receive criminal history, 

11 driver, vehicle, and other law enforcement informa12 tion contained in the law enforcement databases of 

13 the Department of Justice, or of any jurisdiction in 

14 a State in the same manner as a police officer em15 ployed by a State or local authority of that State 

16 who is certified or commissioned under the laws of 

17 that State; 

18 ‘‘(2) use any radio, data link, or warning sys19 tem of the Federal Government and of any jurisdic20 tion in a State that provides information about 

21 wanted persons, be-on-the-lookout notices, or war22 rant status or other officer safety information to 

23 which a police officer employed by a State or local 

24 authority in that State who is certified or commisVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:10 Mar 04, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00068 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889

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1 sioned under the laws of that State has access and 

2 in the same manner as such police officer; or 

3 ‘‘(3) receive Federal, State, or local government 

4 communications with a police officer employed by a 

5 State or local authority in that State in the same 

6 manner as a police officer employed by a State or 

7 local authority in that State who is commissioned 

8 under the laws of that State. 

9 ‘‘(c) SYSTEM OF DOCUMENTED CRIMINAL JUSTICE

10 INFORMATION DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘sys11 tem of documented criminal justice information’ means 

12 any law enforcement database, systems, or communica13 tions containing information concerning identification, 

14 criminal history, arrests, convictions, arrest warrants, or 

15 wanted or missing persons, including the National Crime 

16 Information Center and its incorporated criminal history 

17 databases and the National Law Enforcement Tele18 communications System.’’. 

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal20 ysis for chapter 281 is amended by adding at the end the 

21 following: 

‘‘28104. Federal rail security officers’ access to criminal history and other law 

enforcement records, systems, and communications.’’. 


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1 SEC. 308. UPDATE OF FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRA2 TION’S WEBSITE. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall update the 

4 Federal Railroad Administration’s public website to better 

5 facilitate the ability of the public, including those individ6 uals who are not regular users of the public website, to 

7 find current information regarding the Federal Railroad 

8 Administration’s activities. 

9 (b) PUBLIC REPORTING OF VIOLATIONS.—On the 

10 Federal Railroad Administration’s public website’s home 

11 page, the Secretary shall provide a mechanism for the pub12 lic to submit written reports of potential violations of Fed13 eral railroad safety and hazardous materials transpor14 tation laws, regulations and orders to the Federal Railroad 

15 Administration. 

16 TITLE IV—RAILROAD SAFETY 

17 ENHANCEMENTS 

18 SEC. 401. EMPLOYEE TRAINING. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 201, as 

20 amended by section 208 of this Act, is further amended 

21 by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘§ 20162. Employee training 

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

24 date of enactment of the Railroad Safety Enhancement 

25 Act of 2007, the Secretary of Transportation shall issue 

26 regulations requiring railroad carriers and railroad carrier 


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1 contractors and subcontractors to develop training plans 

2 for crafts and classes of employees, as the Secretary deter3 mines appropriate. 

4 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS.—The Secretary shall require that 

5 each training plan— 

6 ‘‘(1) clearly identify the class of craft of em7 ployees to which the plan applies; 

8 ‘‘(2) require that employees be trained on the 

9 requirements of relevant Federal railroad safety 

10 laws, regulations, and orders; 

11 ‘‘(3) require employees to be tested or otherwise 

12 demonstrate their proficiency in the subject matter 

13 of the training; and 

14 ‘‘(4) contain any other relevant information 

15 that the Secretary deems appropriate. 

16 ‘‘(c) SUBMISSION FOR APPROVAL.—The Secretary 

17 shall require each railroad carrier, railroad carrier con18 tractor, and railroad carrier subcontractor to submit its 

19 training plan to the Federal Railroad Administration for 

20 review and approval. 

21 ‘‘(d) EXEMPTION.—The Secretary may exempt rail22 road carriers and railroad carrier contractors and sub23 contractors from submitting training plans covering em24 ployees for which the Secretary has issued training regulaVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:10 Mar 04, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00071 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889

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1 tions before the date of enactment of the Railroad Safety 

2 Enhancement Act of 2007.’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal4 ysis for chapter 201, as amended by section 208 of this 

5 Act, is further amended by adding at the end thereof the 

6 following: 

‘‘20162. Employee training.’’. 

7 SEC. 402. CERTIFICATION OF CERTAIN CRAFTS OR CLASS8 ES OF EMPLOYEES. 

9 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

10 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue a report 

11 to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

12 Transportation and the House of Representatives Com13 mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure about wheth14 er the certification of certain crafts or classes of railroad 

15 carrier or railroad carrier contractor or subcontractor em16 ployees is necessary to reduce the number and rate of acci17 dents and incidents or to improve railroad safety. 

18 (b) CRAFTS AND CLASSES TO BE CONSIDERED.—As 

19 part of the report, the Secretary shall consider— 

20 (1) conductors; 

21 (2) carmen; 

22 (3) onboard service workers; 

23 (4) rail welders; and 

24 (5) any other craft or class of employees that 

25 the Secretary determines appropriate. 


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1 (c) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary may issue regula2 tions requiring the certification of certain crafts or classes 

3 of employees that the Secretary determines pursuant to 

4 the report required by subsection (a) are necessary to re5 duce the number and rate of accidents and incidents or 

6 to improve railroad safety 

7 SEC. 403. TRACK INSPECTION TIME STUDY. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 

9 (1) Rail revenue ton miles have increased by 

10 approximately 25 percent in the past 10 years. 

11 (2) Federal track safety regulations require 

12 track inspectors to complete inspections by walking 

13 or in a hi-rail vehicle and are often time intensive. 

14 (3) Track inspectors are required to receive per15 mission to occupy track to complete inspections, 

16 which often delays trains from operating through the 

17 segment of track being inspected, especially on high18 density lines. 

19 (4) Obtaining track time to complete required 

20 track repairs of defects identified during track in21 spections can further delay train operations. 

22 (5) The competition for track time between 

23 track inspectors and trains potentially can leave seri24 ous rail defects undetected and unrepaired, increas25 ing the risk of derailments, accidents and injuries. 


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1 (6) Results of rail and track defect detection 

2 technology studies have shown promise that such 

3 technologies can better identify or predict the most 

4 serious track problems, which could reduce inspec5 tion time or decrease the need for as frequent track 

6 inspections. 

7 (7) Being able to better detect track defects or 

8 predict when track defects will occur by using new 

9 or novel inspection technology could assist railroads 

10 in maximizing track inspection time and more effi11 ciently using track repair time. 

12 (b) STUDY.—Not later that 2 years after the date 

13 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall— 

14 (1) complete a study to determine whether— 

15 (A) the required intervals of track inspec16 tions for each class of track should be amended; 

17 (B) track remedial action requirements 

18 should be amended; 

19 (C) different track inspection and repair 

20 priorities or methods should be required; and 

21 (2) issue recommendations for changes to the 

22 Federal track safety standards in part 213 of title 

23 49, Code of Federal Regulations, based on the re24 sults of the study. 


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1 (c) CONSIDERATIONS.—In conducting the study the 

2 Secretary shall consider— 

3 (1) the most current rail flaw, rail defect 

4 growth, rail fatigue, and other relevant track- or 

5 rail-related research and studies; 

6 (2) the availability and feasibility of developing 

7 and implementing new or novel rail inspection tech8 nology for routine track inspections; 

9 (3) information from National Transportation 

10 Safety Board or Federal Railroad Administration 

11 accident investigations where track defects were the 

12 cause or a contributing cause; and 

13 (4) other relevant information, as determined 

14 by the Secretary. 

15 (d) UPDATE OF REGULATIONS.—Not later than 2 

16 years after the completion of the study required by sub17 section (b), the Secretary shall issue regulations imple18 menting the recommendations of the study. 

19 SEC. 404. STUDY OF METHODS TO IMPROVE OR CORRECT 

20 STATION PLATFORM GAPS. 

21 Not later than 2 years after the enactment of this 

22 Act, the Secretary shall complete a study to determine the 

23 most safe, efficient, and cost-effective way to improve the 

24 safety of rail passenger station platforms gaps in order 

25 to increase compliance with the requirements under the 


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1 Americans with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), 

2 including regulations issued pursuant to section 504 of 

3 such Act (42 U.S.C. 12204) and to minimize the safety 

4 risks associated with such gaps for railroad passengers 

5 and employees. 

6 SEC. 405. USE OF DISTRACTING DEVICES IN LOCOMOTIVE 

7 CABS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after the 

9 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall complete 

10 a study on the prevalence of the use of personal electronic 

11 devices, including cell phones, video games, and other dis12 tracting devices, by safety-related railroad employees (as 

13 defined in section 20102(4) of title 49, United States 

14 Code, during the performance of such employees’ duties. 

15 The study shall consider the safety impact of the use of 

16 such devices. 

17 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after the 

18 completion of the study, the Secretary shall issue a report 

19 on the study to the Senate Committee on Commerce, 

20 Science, and Transportation and the House of Represent21 atives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. 

22 (c) PROHIBITORY AUTHORITY.—Based on the con23 clusions of the study required under (a), the Secretary of 

24 Transportation may prohibit the use of personal electronic 

25 devices, such as cell phones, video games, or other elecVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:10 Mar 04, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00076 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889

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1 tronic devices that may distract employees from safely per2 forming their duties, unless those devices are being used 

3 according to railroad operating rules or for other work 

4 purposes. 

5 SEC. 406. RAILROAD SAFETY TECHNOLOGY GRANTS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 201, as 

7 amended by section 401 of this Act, is further amended 

8 by adding at the end thereof the following: 

9 ‘‘§ 20163. Railroad safety technology grants 

10 ‘‘(a) GRANT PROGRAM.—The Secretary of Transpor11 tation shall establish a grant program for the deployment 

12 of train control technologies, train control component tech13 nologies, processor-based technologies, electronically con14 trolled pneumatic brakes, rail integrity inspection systems, 

15 rail integrity warning systems, switch position indicators, 

16 remote control power switch technologies, track integrity 

17 circuit technologies, and other new or novel railroad safety 

18 technology. 

19 ‘‘(b) GRANT CRITERIA.— 

20 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBILITY.—Grants shall be made under 

21 this section to eligible passenger and freight railroad 

22 carriers, railroad suppliers, and State and local gov23 ernments for projects described in subsection (a) 

24 that have a public benefit of improved safety and 

25 network efficiency. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—Priority shall be given 

2 to projects that— 

3 ‘‘(A) focus on making technologies inter4 operable between railroad systems, such as 

5 train control technologies; 

6 ‘‘(B) provide incentives for train control 

7 technology deployment on high-risk corridors, 

8 such as those that have high volumes of haz9 ardous materials shipments or over which com10 muter or passenger trains operate; or 

11 ‘‘(C) benefit both passenger and freight 

12 safety and efficiency. 

13 ‘‘(3) TECHNOLOGY IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.— 

14 Grants may not be awarded under this section to en15 tities that fail to develop and submit to the Sec16 retary a technology implementation plan as required 

17 by section 20157(d)(2). 

18 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

19 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of 

20 Transportation $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 

21 through 2013 to carry out this section. Amounts appro22 priated pursuant to this section shall remain available 

23 until expended.’’. 

24 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal25 ysis for chapter 201, as amended by section 401 of this 


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1 Act, is further amended by inserting after the item relat2 ing to section 20163 the following: 

‘‘20163. Railroad safety technology grants.’’. 

3 SEC. 407. RAILROAD SAFETY INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVE4 MENT GRANTS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 201, as 

6 amended by section 406 of this Act, is further amended 

7 by adding at the end thereof the following: 

8 ‘‘§ 20164. Railroad safety infrastructure improvement 

9 grants 

10 ‘‘(a) GRANT PROGRAM.—The Secretary of Transpor11 tation shall establish a grant program for safety improve12 ments to railroad infrastructure, including the acquisition, 

13 improvement, or rehabilitation of intermodal or rail equip14 ment or facilities, including track, bridges, tunnels, yards, 

15 buildings, passenger stations, facilities, and maintenance 

16 and repair shops. 

17 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—Grants shall be made under this 

18 section to eligible passenger and freight railroad carriers, 

19 and State and local governments for projects described in 

20 subsection (a). 

21 ‘‘(c) CONSIDERATIONS.—In awarding grants the Sec22 retary shall consider, at a minimum— 

23 ‘‘(1) the age and condition of the rail infra24 structure of the applicant; 


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1 ‘‘(2) the railroad’s safety record, including acci2 dent and incident numbers and rates; 

3 ‘‘(3) the volume of hazardous materials trans4 ported by the railroad; 

5 ‘‘(4) the operation of passenger trains over the 

6 railroad; and 

7 ‘‘(5) whether the railroad has submitted a rail8 road safety risk reduction program, as required by 

9 section 20157. 

10 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

11 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of 

12 Transportation $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 

13 through 2013 to carry out this section. Amounts appro14 priated pursuant to this subsection shall remain available 

15 until expended.’’. 

16 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal17 ysis for chapter 201, as amended by section 406 of this 

18 Act, is amended by inserting after the item relating to sec19 tion 20163 the following: 

‘‘20164. Railroad safety infrastructure improvement grants.’’. 

20 SEC. 408. AMENDMENT TO THE MOVEMENT-FOR-REPAIR 

21 PROVISION. 

22 Section 20303 is amended by adding at the end the 

23 following: 


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1 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS FOR MOVEMENT TO

2 MAKE REPAIRS TO DEFECTIVE OR INSECURE VEHI3 CLES.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transpor5 tation may impose conditions for the movement of a 

6 defective or insecure vehicle to make repairs in addi7 tion to those conditions set forth in subsection (a) 

8 by prescribing regulations or issuing orders as nec9 essary. 

10 ‘‘(2) NECESSITY OF MOVEMENT.—The move11 ment of a defective or insecure vehicle from a loca12 tion may be necessary to make repairs of the vehicle 

13 even though a mobile repair truck capable of making 

14 the repairs has gone to the location on an irregular 

15 basis (as specified in regulations prescribed by the 

16 Secretary). 

17 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

18 ‘‘(1) NEAREST.—the term ‘nearest’ means the 

19 closest in the forward direction of travel for the de20 fective or insecure vehicle. 

21 ‘‘(2) PLACE AT WHICH THE REPAIRS CAN BE

22 MADE.—The term ‘place at which the repairs can be 

23 made’ means— 

24 ‘‘(A) a location with a fixed facility for 

25 conducting the repairs that are necessary to 


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1 bring the defective or insecure vehicle into com2 pliance with this chapter; or 

3 ‘‘(B) a location where a mobile repair 

4 truck capable of making the repairs that are 

5 necessary to bring the defective or insecure ve6 hicle into compliance with this chapter makes 

7 the same kind of repair at the location regularly 

8 (as specified in regulations prescribed by the 

9 Secretary).’’. 

10 SEC. 409. DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF RAIL SAFETY TECH11 NOLOGY. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 201, as 

13 amended by section 407 of this Act, is further amended 

14 by adding at the end the following new section: 

15 ‘‘§ 20165. Development and use of rail safety tech16 nology 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after en18 actment of the Railroad Safety Enhancement Act of 2007, 

19 the Secretary of Transportation shall issue standards, 

20 guidance, regulations, or orders to encourage the develop21 ment, use, and implementation of rail safety technology 

22 in dark territory, in arrangements not defined in section 

23 20501 or otherwise not covered by Federal standards, 

24 guidance, regulations, or orders that ensures its safe oper25 ation, such as— 


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1 ‘‘(1) switch position monitoring devices; 

2 ‘‘(2) radio, remote control or other power-as3 sisted switches; 

4 ‘‘(3) hot box, high water or earthquake detec5 tors; 

6 ‘‘(4) remote control locomotive zone limiting de7 vices; 

8 ‘‘(5) slide fences; 

9 ‘‘(6) grade crossing video monitors; 

10 ‘‘(7) track integrity warning systems; or 

11 ‘‘(8) other similar rail safety technologies, as 

12 determined by the Secretary. 

13 ‘‘(b) DARK TERRITORY DEFINED.—In this section, 

14 the term ‘dark territory’ means any territory in a railroad 

15 system that does not have a signal or train control system 

16 installed or operational.’’. 

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal18 ysis for chapter 201, as amended by section 407 of this 

19 Act, is amended by inserting after the item relating to sec20 tion 20164 the following: 

‘‘20165. Development and use of rail safety technology.’’. 

21 SEC. 410. EMPLOYEE SLEEPING QUARTERS. 

22 Section 21106 is amended— 

23 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before 

24 ‘‘A railroad carrier’’; and 


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1 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub2 section: 

3 ‘‘(b) CAMP CARS.—Effective 12 months after the 

4 date of enactment of the Railroad Safety Enhancement 

5 Act of 2007, a railroad carrier and its officers and agents 

6 may not provide sleeping quarters through the use of camp 

7 cars, as defined in Appendix C to part 228 of title 49, 

8 Code of Federal Regulations, for employees and any indi9 viduals employed to maintain the right of way of a railroad 

10 carrier.’’. 

11 TITLE V—RAIL PASSENGER 

12 DISASTER FAMILY ASSISTANCE 

13 SEC. 501. ASSISTANCE BY NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION 

14 SAFETY BOARD TO FAMILIES OF PAS15 SENGERS INVOLVED IN RAIL PASSENGER AC16 CIDENTS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 11 is amended by adding 

18 at the end of subchapter III the following: 

19 ‘‘§ 1139. Assistance to families of passengers involved 

20 in rail passenger accidents 

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after 

22 being notified of a rail passenger accident within the 

23 United States involving a rail passenger carrier and result24 ing in a major loss of life, the Chairman of the National 

25 Transportation Safety Board shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) designate and publicize the name and 

2 phone number of a director of family support serv3 ices who shall be an employee of the Board and shall 

4 be responsible for acting as a point of contact within 

5 the Federal Government for the families of pas6 sengers involved in the accident and a liaison be7 tween the rail passenger carrier and the families; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(2) designate an independent nonprofit organi10 zation, with experience in disasters and posttrauma 

11 communication with families, which shall have pri12 mary responsibility for coordinating the emotional 

13 care and support of the families of passengers in14 volved in the accident. 

15 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE BOARD.—The Board 

16 shall have primary Federal responsibility for— 

17 ‘‘(1) facilitating the recovery and identification 

18 of fatally injured passengers involved in an accident 

19 described in subsection (a); and 

20 ‘‘(2) communicating with the families of pas21 sengers involved in the accident as to the roles of— 

22 ‘‘(A) the organization designated for an ac23 cident under subsection (a)(2); 

24 ‘‘(B) Government agencies; and 

25 ‘‘(C) the rail passenger carrier involved, 


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1 with respect to the accident and the post-accident 

2 activities. 

3 ‘‘(c) RESPONSIBILITIES OF DESIGNATED ORGANIZA4 TION.—The organization designated for an accident under 

5 subsection (a)(2) shall have the following responsibilities 

6 with respect to the families of passengers involved in the 

7 accident: 

8 ‘‘(1) To provide mental health and counseling 

9 services, in coordination with the disaster response 

10 team of the rail passenger carrier involved. 

11 ‘‘(2) To take such actions as may be necessary 

12 to provide an environment in which the families may 

13 grieve in private. 

14 ‘‘(3) To meet with the families who have trav15 eled to the location of the accident, to contact the 

16 families unable to travel to such location, and to 

17 contact all affected families periodically thereafter 

18 until such time as the organization, in consultation 

19 with the director of family support services des20 ignated for the accident under subsection (a)(1), de21 termines that further assistance is no longer needed. 

22 ‘‘(4) To arrange a suitable memorial service, in 

23 consultation with the families. 

24 ‘‘(d) PASSENGER LISTS.— 

25 ‘‘(1) REQUESTS FOR PASSENGER LISTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) REQUESTS BY DIRECTOR OF FAMILY

2 SUPPORT SERVICES.—It shall be the responsi3 bility of the director of family support services 

4 designated for an accident under subsection 

5 (a)(1) to request, as soon as practicable, from 

6 the rail passenger carrier involved in the acci7 dent a list, which is based on the best available 

8 information at the time of the request, of the 

9 names of the passengers that were aboard the 

10 rail passenger carrier’s train involved in the ac11 cident. A rail passenger carrier shall use rea12 sonable efforts, with respect to its unreserved 

13 trains, and passengers not holding reservations 

14 on its other trains, to ascertain the names of 

15 passengers aboard a train involved in an acci16 dent. 

17 ‘‘(B) REQUESTS BY DESIGNATED ORGANI18 ZATION.—The organization designated for an 

19 accident under subsection (a)(2) may request 

20 from the rail passenger carrier involved in the 

21 accident a list described in subparagraph (A). 

22 ‘‘(2) USE OF INFORMATION.—The director of 

23 family support services and the organization may 

24 not release to any person information on a list ob25 tained under paragraph (1) but may provide inforVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:10 Mar 04, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00087 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889

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1 mation on the list about a passenger to the family 

2 of the passenger to the extent that the director of 

3 family support services or the organization considers 

4 appropriate. 

5 ‘‘(e) CONTINUING RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE

6 BOARD.—In the course of its investigation of an accident 

7 described in subsection (a), the Board shall, to the max8 imum extent practicable, ensure that the families of pas9 sengers involved in the accident— 

10 ‘‘(1) are briefed, prior to any public briefing, 

11 about the accident and any other findings from the 

12 investigation; and 

13 ‘‘(2) are individually informed of and allowed to 

14 attend any public hearings and meetings of the 

15 Board about the accident. 

16 ‘‘(f) USE OF RAIL PASSENGER CARRIER RE17 SOURCES.—To the extent practicable, the organization 

18 designated for an accident under subsection (a)(2) shall 

19 coordinate its activities with the rail passenger carrier in20 volved in the accident to facilitate the reasonable use of 

21 the resources of the carrier. 

22 ‘‘(g) PROHIBITED ACTIONS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) ACTIONS TO IMPEDE THE BOARD.—No 

24 person (including a State or political subdivision) 

25 may impede the ability of the Board (including the 


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1 director of family support services designated for an 

2 accident under subsection (a)(1)), or an organization 

3 designated for an accident under subsection (a)(2), 

4 to carry out its responsibilities under this section or 

5 the ability of the families of passengers involved in 

6 the accident to have contact with one another. 

7 ‘‘(2) UNSOLICITED COMMUNICATIONS.—No un8 solicited communication concerning a potential ac9 tion for personal injury or wrongful death may be 

10 made by an attorney (including any associate, agent, 

11 employee, or other representative of an attorney) or 

12 any potential party to the litigation to an individual 

13 (other than an employee of the rail passenger car14 rier) injured in the accident, or to a relative of an 

15 individual involved in the accident, before the 45th 

16 day following the date of the accident. 

17 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITION ON ACTIONS TO PREVENT

18 MENTAL HEALTH AND COUNSELING SERVICES.—No 

19 State or political subdivision may prevent the em20 ployees, agents, or volunteers of an organization des21 ignated for an accident under subsection (a)(2) from 

22 providing mental health and counseling services 

23 under subsection (c)(1) in the 30-day period begin24 ning on the date of the accident. The director of 

25 family support services designated for the accident 


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1 under subsection (a)(1) may extend such period for 

2 not to exceed an additional 30 days if the director 

3 determines that the extension is necessary to meet 

4 the needs of the families and if State and local au5 thorities are notified of the determination. 

6 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 ‘‘(1) RAIL PASSENGER ACCIDENT.—The term 

8 ‘rail passenger accident’ means any rail passenger 

9 disaster occurring in the provision of— 

10 ‘‘(A) interstate intercity rail passenger 

11 transportation (as such term is defined in sec12 tion 24102); or 

13 ‘‘(B) interstate or intrastate high-speed 

14 rail (as such term is defined in section 26105) 

15 transportation, 

16 regardless of its cause or suspected cause. 

17 ‘‘(2) RAIL PASSENGER CARRIER.—The term 

18 ‘rail passenger carrier’ means a rail carrier pro19 viding— 

20 ‘‘(A) interstate intercity rail passenger 

21 transportation (as such term is defined in sec22 tion 24102); or 

23 ‘‘(B) interstate or intrastate high-speed 

24 rail (as such term is defined in section 26105) 

25 transportation, 


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1 except that such term does not include a tourist, his2 toric, scenic, or excursion rail carrier. 

3 ‘‘(3) PASSENGER.—The term ‘passenger’ in4 cludes— 

5 ‘‘(A) an employee of a rail passenger car6 rier aboard a train; 

7 ‘‘(B) any other person aboard the train 

8 without regard to whether the person paid for 

9 the transportation, occupied a seat, or held a 

10 reservation for the rail transportation; and 

11 ‘‘(C) any other person injured or killed in 

12 the accident. 

13 ‘‘(i) LIMITATION ON STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.— 

14 Nothing in this section may be construed as limiting the 

15 actions that a rail passenger carrier may take, or the obli16 gations that a rail passenger carrier may have, in pro17 viding assistance to the families of passengers involved in 

18 a rail passenger accident. 

19 ‘‘(j) RELINQUISHMENT OF INVESTIGATIVE PRI20 ORITY.— 

21 ‘‘(1) GENERAL RULE.—This section (other than 

22 subsection (g)) shall not apply to a railroad accident 

23 if the Board has relinquished investigative priority 

24 under section 1131(a)(2)(B) and the Federal agency 

25 to which the Board relinquished investigative priVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:10 Mar 04, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00091 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889

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1 ority is willing and able to provide assistance to the 

2 victims and families of the passengers involved in 

3 the accident. 

4 ‘‘(2) BOARD ASSISTANCE.—If this section does 

5 not apply to a railroad accident because the Board 

6 has relinquished investigative priority with respect to 

7 the accident, the Board shall assist, to the maximum 

8 extent possible, the agency to which the Board has 

9 relinquished investigative priority in assisting fami10 lies with respect to the accident.’’. 

11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec12 tions for such chapter is amended by inserting after the 

13 item relating to section 1138 the following: 

‘‘1139. Assistance to families of passengers involved in rail passenger accidents.’’. 

14 SEC. 502. RAIL PASSENGER CARRIER PLAN TO ASSIST FAM15 ILIES OF PASSENGERS INVOLVED IN RAIL 

16 PASSENGER ACCIDENTS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 243 is amended by add18 ing at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘§ 24316. Plans to address needs of families of pas20 sengers involved in rail passenger acci21 dents 

22 ‘‘(a) SUBMISSION OF PLAN.—Not later than 6 

23 months after the date of the enactment of the Railroad 

24 Safety Enhancement Act of 2007, a rail passenger carrier 


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1 shall submit to the Chairman of the National Transpor2 tation Safety Board, the Secretary of Transportation, and 

3 the Secretary of Homeland Security a plan for addressing 

4 the needs of the families of passengers involved in any rail 

5 passenger accident involving a rail passenger carrier inter6 city train and resulting in a loss of life. 

7 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS OF PLANS.—The plan to be sub8 mitted by a rail passenger carrier under subsection (a) 

9 shall include, at a minimum, the following: 

10 ‘‘(1) A process by which a rail passenger carrier 

11 will maintain and provide to the National Transpor12 tation Safety Board, the Secretary of Transpor13 tation, and the Secretary of Homeland Security, im14 mediately upon request, a list (which is based on the 

15 best available information at the time of the request) 

16 of the names of the passengers aboard the train 

17 (whether or not such names have been verified), and 

18 will periodically update the list. The plan shall in19 clude a procedure, with respect to unreserved trains 

20 and passengers not holding reservations on other 

21 trains, for a rail passenger carrier to use reasonable 

22 efforts to ascertain the number and names of pas23 sengers aboard a train involved in an accident. 

24 ‘‘(2) A plan for creating and publicizing a reli25 able, toll-free telephone number within 4 hours after 


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1 such an accident occurs, and for providing staff, to 

2 handle calls from the families of the passengers. 

3 ‘‘(3) A process for notifying the families of the 

4 passengers, before providing any public notice of the 

5 names of the passengers, by suitably trained individ6 uals. 

7 ‘‘(4) A process for providing the notice de8 scribed in paragraph (2) to the family of a pas9 senger as soon as a rail passenger carrier has 

10 verified that the passenger was aboard the train 

11 (whether or not the names of all of the passengers 

12 have been verified). 

13 ‘‘(5) A process by which the family of each pas14 senger will be consulted about the disposition of all 

15 remains and personal effects of the passenger within 

16 a rail passenger carrier’s control; that any posses17 sion of the passenger within a rail passenger car18 rier’s control will be returned to the family unless 

19 the possession is needed for the accident investiga20 tion or any criminal investigation; and that any un21 claimed possession of a passenger within a rail pas22 senger carrier’s control will be retained by the rail 

23 passenger carrier for at least 18 months. 

24 ‘‘(6) A process by which the treatment of the 

25 families of nonrevenue passengers will be the same 


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1 as the treatment of the families of revenue pas2 sengers. 

3 ‘‘(7) An assurance that a rail passenger carrier 

4 will provide adequate training to its employees and 

5 agents to meet the needs of survivors and family 

6 members following an accident. 

7 ‘‘(c) USE OF INFORMATION.—Neither the National 

8 Transportation Safety Board, the Secretary of Transpor9 tation, the Secretary of Homeland Security, nor a rail pas10 senger carrier may release any personal information on 

11 a list obtained under subsection (b)(1) but may provide 

12 information on the list about a passenger to the family 

13 of the passenger to the extent that the Board or a rail 

14 passenger carrier considers appropriate. 

15 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON LIABILITY.—A rail passenger 

16 carrier shall not be liable for damages in any action 

17 brought in a Federal or State court arising out of the per18 formance of a rail passenger carrier under this section in 

19 preparing or providing a passenger list, or in providing 

20 information concerning a train reservation, pursuant to a 

21 plan submitted by a rail passenger carrier under sub22 section (b), unless such liability was caused by a rail pas23 senger carrier’s conduct. 

24 ‘‘(e) LIMITATION ON STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.— 

25 Nothing in this section may be construed as limiting the 


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1 actions that a rail passenger carrier may take, or the obli2 gations that a rail passenger carrier may have, in pro3 viding assistance to the families of passengers involved in 

4 a rail passenger accident. 

5 ‘‘(f) FUNDING.—Out of funds appropriated pursuant 

6 to section 20117(a)(1)(A), there shall be made available 

7 to the Secretary of Transportation $500,000 for fiscal 

8 year 2008 to carry out this section. Amounts made avail9 able pursuant to this subsection shall remain available 

10 until expended.’’. 

11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal12 ysis for chapter 243 is amended by adding at the end the 

13 following: 

‘‘24316. Plan to assist families of passengers involved in rail passenger accidents.’’. 

14 SEC. 503. ESTABLISHMENT OF TASK FORCE. 

15 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, in cooperation 

16 with the National Transportation Safety Board, organiza17 tions potentially designated under section 1139(a)(2) of 

18 title 49, United States Code, rail passenger carriers, and 

19 families which have been involved in rail accidents, shall 

20 establish a task force consisting of representatives of such 

21 entities and families, representatives of passenger rail car22 rier employees, and representatives of such other entities 

23 as the Secretary considers appropriate. 


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1 (b) MODEL PLAN AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—The 

2 task force established pursuant to subsection (a) shall de3 velop— 

4 (1) a model plan to assist passenger rail car5 riers in responding to passenger rail accidents; 

6 (2) recommendations on methods to improve 

7 the timeliness of the notification provided by pas8 senger rail carriers to the families of passengers in9 volved in a passenger rail accident; 

10 (3) recommendations on methods to ensure that 

11 the families of passengers involved in a passenger 

12 rail accident who are not citizens of the United 

13 States receive appropriate assistance; and 

14 (4) recommendations on methods to ensure that 

15 emergency services personnel have as immediate and 

16 accurate a count of the number of passengers on17 board the train as possible. 

18 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

19 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall transmit 

20 to Congress a report containing the model plan and rec21 ommendations developed by the task force under sub22 section (b). 


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1 TITLE VI—CLARIFICATION OF 

2 FEDERAL JURISDICTION 

3 OVER SOLID WASTE FACILI4 TIES 

5 SEC. 601. CLARIFICATION OF FEDERAL JURISDICTION 

6 OVER SOLID WASTE FACILITIES. 

7 Section 10501 is amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘facilities,’’ in subsection (b)(2) 

9 and inserting ‘‘facilities (except solid waste manage10 ment facilities (as defined in section 1004 of the 

11 Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6903))),’’; and 

12 (2) by striking ‘‘over mass transportation pro13 vided by a local governmental authority.’’ in sub14 section (c)(2) and inserting ‘‘over— 

15 ‘‘(A) mass transportation provided by a local 

16 governmental authority; or 

17 ‘‘(B) the processing or sorting of solid waste.’’. 

18 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS; AMEND19 MENT OF TITLE 49. 

20 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

21 ‘‘Railroad Safety Enhancement Act of 2007’’. 

22 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

23 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents; amendment of title 49. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

Sec. 3. Authorization of appropriations. 


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TITLE I—RAILROAD RISK REDUCTION AND STRATEGY 

Sec. 101. Establishment of chief safety officer. 

Sec. 102. Railroad safety strategy. 

Sec. 103. Railroad safety risk reduction pilot program. 

Sec. 104. Railroad safety risk reduction program. 

Sec. 105. Positive train control system implementation.

Sec. 106. Hours-of-service reform. 

Sec. 107. Protection of railroad safety risk analyses information. 

TITLE II—HIGHWAY-RAIL GRADE CROSSING AND PEDESTRIAN 

SAFETY AND TRESPASSER PREVENTION 

Sec. 201. Pedestrian crossing safety. 

Sec. 202. State action plans. 

Sec. 203. Improvements to sight distance at highway-rail grade crossings. 

Sec. 204. National crossing inventory. 

Sec. 205. Telephone number to report grade crossing problems. 

Sec. 206. Operation Lifesaver. 

Sec. 207. Trespasser prevention and highway-rail crossing safety. 

Sec. 208. Fostering introduction of new technology to improve safety at highwayrail grade crossings. 

TITLE III—FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION 

Sec. 301. Human capital increases. 

Sec. 302. Civil penalty increases. 

Sec. 303. Enforcement report. 

Sec. 304. Prohibition of individuals from performing safety-sensitive functions for 

a violation of hazardous materials transportation law. 

Sec. 305. Railroad radio monitoring authority. 

Sec. 306. Emergency waivers. 

Sec. 307. Federal rail security officers’ access to information. 

Sec. 308. Update of Federal Railroad Administration’s website. 

TITLE IV—RAILROAD SAFETY ENHANCEMENTS 

Sec. 401. Employee training. 

Sec. 402. Certification of certain crafts or classes of employees. 

Sec. 403. Track inspection time study. 

Sec. 404. Study of methods to improve or correct station platform gaps. 

Sec. 405. Locomotive cab studies. 

Sec. 406. Railroad safety technology grants. 

Sec. 407. Railroad safety infrastructure improvement grants. 

Sec. 408. Amendment to the movement-for-repair provision. 

Sec. 409. Development and use of rail safety technology.

Sec. 410. Employee sleeping quarters. 

Sec. 411. Employee protections. 

Sec. 412. Unified treatment of families of railroad carriers. 

Sec. 413. Study of repeal of Conrail provision. 

Sec. 414. Limitations on non-federal alcohol and drug testing by railroad carriers. 

Sec. 415. Critical incident stress plan. 


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TITLE V—RAIL PASSENGER DISASTER FAMILY ASSISTANCE 

Sec. 501. Assistance by National Transportation Safety Board to families of passengers involved in rail passenger accidents. 

Sec. 502. Rail passenger carrier plan to assist families of passengers involved in 

rail passenger accidents. 

Sec. 503. Establishment of task force. 

TITLE VI—CLARIFICATION OF FEDERAL JURISDICTION OVER SOLID 

WASTE FACILITIES 

Sec. 601. Short title. 

Sec. 602. Regulation of solid waste transfer facilities. 

Sec. 603. Conforming amendment to title 49. 

1 (c) AMENDMENT OF TITLE 49.—Except as otherwise 

2 expressly provided, whenever in this Act an amendment or 

3 repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or a repeal 

4 of, a section or other provision, the reference shall be consid5 ered to be made to a section or other provision of title 49, 

6 United States Code. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—In this Act: 

9 (1) CROSSING.—The term ‘‘crossing’’ means a lo10 cation within a State, other than a location where 

11 one or more railroad tracks cross one or more rail12 road tracks at grade where— 

13 (A) a public highway, road, or street, or a 

14 private roadway, including associated sidewalks 

15 and pathways, crosses one or more railroad 

16 tracks either at grade or grade-separated; or 

17 (B) a pathway explicitly authorized by a 

18 public authority or a railroad that is dedicated 

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1 destrians, bicyclists, and others, that is not asso2 ciated with a public highway, road, or street, or 

3 a private roadway, crosses one or more railroad 

4 tracks either at grade or grade-separated. 

5 (2) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

6 means the Department of Transportation. 

7 (3) RAILROAD.—The term ‘‘railroad’’ has the 

8 meaning given that term by section 20102 of title 49, 

9 United States Code. 

10 (4) RAILROAD CARRIER.—The term ‘‘railroad 

11 carrier’’ has the meaning given that term by section 

12 20102 of title 49, United States Code. 

13 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

14 the Secretary of Transportation. 

15 (6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means a State of 

16 the United States, the District of Columbia, or the 

17 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 

18 (b) IN TITLE 49.—Section 20102 is amended— 

19 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 

20 paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively; 

21 (2) by inserting before paragraph (2), as redesig22 nated, the following: 

23 ‘‘(1) ‘Class I railroad’ means a railroad carrier 

24 that has annual carrier operating revenues that meet 

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1 mined by the Surface Transportation Board under 

2 section 1201.1–1 of title 49, Code of Federal Regula3 tions.’’; and 

4 (3) by adding at the end thereof the following: 

5 ‘‘(4) ‘safety-related railroad employee’ means— 

6 ‘‘(A) a railroad employee who is subject to 

7 chapter 211; 

8 ‘‘(B) another operating railroad employee 

9 who is not subject to chapter 211; 

10 ‘‘(C) an employee who maintains the right 

11 of way of a railroad carrier; 

12 ‘‘(D) an employee of a railroad carrier who 

13 is a hazmat employee as defined in section 

14 5102(3) of this title; 

15 ‘‘(E) an employee who inspects, repairs, or 

16 maintains locomotives, passenger cars or freight 

17 cars; and 

18 ‘‘(F) any other employee of a railroad who 

19 directly affects railroad safety, as determined by 

20 the Secretary.’’. 

21 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

22 Section 20117(a) is amended to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

24 ‘‘(1) There are authorized to be appropriated to 

25 the Secretary of Transportation to carry out this part 


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1 and to carry out responsibilities under chapter 51 as 

2 delegated or authorized by the Secretary— 

3 ‘‘(A) $245,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; 

4 ‘‘(B) $260,000,000 for fiscal year 2009; 

5 ‘‘(C) $270,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; 

6 ‘‘(D) $280,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; 

7 ‘‘(E) $290,000,000 for fiscal year 2012; and 

8 ‘‘(F) $300,000,000 for fiscal year 2013. 

9 ‘‘(2) With amounts appropriated pursuant to 

10 paragraph (1), the Secretary may designate the fol11 lowing amounts for research and development: 

12 ‘‘(A) $40,000,000. 

13 ‘‘(B) $42,000,000. 

14 ‘‘(C) $44,000,000. 

15 ‘‘(D) $46,000,000. 

16 ‘‘(E) $48,000,000. 

17 ‘‘(F) $51,000,000. 

18 ‘‘(3) With amounts appropriated pursuant to 

19 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall purchase Gage Re20 straint Measurement System vehicles and track geom21 etry vehicles or other comparable technology as needed 

22 to assess track safety, consistent with the results of the 

23 track inspection study required by section 403 of the 

24 Railroad Safety Enhancement Act of 2007. 


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1 ‘‘(4) There are authorized to be appropriated to 

2 the Secretary $18,000,000 for the period encom3 passing fiscal years 2008 through 2011 to design, de4 velop, and construct the Facility for Underground 

5 Rail Station and Tunnel Testing and Training at the 

6 Transportation Technology Center, Inc., in Pueblo, 

7 Colorado. The facility shall be used to test and evalu8 ate the safety and security vulnerabilities of above9 ground and underground rail tunnels to prevent acci10 dents and incidents in such tunnels, to mitigate and 

11 remediate the consequences of any such accidents or 

12 incidents, and to provide a realistic scenario for 

13 training emergency responders. 

14 ‘‘(5) Such sums as may be necessary from the 

15 amount appropriated pursuant to paragraph (1) for 

16 each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2013 shall be 

17 made available to the Secretary for personnel in re18 gional offices and in Washington, DC, whose duties 

19 primarily involve rail security.’’. 

20 TITLE I—RAILROAD SAFETY RISK 

21 REDUCTION AND STRATEGY 

22 SEC. 101. ESTABLISHMENT OF CHIEF SAFETY OFFICER. 

23 Section 103 is amended— 

24 (1) by redesignating subsections (c), (d), and (e) 

25 as subsections (e), (f), and (g); 


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1 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(c) SAFETY AS HIGHEST PRIORITY.—In carrying out 

4 its duties, the Administration shall consider safety as the 

5 highest priority, recognizing the clear intent, encourage6 ment, and dedication of Congress to the furtherance of the 

7 highest degree of safety in railroad transportation. 

8 ‘‘(d) CHIEF SAFETY OFFICER.—The Administration 

9 shall have an Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety 

10 appointed in the career service by the Secretary. The Asso11 ciate Administrator shall be the Chief Safety Officer of the 

12 Administration. The Associate Administrator shall carry 

13 out the duties and powers prescribed by the Adminis14 trator.’’; and 

15 (3) by striking ‘‘(c)(1)’’ in subsection (f), as re16 designated, and inserting ‘‘(e)(1)’’. 

17 SEC. 102. RAILROAD SAFETY STRATEGY. 

18 (a) SAFETY GOALS.—In conjunction with existing fed19 erally-required and voluntary strategic planning efforts on20 going at the Department and the Federal Railroad Admin21 istration on the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

22 shall develop a long-term strategy for improving railroad 

23 safety to cover a period of not less than 5 years. The strat24 egy shall include an annual plan and schedule for achiev25 ing, at a minimum, the following goals: 


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1 (1) Reducing the number and rates of accidents, 

2 injuries, and fatalities involving railroads including 

3 train collisions and derailments and human factors. 

4 (2) Improving the consistency and effectiveness of 

5 enforcement and compliance programs. 

6 (3) Improving the identification of high-risk 

7 highway-rail grade crossings and strengthening en8 forcement and other methods to increase grade cross9 ing safety. 

10 (4) Improving research efforts to enhance and 

11 promote railroad safety and performance. 

12 (5) Preventing railroad trespasser accidents, in13 juries, and fatalities. 

14 (6) Improving the safety of railroad bridges, tun15 nels, and related infrastructure to prevent accidents, 

16 injuries, and fatalities caused by catastrophic failures 

17 and other bridge and tunnel failures. 

18 (b) RESOURCE NEEDS.—The strategy and annual 

19 plan shall include estimates of the funds and staff resources 

20 needed to accomplish the goals established by subsection (a). 

21 Such estimates shall also include the staff skills and train22 ing required for timely and effective accomplishment of each 

23 such goal. 

24 (c) SUBMISSION WITH THE PRESIDENT’S BUDGET.— 

25 The Secretary shall submit the strategy and annual plan 


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1 to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans2 portation and the House of Representatives Committee on 

3 Transportation and Infrastructure at the same time as the 

4 President’s budget submission. 

5 (d) ACHIEVEMENT OF GOALS.— 

6 (1) PROGRESS ASSESSMENT.—No less frequently 

7 than annually, the Secretary shall assess the progress 

8 of the Department toward achieving the strategic 

9 goals described in subsection (a). The Secretary shall 

10 identify any deficiencies in achieving the goals within 

11 the strategy and develop and institute measures to re12 mediate such deficiencies. 

13 (2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than No14 vember 1st of each year, the Secretary shall transmit 

15 a report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, 

16 Science, and Transportation and the House of Rep17 resentatives Committee on Transportation and Infra18 structure on the performance of the Federal Railroad 

19 Administration containing the progress assessment re20 quired by paragraph (1) toward achieving the goals 

21 of the railroad safety strategy and annual plans 

22 under subsection (a). 


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1 SEC. 103. RAILROAD SAFETY RISK REDUCTION PILOT PRO2 GRAM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 201 is 

4 amended by adding at the end thereof the following: 

5 ‘‘§ 20156. Railroad safety risk reduction pilot program 

6 ‘‘(a) PILOT PROGRAM.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In conjunction with ongoing 

8 behavior-based safety research at the Department of 

9 Transportation, the Secretary shall develop a 4-year 

10 railroad safety risk reduction pilot program to sys11 tematically evaluate and manage railroad safety risks 

12 with the goal of reducing the numbers and rates of 

13 railroad accidents, injuries, and fatalities. Not later 

14 than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Rail15 road Safety Enhancement Act of 2007, the Secretary 

16 shall, in coordination with selected railroads, railroad 

17 facilities, nonprofit employee labor organizations that 

18 represent safety-related railroad employees employed 

19 at such railroad or railroad facility, and any other 

20 entities that the Secretary determines to be relevant, 

21 at a minimum— 

22 ‘‘(A) identify the aspects of a selected rail23 road or railroad facility, including operating 

24 practices, infrastructure, equipment, employee 

25 levels and schedules, safety culture, management 

26 structure, employee training, and other matters, 


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1 including those not covered by railroad safety 

2 regulations or other Federal regulations, that im3 pact railroad safety; 

4 ‘‘(B) evaluate how these aspects of a selected 

5 railroad or railroad facility increase or decrease 

6 risks to railroad safety; 

7 ‘‘(C) develop a safety risk reduction pro8 gram to improve the safety of a selected railroad 

9 or railroad facility by reducing the numbers and 

10 rates of accidents, injuries, and fatalities 

11 through— 

12 ‘‘(i) the mitigation of the aspects of a 

13 selected railroad or railroad facility that in14 crease risks to railroad safety; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) the enhancement of aspects of a 

16 selected railroad or railroad facility that de17 crease risks to railroad safety; and 

18 ‘‘(D) incorporate into the program the con19 sideration and use of existing, new, or novel 

20 technology, operating practices, risk management 

21 practices or other behavior-based practices that 

22 could improve railroad safety at the selected rail23 road or railroad facility. 

24 ‘‘(2) IMPLEMENTATION DEADLINE.—Not later 

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1 road Safety Enhancement Act of 2007, the selected 

2 railroad or railroad facility shall implement the safe3 ty risk reduction program developed under paragraph 

4 (1)(C) on the selected railroad or railroad facility and 

5 ensure that all employees at the selected railroad or 

6 railroad facility have received training related to the 

7 program. 

8 ‘‘(b) SELECTION OF RAILROAD OR RAILROAD FACILITY

9 FOR PILOT PROGRAM.—Not later than 6 months after the 

10 date of enactment of the Railroad Safety Enhancement Act 

11 of 2007, the Secretary shall develop a voluntary application 

12 process to select 1 or more railroad or railroad facilities 

13 where the pilot project will be implemented. The application 

14 process shall include criteria for rating applicants, such as 

15 safety performance, accident and incident history, existence 

16 of risk management or behavior-based practices at the rail17 road or railroad facility, number of employees employed at 

18 the railroad or railroad facility, and other relevant criteria 

19 determined by the Secretary. If more than 1 railroad or 

20 railroad facility is selected, the Secretary shall select rail21 roads and railroad facilities that are representative of the 

22 railroad industry as a whole, if possible. 

23 ‘‘(c) EVALUATION.—Not later than 6 months after the 

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1 gram, the Secretary shall submit a report to Congress evalu2 ating the pilot program, which shall include— 

3 ‘‘(1) a summary of the railroad safety risk re4 duction pilot program and description of the actions 

5 taken by the Secretary and selected railroad or rail6 road facilities during the program; 

7 ‘‘(2) an analysis of the difference in the number 

8 and rates of accidents, injuries, and fatalities at a se9 lected railroad or railroad facility before and after the 

10 implementation of the risk reduction pilot program at 

11 a selected railroad or railroad facility; and 

12 ‘‘(3) guidelines on the preparation and imple13 mentation of railroad safety risk reduction program 

14 for the railroad carriers required to develop such 

15 plans under section 20157 that reflect that best prac16 tices developed during the pilot program. 

17 ‘‘(d) GRANTS.—The Secretary shall establish a grant 

18 program for implementation of the railroad safety risk re19 duction pilot program. Railroads and railroad facilities se20 lected by the Secretary shall be eligible for grants. 

21 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are 

22 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Transpor23 tation $1,000,000 for fiscal years 2009 and 2010 to carry 

24 out this section.’’. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter analysis 

2 for chapter 201 is amended by inserting after the item relat3 ing to section 20155 the following: 

‘‘20156. Railroad safety risk reduction pilot program.’’. 

4 SEC. 104. RAILROAD SAFETY RISK REDUCTION PROGRAM. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 201, as 

6 amended by section 103, is amended by adding at end there7 of the following: 

8 ‘‘§ 20157. Railroad safety risk reduction program 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

10 ‘‘(1) PROGRAM REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 5 

11 years after the date of enactment, the Secretary, by 

12 regulation, shall require each railroad carrier that is 

13 a Class I railroad, a railroad carrier that has inad14 equate safety performance (as determined by the Sec15 retary), or a railroad that provides intercity pas16 senger or commuter rail passenger transportation— 

17 ‘‘(A) to develop a railroad safety risk reduc18 tion program under subsection (d) that system19 atically evaluates system-wide railroad safety 

20 risks and manages those risks in order to reduce 

21 the numbers and rates of railroad accidents, in22 juries, and fatalities; 

23 ‘‘(B) to submit its program, including any 

24 required plans, to the Federal Railroad Adminis25 tration for its review and approval; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) to implement the program and plans 

2 approved by the Federal Railroad Administra3 tion. 

4 ‘‘(2) RELIANCE ON PILOT PROGRAM.—The Sec5 retary shall use the information and experience gath6 ered through the pilot program under section 20156 

7 in developing regulations under this section. 

8 ‘‘(3) WAIVERS.—The Secretary may grant a 

9 waiver under section 20103(d) to a railroad carrier 

10 from compliance with all or a part of the require11 ments of this section if the Secretary determines that 

12 the safety performance of the railroad carrier is suffi13 cient to warrant the waiver. 

14 ‘‘(4) VOLUNTARY COMPLIANCE.—A railroad car15 rier that is not required to submit a railroad safety 

16 risk reduction program under this section may volun17 tarily submit a program that meets the requirements 

18 of this section to the Federal Railroad Administra19 tion. The Federal Railroad Administration shall ap20 prove or disapprove any program submitted under 

21 this paragraph. 

22 ‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION.—The chief official responsible for 

23 safety of each railroad carrier required to submit a railroad 

24 safety risk reduction program under subsection (a) shall 

25 certify that the contents of the program are accurate and 


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1 that the railroad will implement the contents of the pro2 gram as approved by the Federal Railroad Administration. 

3 ‘‘(c) RISK ANALYSIS.—In developing its railroad safe4 ty risk reduction program each railroad required to submit 

5 such a program under subsection (a) shall identify and 

6 analyze the aspects of its railroad, including operating 

7 practices, infrastructure, equipment, employee levels and 

8 schedules, safety culture, management structure, employee 

9 training, and other matters, including those not covered by 

10 railroad safety regulations or other Federal regulations, 

11 that impact railroad safety. 

12 ‘‘(d) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each railroad required to 

14 submit a railroad safety risk reduction program 

15 under subsection (a) shall develop a comprehensive 

16 safety risk reduction program to improve safety by re17 ducing the number and rates of accidents, injuries, 

18 and fatalities that is based on the risk analysis re19 quired by subsection (c) through— 

20 ‘‘(A) the mitigation of aspects that increase 

21 risks to railroad safety; and 

22 ‘‘(B) the enhancement of aspects that de23 crease risks to railroad safety. 

24 ‘‘(2) REQUIRED COMPONENTS.—Each railroad’s 

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1 nology implementation plan that meets the require2 ments of subsection (e) and a fatigue management 

3 plan that meets the requirements of subsection (f). 

4 ‘‘(e) TECHNOLOGY IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As part of its railroad safety 

6 risk reduction program, a railroad required to submit 

7 a railroad safety risk reduction program under sub8 section (a) shall develop a 10-year technology imple9 mentation plan that describes the railroad’s plan for 

10 development, adoption, implementation, and use of 

11 current, new, or novel technologies on its system over 

12 a 10-year period to reduce safety risks identified 

13 under the railroad safety risk reduction program. 

14 ‘‘(2) TECHNOLOGY ANALYSIS.—A railroad’s tech15 nology implementation plan shall include an analysis 

16 of the safety impact, feasibility, and cost and benefits 

17 of implementing technologies, including processor18 based technologies, positive train control systems (as 

19 defined in section 20158(b)), electronically controlled 

20 pneumatic brakes, rail integrity inspection systems, 

21 rail integrity warning systems, switch position indi22 cators, trespasser prevention technology, highway rail 

23 grade crossing technology, and other new or novel 

24 railroad safety technology, as appropriate, that may 


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1 mitigate risks to railroad safety identified in the risk 

2 analysis required by subsection (c). 

3 ‘‘(3) IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE.—A railroad’s 

4 technology implementation plan shall contain a 

5 prioritized implementation schedule for the develop6 ment, adoption, implementation, and use of current, 

7 new, or novel technologies on its system to reduce 

8 safety risks identified under the railroad safety risk 

9 reduction program. 

10 ‘‘(f) FATIGUE MANAGEMENT PLAN.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As part of its railroad safety 

12 risk reduction program, a railroad required to submit 

13 a railroad safety risk reduction program under sub14 section (a) for which the analysis under subsection (c) 

15 has shown fatigue to be a significant source of risk 

16 shall develop a fatigue management plan that is de17 signed to reduce the fatigue experienced by safety-re18 lated railroad employees and to reduce the likelihood 

19 of accidents, injuries, and fatalities caused by fatigue. 

20 ‘‘(2) TARGETED FATIGUE COUNTERMEASURES.— 

21 A railroad’s fatigue management plan shall take into 

22 account the varying circumstances of operations by 

23 the railroad on different parts of its system, and shall 

24 prescribe appropriate fatigue countermeasures to ad25 dress those varying circumstances. 


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1 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL ELEMENTS.—A railroad shall 

2 consider the need to include in its fatigue manage3 ment plan elements addressing each of the following 

4 items, as applicable: 

5 ‘‘(A) Employee education and training on 

6 the physiological and human factors that affect 

7 fatigue, as well as strategies to reduce or miti8 gate the effects of fatigue, based on the most cur9 rent scientific and medical research and lit10 erature. 

11 ‘‘(B) Opportunities for identification, diag12 nosis, and treatment of any medical condition 

13 that may affect alertness or fatigue, including 

14 sleep disorders. 

15 ‘‘(C) Effects on employee fatigue of an em16 ployee’s short-term or sustained response to 

17 emergency situations, such as derailments and 

18 natural disasters, or engagement in other inten19 sive working conditions. 

20 ‘‘(D) Scheduling practices for employees, in21 cluding innovative scheduling practices for em22 ployees, including scheduling procedures, on-duty 

23 call practices, work and rest cycles, increases in 

24 consecutive days off for employees, changes in 

25 shift patterns, appropriate scheduling practices 


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1 for varying types of work, and other aspects of 

2 employee scheduling that would reduce employee 

3 fatigue and cumulative sleep loss. 

4 ‘‘(E) Methods to minimize accidents and 

5 incidences that occur as a result of working at 

6 times when scientific and medical research have 

7 shown increased fatigue disrupts employees’ cir8 cadian rhythm. 

9 ‘‘(F) Alertness strategies, such as policies on 

10 napping, to address acute sleepiness and fatigue 

11 while an employee is on duty. 

12 ‘‘(G) Opportunities to obtain restful sleep at 

13 lodging facilities, including employee sleeping 

14 quarters provided by the railroad carrier. 

15 ‘‘(H) The increase of the number of consecu16 tive hours of off-duty rest, during which an em17 ployee receives no communication from the em18 ploying railroad carrier or its managers, super19 visors, officers, or agents. 

20 ‘‘(I) Avoidance of abrupt changes in rest cy21 cles for employees. 

22 ‘‘(J) Additional elements that the Secretary 

23 considers appropriate. 

24 ‘‘(g) CONSENSUS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each railroad required to 

2 submit a railroad safety risk reduction program 

3 under subsection (a) shall consult with, employ good 

4 faith and use its best efforts to reach agreement with, 

5 all of its directly affected employees, including any 

6 non-profit labor organization representing a class or 

7 craft of directly affected employees of the railroad car8 rier, on the contents of the safety risk reduction pro9 gram. 

10 ‘‘(2) STATEMENT.—If the railroad carrier and 

11 its directly affected employees, including any non12 profit employee labor organization representing a 

13 class or craft of directly affected employees of the rail14 road carrier, cannot reach consensus on the proposed 

15 contents of the plan, then directly affected employees 

16 and such organization may file a statement with the 

17 Secretary explaining their views on the plan on 

18 which consensus was not reached. The Secretary shall 

19 consider such views during review and approval of 

20 the program. 

21 ‘‘(h) ENFORCEMENT.—The Secretary shall have the 

22 authority to assess civil penalties pursuant to chapter 213 

23 for a violation of this section, including the failure to sub24 mit, certify, or comply with a safety risk reduction proVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:10 Mar 04, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00119 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889

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1 gram, technology implementation plan, or fatigue manage2 ment plan.’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter analysis 

4 for chapter 201, as amended by section 103, is further 

5 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

6 20156 the following: 

‘‘20157. Railroad safety risk reduction program.’’. 

7 SEC. 105. POSITIVE TRAIN CONTROL SYSTEM IMPLEMENTA8 TION. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 201, as 

10 amended by section 104, is further amended by adding at 

11 end thereof the following: 

12 ‘‘§ 20158. Positive train control system implementation 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation 

14 shall ensure that each railroad required to submit a rail15 road safety risk reduction program pursuant to section 

16 20157 that includes in its technology implementation plan 

17 a schedule for implementation of a positive train control 

18 system complies with that schedule and implements its posi19 tive train control system by December 31, 2018, unless the 

20 Secretary determines that a railroad shall implement its 

21 positive train control system by an earlier date. 

22 ‘‘(b) POSITIVE TRAIN CONTROL SYSTEM DEFINED.— 

23 The term ‘positive train control system’ means a system de24 signed to prevent train-to-train collisions, overspeed 


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1 derailments, and incursions into roadway worker work lim2 its.’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter analysis 

4 for chapter 201, as amended by section 104, is further 

5 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

6 20157 the following: 

‘‘20158. Positive train control system implementation.’’. 

7 SEC. 106. HOURS-OF-SERVICE REFORM. 

8 (a) CHANGE IN DEFINITION OF SIGNAL EMPLOYEE.— 

9 Section 21101(4) is amended— 

10 (1) by striking ‘‘employed by a railroad carrier’’; 

11 and 

12 (2) by inserting ‘‘railroad’’ after ‘‘maintaining’’. 

13 (b) LIMITATION ON DUTY HOURS OF TRAIN EMPLOY14 EES.—Section 21103 is amended— 

15 (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

18 (d) of this section, a railroad carrier and its officers and 

19 agents may not require or allow a train employee to— 

20 ‘‘(1) remain or go on duty in any calendar 

21 month where the employee had spent a total of 276 

22 hours— 

23 ‘‘(A) on duty; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) waiting for transportation, or in 

2 deadhead transportation, to a place of final re3 lease; 

4 ‘‘(2) remain or go on duty for a period in excess 

5 of 12 consecutive hours; 

6 ‘‘(3) remain or go on duty unless that employee 

7 has had at least 10 consecutive hours off duty during 

8 the prior 24 hours; and 

9 ‘‘(4) remain or go on duty after that employee 

10 has initiated an on-duty period each day for— 

11 ‘‘(A) 6 consecutive days, unless that em12 ployee has had at least 48 consecutive hours off 

13 duty at the employee’s home terminal during 

14 which time the employee is unavailable for any 

15 service for any railroad carrier; or 

16 ‘‘(B) 7 consecutive days, if permitted by a 

17 collective bargaining agreement, unless that em18 ployee has had at least 72 consecutive hours off 

19 duty at the employee’s home terminal during 

20 which time the employee is unavailable for any 

21 service for any railroad carrier. 

22 The Secretary may waive paragraph (4), consistent with 

23 the procedural requirements of section 20103, if a collective 

24 bargaining agreement provides a different arrangement and 


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1 such an arrangement is in the public interest and consistent 

2 with railroad safety.’’; 

3 (2) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection 

4 (d) and inserting after subsection (b) the following: 

5 ‘‘(c) LIMBO TIME LIMITATION AND ADDITIONAL REST

6 REQUIREMENT.— 

7 ‘‘(1) A railroad carrier may not require or allow 

8 an employee to remain or go on duty in excess of 15 

9 hours of time on duty and time waiting for deadhead 

10 transportation on a train, not including interim rest 

11 periods unless the train carrying the employee is di12 rectly delayed by— 

13 ‘‘(A) a casualty; 

14 ‘‘(B) an accident; 

15 ‘‘(C) an act of God; 

16 ‘‘(D) a derailment; 

17 ‘‘(E) a major equipment failure that pre18 vents the train from advancing; or 

19 ‘‘(F) a delay resulting from a cause un20 known and unforeseeable to a railroad carrier or 

21 its officer or agent in charge of the employee 

22 when the employee left a terminal. 

23 ‘‘(2) Each railroad shall report to the Secretary, 

24 in accordance with procedures established by the Sec25 retary, each instance where an employee subject to 


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1 this section spends time waiting for deadhead trans2 portation on a train in excess of the requirements of 

3 paragraph (1). 

4 ‘‘(3) A railroad carrier and its officers and 

5 agents shall provide, at the election of employees sub6 ject to this section at the beginning of the employee’s 

7 off-duty period additional time off duty equal to the 

8 number of hours that such sum exceeds 12 hours if— 

9 ‘‘(A) the time spent waiting for transpor10 tation, or in deadhead transportation, from a 

11 duty assignment to the place of final release that 

12 is not time on duty, plus 

13 ‘‘(B) the time on duty, 

14 exceeds 12 consecutive hours.’’; and 

15 (3) by adding at the end thereof the following: 

16 ‘‘(e) COMMUNICATION DURING TIME OFF DUTY.— 

17 During a train employee’s minimum off-duty period of 10 

18 consecutive hours, as provided under subsection (a), during 

19 an interim period of at least 4 consecutive hours available 

20 for rest under subsection (b)(7), or during additional off 

21 duty hours elected to be taken by an employee under para22 graph (b)(3), a railroad carrier, and its managers, super23 visors, officers, and agents, shall not communicate with the 

24 train employee by telephone, by pager, or in any other man25 ner that could reasonably be expected to disrupt the employVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:10 Mar 04, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00124 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889

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1 ee’s rest. Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit commu2 nication necessary to notify an employee of an emergency 

3 situation, as defined by the Secretary. The Secretary may 

4 waive the requirements of this paragraph for commuter or 

5 intercity passenger railroads if the Secretary determines 

6 that such a waiver will not reduce safety and is necessary 

7 to maintain such railroads’ efficient operations and on8 time performance of its trains.’’. 

9 (c) LIMITATION ON DUTY HOURS OF SIGNAL EMPLOY10 EES.—Section 21104 is amended— 

11 (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 

12 following: 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

14 (c) of this section, a railroad carrier and its officers and 

15 agents may not require or allow its signal employee to re16 main or go on duty and a contractor or subcontractor to 

17 a railroad may not require or allow one of its signal em18 ployees to remain or go on duty — 

19 ‘‘(1) for a period in excess of 12 consecutive 

20 hours; or 

21 ‘‘(2) unless that employee has had at least 10 

22 consecutive hours off duty during the prior 24 

23 hours.’’; 

24 (2) by striking ‘‘duty, except that up to one hour 

25 of that time spent returning from the final trouble 


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1 call of a period of continuous or broken service is 

2 time off duty.’’ in subsection (b)(3) and inserting 

3 ‘‘duty.’’; 

4 (3) by inserting ‘‘A signal employee may not be 

5 allowed to remain or go on duty under the emergency 

6 authority provided under this subsection to conduct 

7 routine repairs, routine maintenance, or routine in8 spection of signal systems.’’ after ‘‘service.’’ in sub9 section (c); 

10 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(d) COMMUNICATION DURING TIME OFF DUTY.— 

12 During a signal employee’s minimum off-duty period of 10 

13 consecutive hours, as provided under subsection (a), a rail14 road carrier, and its managers, supervisors, officers, and 

15 agents, shall not communicate with the signal employee by 

16 telephone, by pager, or in any other manner that could rea17 sonably be expected to disrupt the employee’s rest. Nothing 

18 in this subsection shall prohibit communication necessary 

19 to notify an employee of an emergency situation, as defined 

20 by the Secretary. 

21 ‘‘(e) EXCLUSIVITY.—The hours of service, duty hours, 

22 and rest periods of signal employees shall be governed exclu23 sively by this chapter. Signal employees operating motor 

24 vehicles shall not be subject to any hours of service rules, 

25 duty hours or rest period rules promulgated by any Federal 


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1 authority, including the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Ad2 ministration, other than the Federal Railroad Administra3 tion.’’. 

4 (d) ALTERNATE HOURS OF SERVICE REGIME.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 21102 is amended— 

6 (A) by striking the section caption and in7 serting the following: 

8 ‘‘§ 21102. Nonapplication, exemption, and alternate 

9 hours of service regime’’; 

10 and 

11 (B) by adding at the end thereof the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(c) ALTERNATE HOURS OF SERVICE REGIME.—A 

14 railroad carrier and its directly affected employees or a 

15 non-profit employee labor organization that represents such 

16 employees may jointly develop and submit for approval to 

17 the Secretary an alternate hours of service regime to that 

18 provided in this chapter that would increase the maximum 

19 hours an employee may be required or allowed to go or re20 main on duty or decrease the minimum hours an employee 

21 may be required to rest and would become effective no ear22 lier than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Railroad 

23 Safety Enhancement Act of 2007. The Secretary may con24 sider such a request anytime after the date of enactment 

25 of the Railroad Safety Enhancement Act of 2007 and may 


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1 approve such a request only after providing an opportunity 

2 for public notice and comment and determining that the 

3 proposed hours of service regime is in the public interest 

4 and will not adversely affect railroad safety. The exemption 

5 shall be for a specific period of time and shall be subject 

6 to review upon a schedule determined appropriate by the 

7 Secretary.’’. 

8 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter 

9 analysis for chapter 211 is amended by striking the 

10 item relating to section 21102 and inserting the fol11 lowing: 

‘‘21102. Nonapplication, exemption, and alternate hours of service regime.’’. 

12 (e) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 211 is amended by 

14 adding at the end thereof the following: 

15 ‘‘§ 21109. Regulatory authority 

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In order to improve safety and re17 duce employee fatigue, the Secretary may issue regula18 tions— 

19 ‘‘(1) to reduce the maximum hours an employee 

20 may be required or allowed to go or remain on duty 

21 to a level less than the level established under this 

22 chapter; 

23 ‘‘(2) to increase the minimum hours an employee 

24 may be required or allowed to rest to a level greater 

25 than the level established under this chapter; 


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1 ‘‘(3) to limit or eliminate the amount of time an 

2 employee spends waiting for or in deadhead transpor3 tation to the place of final release that is considered 

4 neither on duty nor off duty under this chapter; 

5 ‘‘(4) to make changes to the number of hours an 

6 employee may spend waiting on a train for deadhead 

7 transportation to the place of final release that is con8 sidered neither on duty nor off duty that provide for 

9 an equivalent level of safety as the level established 

10 under this chapter; 

11 ‘‘(5) to make changes to the requirements of off12 duty communications with employees that provide for 

13 an equivalent level of safety as the level established 

14 under this chapter; 

15 ‘‘(6) for signal employees— 

16 ‘‘A) to limit or eliminate the amount of 

17 time that is considered to be neither on duty nor 

18 off duty under this chapter that an employee 

19 spends returning from an outlying worksite after 

20 scheduled duty hours or returning from a trouble 

21 call to the employee’s headquarters or directly to 

22 the employee’s residence; and 

23 ‘‘(B) to increase the amount of time that 

24 constitutes a release period, that does not break 


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1 the continuity of service and is considered time 

2 off duty; and 

3 ‘‘(7) to require other changes to railroad oper4 ating and scheduling practices that could affect em5 ployee fatigue and railroad safety. 

6 ‘‘(b) CONSIDERATIONS.—In issuing regulations under 

7 subsection (a) the Secretary shall consider scientific and 

8 medical research related to fatigue and fatigue abatement, 

9 railroad scheduling and operating practices that improve 

10 safety or reduce employee fatigue, a railroad’s use of new 

11 or novel technology intended to reduce or eliminate human 

12 error, the variations in freight and passenger railroad 

13 scheduling practices and operating conditions, the vari14 ations in duties and operating conditions for employees 

15 subject to this chapter, a railroad’s required or voluntary 

16 use of fatigue management plans covering employees subject 

17 to this chapter, and any other relevant factors. 

18 ‘‘(c) TIME LIMITS.—If the Secretary requests that the 

19 Railroad Safety Advisory Committee accept the task of de20 veloping regulations under paragraph (a) and the Com21 mittee accepts the task, the Committee shall reach consensus 

22 on the rulemaking within 18 months after accepting the 

23 task. If the Committee does not reach consensus within 18 

24 months after the Secretary makes the request, the Secretary 

25 shall prescribe appropriate regulations within 18 months. 


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1 If the Secretary does not request that the Railroad Safety 

2 Advisory Committee accept the task of developing regula3 tions under subsection (a), the Secretary shall issue regula4 tions within 3 years after the date of enactment of the Rail5 road Safety Enhancement Act of 2007. 

6 ‘‘(d) PILOT PROJECTS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

8 the date of enactment of the Railroad Safety En9 hancement Act of 2007, the Secretary shall conduct at 

10 least 2 pilot projects of sufficient size and scope to 

11 analyze specific practices which may be used to re12 duce fatigue for train and engine and other railroad 

13 employees as follows: 

14 ‘‘(A) A pilot project at a railroad or rail15 road facility to evaluate the efficacy of commu16 nicating to employees notice of their assigned 

17 shift time 10 hours prior to the beginning of 

18 their assigned shift as a method for reducing em19 ployee fatigue. 

20 ‘‘(B) A pilot project at a railroad or rail21 road facility to evaluate the efficacy of requiring 

22 railroads who use employee scheduling practices 

23 that subject employees to periods of unscheduled 

24 duty calls to assign employees to defined or spe25 cific unscheduled call shifts that are followed by 


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1 shifts not subject to call, as a method for reduc2 ing employee fatigue. 

3 ‘‘(2) WAIVER.—The Secretary may temporarily 

4 waive the requirements of this section, if necessary, to 

5 complete a pilot project under this subsection. 

6 ‘‘(e) DUTY CALL DEFINED.—In this section the term 

7 ‘duty call’ means a telephone call that a railroad places 

8 to an employee to notify the employee of his or her assigned 

9 shift time.’’. 

10 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter 

11 analysis for chapter 211 is amended by adding at the 

12 end thereof the following: 

‘‘21109. Regulatory authority.’’. 

13 (f) RECORD KEEPING AND REPORTING.— 

14 (1) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days 

15 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

16 shall issue a regulation revising the requirements for 

17 recordkeeping and reporting for Hours of Service of 

18 Railroad Employees contained in part 228 of title 49, 

19 Code of Federal Regulations— 

20 (A) to adjust record keeping and reporting 

21 requirements to support fully compliance with 

22 chapter 211 of title 49, United States Code, as 

23 amended by this Act; 

24 (B) to authorize electronic record keeping, 

25 and reporting of excess service, consistent with 


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1 appropriate considerations for user interface; 

2 and 

3 (C) to require training of affected employees 

4 and supervisors, including training of employees 

5 in the entry of hours of service data. 

6 (2) PROCEDURE.—In lieu of issuing a notice of 

7 proposed rulemaking as contemplated by section 553 

8 of title 5, United States Code, the Secretary may uti9 lize the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee to assist 

10 in development of the regulation. The Secretary may 

11 propose and adopt amendments to the revised regula12 tions thereafter as may be necessary in light of expe13 rience under the revised requirements. 

14 (g) 1-YEAR DELAY IN IMPLEMENTATION OF DUTY

15 HOURS LIMITATION CHANGES.—The amendments made by 

16 subsections (a), (b), and (c) shall take effect 1 year after 

17 the date of enactment of this Act. 

18 SEC. 107. PROTECTION OF RAILROAD SAFETY RISK ANAL19 YSES INFORMATION. 

20 (a) AMENDMENT.—Subchapter I of chapter 201 is 

21 amended by adding at the end thereof the following: 

22 ‘‘§ 20118. Prohibition on public disclosure of required 

23 railroad safety analyses records 

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 552 of 

25 title 5 or any other provision of law, except as necessary 


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1 for the Secretary of Transportation or another Federal 

2 agency to enforce or carry out any provision of Federal law, 

3 the Secretary shall not disclose publicly any part of any 

4 record (including, but not limited to, a railroad carrier’s 

5 analysis of its safety risks and its statement of the mitiga6 tion measures it has identified with which to address those 

7 risks) that the Secretary has obtained pursuant to a provi8 sion of, or regulation or order under, this chapter related 

9 to the establishment, implementation, or modification of a 

10 railroad safety risk reduction program or pilot program if 

11 the record is— 

12 ‘‘(1) supplied to the Secretary pursuant to that 

13 safety risk reduction program or pilot program; or 

14 ‘‘(2) made available for inspection and copying 

15 by an officer, employee, or agent of the Secretary pur16 suant to that safety risk reduction program or pilot 

17 program. 

18 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), the 

19 Secretary may disclose any part of any record comprised 

20 of facts otherwise available to the public if, in the Sec21 retary’s sole discretion, the Secretary determines that dis22 closure would be consistent with the confidentiality needed 

23 for that safety risk reduction program. 

24 ‘‘(c) DISCRETIONARY PROHIBITION OF DISCLOSURE.— 

25 The Secretary may prohibit the public disclosure of risk 


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1 analyses or risk mitigation analyses that the Secretary has 

2 obtained under other provisions of, or regulations or orders 

3 under, this chapter if the Secretary determines that the pro4 hibition of public disclosure is necessary to promote rail5 road safety. 

6 ‘‘§ 20119. Discovery and admission into evidence of 

7 certain reports and surveys 

8 ‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no part 

9 of any report, survey, schedule, list, or data compiled or 

10 collected for the purpose of evaluating, planning, or imple11 menting a railroad safety risk reduction program or other 

12 risk or risk mitigation analysis designated by the Secretary 

13 of Transportation under section 20118(c) pursuant to a 

14 provision of, or regulation or order under, this chapter (in15 cluding a railroad carrier’s analysis of its safety risks and 

16 its statement of the mitigation measures with which it will 

17 address those risks) shall be subject to discovery or admitted 

18 into evidence in a Federal or State court proceeding, or con19 sidered for another purpose, in any action by a private 

20 party or parties for damages against the carrier, or its offi21 cers, employees, or contractors. The preceding sentence does 

22 not apply to any report, survey, list, or data otherwise 

23 available to the public.’’. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter analysis 

2 for chapter 201 is amended by inserting after the item relat3 ing to section 20117 the following: 

‘‘20118. Prohibition on public disclosure of required railroad safety risk analyses. 

‘‘20119. Discovery and admission into evidence of certain reports and surveys.’’. 

4 TITLE II—HIGHWAY-RAIL GRADE 

5 CROSSING AND PEDESTRIAN 

6 SAFETY AND TRESPASSER 

7 PREVENTION 

8 SEC. 201. PEDESTRIAN CROSSING SAFETY. 

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

10 this Act, the Secretary shall provide guidance to railroads 

11 on strategies and methods to prevent pedestrian accidents, 

12 injuries, and fatalities at or near passenger stations, in13 cluding— 

14 (1) providing audible warning of approaching 

15 trains to the pedestrians at railroad passenger sta16 tions; 

17 (2) using signs, signals, or other visual devices 

18 to warn pedestrians of approaching trains; 

19 (3) installing infrastructure at pedestrian cross20 ings to improve the safety of pedestrians crossing rail21 road tracks; 

22 (4) installing fences to prohibit access to railroad 

23 tracks; and 


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1 (5) other strategies or methods as determined by 

2 the Secretary. 

3 SEC. 202. STATE ACTION PLANS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later than 6 months 

5 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

6 identify on an annual basis the 10 States that receive Fed7 eral funds for highway-rail grade crossing safety projects 

8 that have had the most highway-rail grade crossing colli9 sions in the preceding fiscal year. The Secretary shall re10 quire as a condition of receiving such funds in the future 

11 (in addition to any requirements imposed under any other 

12 provision of law) that each of these States develop a State 

13 Grade Crossing Action Plan that identifies specific solu14 tions for improving safety at crossings, including highway15 rail grade crossing closures or grade separations, particu16 larly at crossings that have experienced multiple accidents, 

17 and shall provide assistance to the States in developing the 

18 plan. 

19 (b) REVIEW AND APPROVAL.—Not later than 60 days 

20 after the Secretary receives a plan under subsection (a), the 

21 Secretary shall review and approve or disapprove it. If the 

22 proposed plan is not approved, the Secretary shall notify 

23 the affected State as to the specific points in which the pro24 posed plan is deficient, and the State shall correct all defiVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:10 Mar 04, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00137 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889

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1 ciencies within 30 days following receipt of written notice 

2 from the Secretary. 

3 SEC. 203. IMPROVEMENTS TO SIGHT DISTANCE AT HIGH4 WAY-RAIL GRADE CROSSINGS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 201, as 

6 amended by section 105 of this Act, is further amended by 

7 inserting after section 20158 the following: 

8 ‘‘§ 20159. Roadway user sight distance at highway-rail 

9 grade crossings 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after the 

11 date of enactment of the Railroad Safety Enhancement Act 

12 of 2007, the Secretary of Transportation shall prescribe reg13 ulations that require each railroad carrier to remove from 

14 its active rights-of-way at all public highway-rail grade 

15 crossings, and at all private highway-rail grade crossings 

16 open to unrestricted public access (as declared in writing 

17 by the holder of the crossing right), grass, brush, shrubbery, 

18 trees, and other vegetation which may materially obstruct 

19 the view of a pedestrian or a vehicle operator for a reason20 able distance, as specified by the Secretary, in either direc21 tion of the train’s approach, and to maintain its rights22 of-way at all such crossings free of such vegetation. In pre23 scribing the regulations, the Secretary shall take into con24 sideration to the extent practicable— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the type of warning device or warning de2 vices installed at such crossings; 

3 ‘‘(2) factors affecting the timeliness and effective4 ness of roadway user decisionmaking, including the 

5 maximum allowable roadway speed, maximum au6 thorized train speed, angle of intersection, and topog7 raphy; 

8 ‘‘(3) the presence or absence of other sight dis9 tance obstructions off the railroad right-of-way; and 

10 ‘‘(4) any other factors affecting safety at such 

11 crossings. 

12 ‘‘(b) PROTECTED VEGETATION.—In promulgating reg13 ulations pursuant to this section, the Secretary may make 

14 allowance for preservation of trees and other ornamental 

15 or protective growth where State or local law or policy 

16 would otherwise protect the vegetation from removal and 

17 where the roadway authority or private crossing holder is 

18 notified of the sight distance obstruction and, within a rea19 sonable period specified by the regulation, takes appropriate 

20 action to abate the hazard to roadway users (such as by 

21 closing the crossing, posting supplementary signage, install22 ing active warning devices, lowering roadway speed, or in23 stalling traffic calming devices). 

24 ‘‘(c) MODEL LEGISLATION.—Not later than 18 months 

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1 ment Act of 2007, the Secretary, after consultation with the 

2 Federal Railroad Administration, the Federal Highway 

3 Administration, and States, shall develop and make avail4 able to States model legislation providing for improving 

5 safety by addressing sight obstructions, at highway-rail 

6 grade crossings that are equipped solely with passive warn7 ings, as recommended by the Inspector General of the De8 partment of Transportation in Report No. MH–2007– 

9 044.’’. 

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter analysis 

11 for chapter 201, as amended by section 105 of this Act, is 

12 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

13 20158 the following new item: 

‘‘20159. Roadway user sight distance at highway-rail grade crossings.’’. 

14 SEC. 204. NATIONAL CROSSING INVENTORY. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 201, as 

16 amended by section 203 of this Act, is further amended by 

17 adding at the end the following new section: 

18 ‘‘§ 20160. National crossing inventory 

19 ‘‘(a) INITIAL REPORTING OF INFORMATION ABOUT

20 PREVIOUSLY UNREPORTED CROSSINGS.—Not later than 1 

21 year after the date of enactment of the Railroad Safety En22 hancement Act of 2007 or 6 months after a new crossing 

23 becomes operational, whichever occurs later, each railroad 

24 carrier shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) report to the Secretary of Transportation 

2 current information, including information about 

3 warning devices and signage, as specified by the Sec4 retary, concerning each previously unreported cross5 ing through which it operates; or 

6 ‘‘(2) ensure that the information has been re7 ported to the Secretary by another railroad carrier 

8 that operates through the crossing. 

9 ‘‘(b) UPDATING OF CROSSING INFORMATION.— 

10 ‘‘(1) On a periodic basis beginning not later 

11 than 2 years after the date of enactment of the Rail12 road Safety Enhancement Act of 2007 and on or be13 fore September 30 of every year thereafter, or as oth14 erwise specified by the Secretary, each railroad car15 rier shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) report to the Secretary current information, 

17 including information about warning devices and 

18 signage, as specified by the Secretary, concerning each 

19 crossing through which it operates; or 

20 ‘‘(B) ensure that the information has been re21 ported to the Secretary by another railroad carrier 

22 that operates through the crossing. 

23 ‘‘(2) A railroad carrier that sells a crossing or any 

24 part of a crossing on or after the date of enactment of the 

25 Railroad Safety Enhancement Act of 2007 shall, not later 


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1 than the date that is 18 months after the date of enactment 

2 of that Act or 3 months after the sale, whichever occurs 

3 later, or as otherwise specified by the Secretary, report to 

4 the Secretary current information, as specified by the Sec5 retary, concerning the change in ownership of the crossing 

6 or part of the crossing. 

7 ‘‘(c) RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.—The Secretary shall 

8 prescribe the regulations necessary to implement this sec9 tion. The Secretary may enforce each provision of the De10 partment of Transportation’s statement of the national 

11 highway-rail crossing inventory policy, procedures, and in12 struction for States and railroads that is in effect on the 

13 date of enactment of the Railroad Safety Enhancement Act 

14 of 2007, until such provision is superseded by a regulation 

15 issued under this section. 

16 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 ‘‘(1) CROSSING.—The term ‘crossing’ means a lo18 cation within a State, other than a location where 

19 one or more railroad tracks cross one or more rail20 road tracks either at grade or grade-separated, 

21 where— 

22 ‘‘(A) a public highway, road, or street, or a 

23 private roadway, including associated sidewalks 

24 and pathways, crosses one or more railroad 

25 tracks either at grade or grade-separated; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) a pathway explicitly authorized by a 

2 public authority or a railroad that is dedicated 

3 for the use of nonvehicular traffic, including pe4 destrians, bicyclists, and others, that is not asso5 ciated with a public highway, road, or street, or 

6 a private roadway, crosses one or more railroad 

7 tracks either at grade or grade-separated. 

8 ‘‘(2) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means a State of 

9 the United States, the District of Columbia, or the 

10 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.’’. 

11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter analysis 

12 for chapter 201, as amended by section 203 of this Act, is 

13 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

14 20159 the following: 

‘‘20160. National crossing inventory.’’. 

15 (c) REPORTING AND UPDATING.—Section 130 of title 

16 23, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

17 the following: 

18 ‘‘(l) NATIONAL CROSSING INVENTORY.— 

19 ‘‘(1) INITIAL REPORTING OF CROSSING INFORMA20 TION.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enact21 ment of the Railroad Safety Enhancement Act of 

22 2007 or within 6 months of a new crossing becoming 

23 operational, whichever occurs later, each State shall 

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1 vices and signage, as specified by the Secretary, con2 cerning each previously unreported crossing located 

3 within its borders. 

4 ‘‘(2) PERIODIC UPDATING OF CROSSING INFOR5 MATION.—On a periodic basis beginning not later 

6 than 2 years after the date of enactment of the Rail7 road Safety Enhancement Act of 2007 and on or be8 fore September 30 of every year thereafter, or as oth9 erwise specified by the Secretary, each State shall re10 port to the Secretary current information, including 

11 information about warning devices and signage, as 

12 specified by the Secretary, concerning each crossing 

13 located within its borders. 

14 ‘‘(3) RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.—The Secretary 

15 shall prescribe the regulations necessary to implement 

16 this subsection. The Secretary may enforce each provi17 sion of the Department of Transportation’s statement 

18 of the national highway-rail crossing inventory pol19 icy, procedures, and instructions for States and rail20 roads that is in effect on the date of enactment of the 

21 Railroad Safety Enhancement Act of 2007, until such 

22 provision is superseded by a regulation issued under 

23 this subsection. 

24 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the terms 

25 ‘crossing’ and ‘State’ have the meaning given those 


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1 terms by section 20160(d)(1) and (2), respectively, of 

2 title 49.’’. 

3 (d) CIVIL PENALTIES.— 

4 (1) Section 21301(a)(1) is amended— 

5 (A) by inserting ‘‘with section 20160 or’’ 

6 after ‘‘comply’’ in the first sentence; and 

7 (B) by inserting ‘‘section 20157 of this title 

8 or’’ after ‘‘violating’’ in the second sentence. 

9 (2) Section 21301(a)(2) is amended by inserting 

10 ‘‘The Secretary shall impose a civil penalty for a vio11 lation of section 20160 of this title.’’ after the first 

12 sentence. 

13 SEC. 205. TELEPHONE NUMBER TO REPORT GRADE CROSS14 ING PROBLEMS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 20152 is amended to read 

16 as follows: 

17 ‘‘§ 20152. Notification of grade crossing problems 

18 ‘‘Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment 

19 of the Railroad Safety Enhancement Act of 2007, the Sec20 retary of Transportation shall require each railroad carrier 

21 to— 

22 ‘‘(1) establish and maintain a telephone service, 

23 which may be required to be a toll-free telephone for 

24 specific railroad carriers as determined by the Sec25 retary to be appropriate, for rights-of-way over which 


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1 it dispatches trains, to directly receive calls report2 ing— 

3 ‘‘(A) malfunctions of signals, crossing gates, 

4 and other devices to promote safety at the grade 

5 crossing of railroad tracks on those rights-of-way 

6 and public or private roads; 

7 ‘‘(B) disabled vehicles blocking railroad 

8 tracks at such grade crossings; 

9 ‘‘(C) obstructions to the view of a pedestrian 

10 or a vehicle operator for a reasonable distance in 

11 either direction of a train’s approach; or 

12 ‘‘(D) other safety information involving 

13 such grade crossings; 

14 ‘‘(2) upon receiving a report pursuant to para15 graph (1)(A) or (B), immediately contact trains oper16 ating near the grade crossing to warn them of the 

17 malfunction or disabled vehicle; 

18 ‘‘(3) upon receiving a report pursuant to para19 graph (1)(A) or (B), and after contacting trains pur20 suant to paragraph (2), contact, as necessary, appro21 priate public safety officials having jurisdiction over 

22 the grade crossing to provide them with the informa23 tion necessary for them to direct traffic, assist in the 

24 removal of the disabled vehicle, or carry out other ac25 tivities as appropriate; 


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1 ‘‘(4) upon receiving a report pursuant to para2 graph (1)(C) or (D), timely investigate the report, re3 move the obstruction if possible, or correct the unsafe 

4 circumstance; and 

5 ‘‘(5) ensure the placement at each grade crossing 

6 on rights-of-way that it owns of appropriately located 

7 signs, on which shall appear, at a minimum— 

8 ‘‘(A) a telephone number to be used for plac9 ing calls described in paragraph (1) to the rail10 road carrier dispatching trains on that right-of11 way; 

12 ‘‘(B) an explanation of the purpose of that 

13 telephone number; and 

14 ‘‘(C) the grade crossing number assigned for 

15 that crossing by the National Highway-Rail 

16 Crossing Inventory established by the Depart17 ment of Transportation.’’. 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter analysis 

19 for chapter 201 is amended by striking the item relating 

20 to section 20152 and inserting the following: 

‘‘20152. Notification of grade crossing problems.’’. 

21 SEC. 206. OPERATION LIFESAVER. 

22 (a) GRANT.—The Federal Railroad Administration 

23 shall make a grant or grants to Operation Lifesaver to 

24 carry out a public information and education program to 

25 help prevent and reduce pedestrian, motor vehicle, and other 


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1 incidents, injuries, and fatalities, and to improve awareness 

2 along railroad rights-of-way and at highway-rail grade 

3 crossings. This includes development, placement, and dis4 semination of Public Service Announcements in newspaper, 

5 radio, television, and other media. It will also include 

6 school presentations, brochures and materials, support for 

7 public awareness campaigns, and related support for the 

8 activities of Operation Lifesaver’s member organizations. 

9 As part of an educational program funded by grants 

10 awarded under this section, Operation Lifesaver shall pro11 vide information to the public on how to identify and report 

12 to the appropriate authorities unsafe or malfunctioning 

13 highway-rail grade crossings. 

14 (b) PILOT PROGRAM.—The Secretary may allow funds 

15 provided under subsection (a) also to be used by Operation 

16 Lifesaver to implement a pilot program, to be known as 

17 the Railroad Safety Public Awareness Program, that ad18 dresses the need for targeted and sustained community out19 reach on the subjects described in subsection (a). Such a 

20 pilot program shall be established in 1 or more States iden21 tified under section 202 of this Act. In carrying out such 

22 a pilot program Operation Lifesaver shall work with the 

23 State, community leaders, school districts, and public and 

24 private partners to identify the communities at greatest 

25 risk, to develop appropriate measures to reduce such risks, 


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1 and shall coordinate the pilot program with the State grade 

2 crossing action plan. 

3 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are 

4 authorized to be appropriated to the Federal Railroad Ad5 ministration for carrying out this section— 

6 (1) $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008, 

7 2009, and 2010; and 

8 (2) $1,500,000 for each of fiscal years 20011, 

9 2012, and 2013. 

10 SEC. 207. TRESPASSER PREVENTION AND HIGHWAY-RAIL 

11 CROSSING SAFETY. 

12 (a) TRESPASSER PREVENTION AND HIGHWAY-RAIL

13 GRADE CROSSING WARNING SIGN VIOLATIONS.—Section 

14 20151 is amended— 

15 (1) by striking the section heading and inserting 

16 the following: 

17 ‘‘§ 20151. Railroad trespassing, vandalism, and high18 way-rail grade crossing warning sign vio19 lation prevention strategy’’; 

20 (2) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 

21 following: 

22 ‘‘(a) EVALUATION OF EXISTING LAWS.—In consulta23 tion with affected parties, the Secretary of Transportation 

24 shall evaluate and review current local, State, and Federal 

25 laws regarding trespassing on railroad property, vandalism 


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1 affecting railroad safety, and violations of highway-rail 

2 grade crossing warning signs and develop model prevention 

3 strategies and enforcement laws to be used for the consider4 ation of State and local legislatures and governmental enti5 ties. The first such evaluation and review concerning viola6 tions of grade crossing signals shall be completed within 

7 1 year after the date of enactment of the Railroad Safety 

8 Enhancement Act of 2007. The Secretary shall revise the 

9 model prevention strategies and enforcement codes periodi10 cally.’’; 

11 (3) by inserting ‘‘FOR TRESPASSING AND VAN12 DALISM PREVENTION’’ in the subsection heading of 

13 subsection (b) after ‘‘OUTREACH PROGRAM’’; 

14 (4) in subsection (c)— 

15 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and 

16 (2) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively; 

17 (B) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘MODEL LEG18 ISLATION.—’’; and 

19 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

20 paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(2) Within 18 months after the date of enactment of 

22 the Railroad Safety Enhancement Act of 2007, the Sec23 retary, after consultation with State and local governments 

24 and railroad carriers, shall develop and make available to 

25 State and local governments model State legislation proVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:10 Mar 04, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00150 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889

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1 viding for civil or criminal penalties, or both, for violations 

2 of highway-rail grade crossing warning signs.’’; and 

3 (5) by adding at the end the following new sub4 section: 

5 ‘‘(d) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘violation 

6 of highway-rail grade crossing warning signs’ includes any 

7 action by a motorist, unless directed by an authorized safety 

8 officer— 

9 ‘‘(1) to drive around a grade crossing gate in a 

10 position intended to block passage over railroad 

11 tracks; 

12 ‘‘(2) to drive through a flashing grade crossing 

13 signal; 

14 ‘‘(3) to drive through a grade crossing with pas15 sive warning signs without ensuring that the grade 

16 crossing could be safely crossed before any train ar17 rived; and 

18 ‘‘(4) in the vicinity of a grade crossing, who cre19 ates a hazard of an accident involving injury or 

20 property damage at the grade crossing.’’. 

21 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter analysis 

22 for chapter 201 of title 49, United States Code, is amended 

23 by striking the item relating to section 20151 and inserting 

24 the following: 

‘‘20151. Railroad trespassing, vandalism, and highway-rail grade crossing warning sign violation prevention strategy.’’. 


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1 (c) EDUCATIONAL OR AWARENESS PROGRAM ITEMS

2 FOR DISTRIBUTION.—Section 20134(a) is amended by add3 ing at the end of the subsection the following: ‘‘The Sec4 retary may purchase items of nominal value and distribute 

5 them to the public without charge as part of an educational 

6 or awareness program to accomplish the purposes of this 

7 section and of any other sections of this title related to im8 proving the safety of highway-rail crossings and to pre9 venting trespass on railroad rights of way, and the Sec10 retary shall prescribe guidelines for the administration of 

11 this authority.’’. 

12 SEC. 208. FOSTERING INTRODUCTION OF NEW TECH13 NOLOGY TO IMPROVE SAFETY AT HIGHWAY14 RAIL GRADE CROSSINGS. 

15 (a) AMENDMENT.—Subchapter II of chapter 201, as 

16 amended by section 204 of this Act, is further amended by 

17 adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘§ 20161. Fostering introduction of new technology to 

19 improve safety at highway-rail grade 

20 crossings 

21 ‘‘(a) POLICY.—It is the policy of the Department of 

22 Transportation to encourage the development of new tech23 nology that can prevent loss of life and injuries at highway24 rail grade crossings. The Secretary of Transportation shall 


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1 carry out this policy in consultation with States and nec2 essary public and private entities. 

3 ‘‘(b) SUBMISSION OF NEW TECHNOLOGY PRO4 POSALS.—Railroad carriers and railroad suppliers may 

5 submit for review and approval to the Secretary such new 

6 technology designed to improve safety at highway-rail grade 

7 crossings. The Secretary shall approve the new technology 

8 designed to improve safety at highway-rail grade crossings 

9 in accordance with Federal Railroad Administration stand10 ards for the development and use of processor-based signal 

11 and train control systems and shall consider the effects on 

12 safety of highway-user interface with the new technology. 

13 ‘‘(c) EFFECT OF SECRETARIAL APPROVAL.—If the Sec14 retary approves new technology to provide warning to high15 way users at a highway-rail grade crossing and such tech16 nology is installed at a highway-rail grade crossing in ac17 cordance with the conditions of the approval, this deter18 mination preempts any State law concerning the adequacy 

19 of the technology in providing warning at the crossing. 

20 Under no circumstances may a person (including a State, 

21 other public authority, railroad carrier, system designer, or 

22 supplier of the technology) be held liable for damages for 

23 any harm to persons or property because of an accident 

24 or incident at the crossing protected by such technology 

25 based upon the carrier’s failure to properly inspect and 


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1 maintain such technology, if the carrier has inspected and 

2 maintained the technology in accordance with the terms of 

3 the Secretary’s approval.’’. 

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter analysis 

5 for chapter 201, as amended by section 204 of this Act, is 

6 further amended by inserting after the item relating to sec7 tion 20160, the following: 

‘‘20161. Fostering introduction of new technology to improve safety at highwayrail grade crossings.’’. 

8 TITLE III—FEDERAL RAILROAD 

9 ADMINISTRATION 

10 SEC. 301. HUMAN CAPITAL INCREASES. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall increase the 

12 number of Federal Railroad Administration employees 

13 by— 

14 (1) 25 employees in fiscal year 2008; 

15 (2) 50 employees in fiscal year 2009; 

16 (3) 50 employees in fiscal year 2010; 

17 (4) 25 employees in fiscal year 2011; 

18 (5) 25 employees in fiscal year 2012; and 

19 (6) 25 employees in fiscal year 2013. 

20 (b) FUNCTIONS.—In increasing the number of employ21 ees pursuant to subsection (a), the Secretary shall focus on 

22 hiring employees— 


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1 (1) specifically trained to conduct on-site rail2 road and highway-rail grade crossing accident inves3 tigations; 

4 (2) to implement the Railroad Safety Strategy; 

5 (3) to administer and implement the Railroad 

6 Safety Risk Reduction Pilot Program and the Rail7 road Safety Risk Reduction Program; 

8 (4) to implement section 20166 of title 49, 

9 United States Code, and to focus on encouragement 

10 and oversight of the use of new or novel rail safety 

11 technology; 

12 (5) to conduct routine inspections and audits of 

13 railroad and hazardous materials facilities and 

14 records for compliance with railroad safety laws and 

15 regulations; 

16 (6) to inspect railroad bridges, tunnels, and re17 lated infrastructure, and to review or analyze rail18 road bridge, tunnel, and related infrastructure inspec19 tion reports; and 

20 (7) to support the Federal Railroad Administra21 tion’s safety mission. 

22 SEC. 302. CIVIL PENALTY INCREASES. 

23 (a) GENERAL VIOLATIONS OF CHAPTER 201.—Section 

24 21301(a)(2) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘$10,000.’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘$25,000.’’; and 

3 (2) by striking ‘‘$20,000.’’ and inserting 

4 ‘‘$100,000.’’. 

5 (b) ACCIDENT AND INCIDENT VIOLATIONS OF CHAPTER

6 201; VIOLATIONS OF CHAPTERS 203 THROUGH 209.—Sec7 tion 21302(a)(2) is amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘$10,000.’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘$25,000.’’; and 

10 (2) by striking ‘‘$20,000.’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘$100,000.’’. 

12 (c) VIOLATIONS OF CHAPTER 211.—Section 

13 21303(a)(2) is amended— 

14 (1) by striking ‘‘$10,000.’’ and inserting 

15 ‘‘$25,000.’’; and 

16 (2) by striking ‘‘$20,000.’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘$100,000.’’. 

18 SEC. 303. ENFORCEMENT REPORT. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 201, as 

20 amended by section 107 of this Act, is amended by adding 

21 at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘§ 20120. Enforcement Report. 

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than December 31, 2008, 

24 the Secretary of Transportation shall make available to the 


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1 public and publish on its public website an annual report 

2 that— 

3 ‘‘(1) provides a summary of railroad safety and 

4 hazardous materials compliance inspections and au5 dits that Federal or state inspectors conducted in the 

6 prior fiscal year organized by type of alleged viola7 tion, including track, motive power and equipment, 

8 signal, grade crossing, operating practices, accident 

9 and incidence reporting, and hazardous materials; 

10 ‘‘(2) provides a summary of all enforcement ac11 tions taken by the Secretary or the Federal Railroad 

12 Administration during the prior fiscal year, includ13 ing— 

14 ‘‘(A) the number of civil penalties assessed 

15 against railroad carriers, hazardous material 

16 shippers, and individuals; 

17 ‘‘(B) the initial amount of civil penalties 

18 assessed against railroad carriers, hazardous ma19 terials shippers, and individuals; 

20 ‘‘(C) the number of civil penalty cases set21 tled against railroad carriers, hazardous mate22 rial shippers, and individuals; 

23 ‘‘(D) the final amount of civil penalties as24 sessed against railroad carriers, hazardous mate25 rials shippers, and individuals; 


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1 ‘‘(E) the difference between the initial and 

2 final amounts of civil penalties assessed against 

3 railroad carriers, hazardous materials shippers, 

4 and individuals; 

5 ‘‘(F) the number of administrative hearings 

6 requested and completed related to hazardous 

7 materials transportation law violations or en8 forcement actions against individuals; 

9 ‘‘(G) the number of cases referred to the At10 torney General for civil or criminal prosecution; 

11 ‘‘(H) the number and subject matter of all 

12 compliance orders, emergency orders or precursor 

13 agreements; 

14 ‘‘(3) analyzes the effect of the number of inspec15 tions conducted and enforcement actions taken on the 

16 number and rate of reported accidents and incidents 

17 and railroad safety; 

18 ‘‘(4) identifies the number of locomotive engineer 

19 certification denial or revocation cases appealed to 

20 and the average length of time it took to be decided 

21 by— 

22 ‘‘(A) the Locomotive Engineer Review 

23 Board; 

24 ‘‘(B) an Administrative Hearing Officer or 

25 Administrative Law Judge; or 


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1 ‘‘(C) the Administrator of the Federal Rail2 road Administration; 

3 ‘‘(5) provides any explanation regarding changes 

4 in the Secretary’s or the Federal Railroad Adminis5 tration’s enforcement programs or policies that may 

6 substantially affect the information reported; and 

7 ‘‘(6) includes any additional information that 

8 the Secretary determines is useful to improve the 

9 transparency of its enforcement program.’’. 

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter analysis 

11 for chapter 201, as amended by section 107 of this Act, is 

12 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

13 20119 the following: 

‘‘20120. Enforcement report.’’. 

14 SEC. 304. PROHIBITION OF INDIVIDUALS FROM PER15 FORMING SAFETY-SENSITIVE FUNCTIONS 

16 FOR A VIOLATION OF HAZARDOUS MATE17 RIALS TRANSPORTATION LAW. 

18 Section 20111(c) is amended to read as follows: 

19 ‘‘(c) ORDERS PROHIBITING INDIVIDUALS FROM PER20 FORMING SAFETY-SENSITIVE FUNCTIONS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) If an individual’s violation of this part, 

22 chapter 51 of this title, or a regulation prescribed, or 

23 an order issued, by the Secretary under this part or 

24 chapter 51 of this title is shown to make that indi25 vidual unfit for the performance of safety-sensitive 


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1 functions, the Secretary, after providing notice and 

2 an opportunity for a hearing, may issue an order 

3 prohibiting the individual from performing safety4 sensitive functions in the railroad industry for a spec5 ified period of time or until specified conditions are 

6 met. 

7 ‘‘(2) This subsection does not affect the Sec8 retary’s authority under section 20104 of this title to 

9 act on an emergency basis.’’. 

10 SEC. 305. RAILROAD RADIO MONITORING AUTHORITY. 

11 Section 20107 is amended by inserting at the end the 

12 following: 

13 ‘‘(c) RAILROAD RADIO COMMUNICATIONS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To carry out the Secretary’s 

15 responsibilities under this part and under chapter 51, 

16 the Secretary may authorize officers, employees, or 

17 agents of the Secretary to conduct the following ac18 tivities in circumstances the Secretary finds to be rea19 sonable: 

20 ‘‘(A) Intercepting a radio communication, 

21 with or without the consent of the sender or other 

22 receivers of the communication, but only where 

23 such communication is broadcast or transmitted 

24 over a radio frequency which is— 


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1 ‘‘(i) authorized for use by one or more 

2 railroad carriers by the Federal Commu3 nications Commission; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) primarily used by such railroad 

5 carriers for communications in connection 

6 with railroad operations. 

7 ‘‘(B) Communicating the existence, contents, 

8 substance, purport, effect, or meaning of the com9 munication, subject to the restrictions in para10 graph (3). 

11 ‘‘(C) Receiving or assisting in receiving the 

12 communication (or any information therein con13 tained). 

14 ‘‘(D) Disclosing the contents, substance, 

15 purport, effect, or meaning of the communication 

16 (or any part thereof of such communication) or 

17 using the communication (or any information 

18 contained therein), subject to the restrictions in 

19 paragraph (3), after having received the commu20 nication or acquired knowledge of the contents, 

21 substance, purport, effect, or meaning of the com22 munication (or any part thereof). 

23 ‘‘(E) Recording the communication by any 

24 means, including writing and tape recording. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ACCIDENT PREVENTION AND ACCIDENT IN2 VESTIGATION.—The Secretary, and officers, employ3 ees, and agents of the Department of Transportation 

4 authorized by the Secretary, may engage in the ac5 tivities authorized by paragraph (1) for the purpose 

6 of accident prevention and accident investigation. 

7 ‘‘(3) USE OF INFORMATION.—(A) Information 

8 obtained through activities authorized by paragraphs 

9 (1) and (2) shall not be admitted into evidence in any 

10 administrative or judicial proceeding except— 

11 ‘‘(i) in a prosecution of a felony under Fed12 eral or State criminal law; or 

13 ‘‘(ii) to impeach evidence offered by a party 

14 other than the Federal Government regarding the 

15 existence, electronic characteristics, content, sub16 stance, purport, effect, meaning, or timing of, or 

17 identity of parties to, a communication inter18 cepted pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2) in 

19 proceedings pursuant to section 5122, 5123, 

20 20702(b), 20111, 20112, 20113, or 20114 of this 

21 title. 

22 ‘‘(B) If information obtained through activities 

23 set forth in paragraphs (1) and (2) is admitted into 

24 evidence for impeachment purposes in accordance 

25 with subparagraph (A), the court, administrative law 


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1 judge, or other officer before whom the proceeding is 

2 conducted may make such protective orders regarding 

3 the confidentiality or use of the information as may 

4 be appropriate in the circumstances to protect pri5 vacy and administer justice. 

6 ‘‘(C) No evidence shall be excluded in an admin7 istrative or judicial proceeding solely because the gov8 ernment would not have learned of the existence of or 

9 obtained such evidence but for the interception of in10 formation that is not admissible in such proceeding 

11 under subparagraph (A). 

12 ‘‘(D) Information obtained through activities set 

13 forth in paragraphs (1) and (2) shall not be subject 

14 to publication or disclosure, or search or review in 

15 connection therewith, under section 552 of title 5. 

16 ‘‘(E) Nothing in this subsection shall be con17 strued to impair or otherwise affect the authority of 

18 the United States to intercept a communication, and 

19 collect, retain, analyze, use, and disseminate the in20 formation obtained thereby, under a provision of law 

21 other than this subsection. 

22 ‘‘(4) APPLICATION WITH OTHER LAW.—Section 

23 705 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

24 605) and chapter 119 of title 18 shall not apply to 


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1 conduct authorized by and pursuant to this sub2 section.’’. 

3 SEC. 306. EMERGENCY WAIVERS. 

4 Section 20103 is amended— 

5 (1) by striking subsection (e) and inserting the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(e) HEARINGS.—Except as provided in subsection (g) 

8 of this section, the Secretary shall conduct a hearing as pro9 vided by section 553 of title 5 when prescribing a regulation 

10 or issuing an order under this chapter, including a regula11 tion or order establishing, amending, or waiving compli12 ance with a railroad safety regulation prescribed or order 

13 issued under this chapter. An opportunity for an oral pres14 entation shall be provided.’’; and 

15 (2) by adding at the end thereof the following: 

16 ‘‘(g) EMERGENCY WAIVERS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall prescribe 

18 procedures concerning the handling of requests for 

19 waivers of regulations prescribed or orders issued 

20 under this chapter in emergency situations and may 

21 prescribe temporary emergency waiver procedures 

22 without first providing an opportunity for public 

23 comment. The Secretary may grant a waiver request 

24 if the waiver is directly related to the emergency event 

25 or necessary to aid in any recovery efforts and is in 


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1 the public interest and consistent with railroad safety. 

2 The relief shall not extend for a period of more than 

3 9 months, including the period of the relief granted 

4 under any renewal of the waiver pursuant to the 

5 emergency waiver procedures. For matters that may 

6 impact the missions of the Department of Homeland 

7 Security, the Secretary of Transportation shall con8 sult and coordinate with the Secretary of Homeland 

9 Security as soon as practicable. 

10 ‘‘(2) WAIVER BEFORE HEARING.—If, under the emer11 gency waiver procedures established under paragraph (1) 

12 of this subsection, the Secretary determines the public inter13 est would be better served by addressing a request for waiver 

14 prior to providing an opportunity for a hearing under sec15 tion 553 of title 5 and an oral presentation, the Secretary 

16 may act on the waiver request and, if the request is granted, 

17 the Secretary shall subsequently provide notice and an op18 portunity for a hearing and oral presentation pursuant to 

19 procedures prescribed under paragraph (1) of this sub20 section. Should the Secretary receive comment or a request 

21 for oral presentation on a waiver request after granting the 

22 waiver, the Secretary may take any necessary action with 

23 regard to that waiver (including rescission or modification) 

24 based on the newly acquired information. 


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1 ‘‘(3) EMERGENCY SITUATION; EMERGENCY EVENT.—In 

2 this subsection, the terms ‘emergency situation’ and ‘emer3 gency event’ mean a natural or manmade disaster, such as 

4 a hurricane, flood, earthquake, mudslide, forest fire, snow5 storm, terrorist act, biological outbreak, release of a dan6 gerous radiological, chemical, explosive, or biological mate7 rial, or a war-related activity, that poses a risk of death, 

8 serious illness, severe injury, or substantial property dam9 age. The disaster may be local, regional, or national in 

10 scope.’’. 

11 SEC. 307. FEDERAL RAIL SECURITY OFFICERS’ ACCESS TO 

12 INFORMATION. 

13 (a) AMENDMENT.—Chapter 281 is amended by adding 

14 at the end thereof the following: 

15 ‘‘§ 28104. Federal rail security officers’ access to infor16 mation 

17 ‘‘(a) ACCESS TO RECORDS OR DATABASE SYSTEMS BY

18 THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMIN19 ISTRATION.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the 

21 Federal Railroad Administration is authorized to 

22 have access to a system of documented criminal jus23 tice information maintained by the Department of 

24 Justice or by a State for the purpose of carrying out 

25 the civil and administrative responsibilities of the 


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1 Administrator to protect the safety, including secu2 rity, of railroad operations and for other purposes au3 thorized by law, including the National Crime Pre4 vention and Privacy Compact (42 U.S.C. 14611– 

5 14616). The Administrator shall be subject to the 

6 same conditions or procedures established by the De7 partment of Justice or State for access to such an in8 formation system by other governmental agencies with 

9 access to the system. 

10 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—The Administrator may not 

11 use the access authorized under paragraph (1) to con12 duct criminal investigations. 

13 ‘‘(b) DESIGNATED EMPLOYEES OF THE FEDERAL

14 RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION.—The Administrator shall, by 

15 order, designate each employee of the Administration whose 

16 primary responsibility is rail security who shall carry out 

17 the authority described in subsection (a). The Adminis18 trator shall strictly limit access to a system of documented 

19 criminal justice information to persons with security re20 sponsibilities and with appropriate security clearances. 

21 Such a designated employee may, insofar as authorized or 

22 permitted by the National Crime Prevention and Privacy 

23 Compact or other law or agreement governing an affected 

24 State with respect to such a State— 


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1 ‘‘(1) have access to and receive criminal history, 

2 driver, vehicle, and other law enforcement informa3 tion contained in the law enforcement databases of the 

4 Department of Justice, or of any jurisdiction in a 

5 State in the same manner as a police officer employed 

6 by a State or local authority of that State who is cer7 tified or commissioned under the laws of that State; 

8 ‘‘(2) use any radio, data link, or warning system 

9 of the Federal Government and of any jurisdiction in 

10 a State that provides information about wanted per11 sons, be-on-the-lookout notices, or warrant status or 

12 other officer safety information to which a police offi13 cer employed by a State or local authority in that 

14 State who is certified or commissioned under the laws 

15 of that State has access and in the same manner as 

16 such police officer; or 

17 ‘‘(3) receive Federal, State, or local government 

18 communications with a police officer employed by a 

19 State or local authority in that State in the same 

20 manner as a police officer employed by a State or 

21 local authority in that State who is commissioned 

22 under the laws of that State. 

23 ‘‘(c) SYSTEM OF DOCUMENTED CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN24 FORMATION DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘system of 

25 documented criminal justice information’ means any law 


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1 enforcement database, systems, or communications con2 taining information concerning identification, criminal 

3 history, arrests, convictions, arrest warrants, or wanted or 

4 missing persons, including the National Crime Information 

5 Center and its incorporated criminal history databases and 

6 the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications Sys7 tem.’’. 

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter analysis 

9 for chapter 281 is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 

‘‘28104. Federal rail security officers’ access to criminal history and other law enforcement records, systems, and communications.’’. 

11 SEC. 308. UPDATE OF FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRA12 TION’S WEBSITE. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall update the Fed14 eral Railroad Administration’s public website to better fa15 cilitate the ability of the public, including those individuals 

16 who are not regular users of the public website, to find cur17 rent information regarding the Federal Railroad Adminis18 tration’s activities. 

19 (b) PUBLIC REPORTING OF VIOLATIONS.—On the Fed20 eral Railroad Administration’s public website’s home page, 

21 the Secretary shall provide a mechanism for the public to 

22 submit written reports of potential violations of Federal 

23 railroad safety and hazardous materials transportation 


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1 laws, regulations and orders to the Federal Railroad Ad2 ministration. 

3 TITLE IV—RAILROAD SAFETY 

4 ENHANCEMENTS 

5 SEC. 401. EMPLOYEE TRAINING. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 201, as 

7 amended by section 208 of this Act, is further amended by 

8 adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘§ 20162. Employee training 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

11 date of enactment of the Railroad Safety Enhancement Act 

12 of 2007, the Secretary of Transportation shall issue regula13 tions requiring railroad carriers and railroad carrier con14 tractors and subcontractors to develop training plans for 

15 crafts and classes of employees, as the Secretary determines 

16 appropriate. 

17 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS.—The Secretary shall require that 

18 each training plan— 

19 ‘‘(1) clearly identify the class of craft of employ20 ees to which the plan applies; 

21 ‘‘(2) require that employees be trained on the re22 quirements of relevant Federal railroad safety laws, 

23 regulations, and orders; 


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1 ‘‘(3) require employees to be tested or otherwise 

2 demonstrate their proficiency in the subject matter of 

3 the training; and 

4 ‘‘(4) contain any other relevant information that 

5 the Secretary deems appropriate. 

6 ‘‘(c) SUBMISSION FOR APPROVAL.—The Secretary 

7 shall require each railroad carrier, railroad carrier con8 tractor, and railroad carrier subcontractor to submit its 

9 training plan to the Federal Railroad Administration for 

10 review and approval. 

11 ‘‘(d) EXEMPTION.—The Secretary may exempt rail12 road carriers and railroad carrier contractors and sub13 contractors from submitting training plans covering em14 ployees for which the Secretary has issued training regula15 tions before the date of enactment of the Railroad Safety 

16 Enhancement Act of 2007.’’. 

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter analysis 

18 for chapter 201, as amended by section 208 of this Act, is 

19 further amended by adding at the end thereof the following: 

‘‘20162. Employee training.’’. 

20 SEC. 402. CERTIFICATION OF CERTAIN CRAFTS OR CLASSES 

21 OF EMPLOYEES. 

22 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date of 

23 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue a report to 

24 the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans25 portation and the House of Representatives Committee on 


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1 Transportation and Infrastructure about whether the cer2 tification of certain crafts or classes of railroad carrier or 

3 railroad carrier contractor or subcontractor employees is 

4 necessary to reduce the number and rate of accidents and 

5 incidents or to improve railroad safety. 

6 (b) CRAFTS AND CLASSES TO BE CONSIDERED.—As 

7 part of the report, the Secretary shall consider— 

8 (1) conductors; 

9 (2) car repair and maintenance employees; 

10 (3) onboard service workers; 

11 (4) rail welders; 

12 (5) dispatchers; 

13 (6) signal repair and maintenance employees; 

14 and 

15 (7) any other craft or class of employees that the 

16 Secretary determines appropriate. 

17 (c) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary may issue regula18 tions requiring the certification of certain crafts or classes 

19 of employees that the Secretary determines pursuant to the 

20 report required by subsection (a) are necessary to reduce 

21 the number and rate of accidents and incidents or to im22 prove railroad safety. 

23 SEC. 403. TRACK INSPECTION TIME STUDY. 

24 (a) STUDY.—Not later that 2 years after the date of 

25 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall— 


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1 (1) complete a study to determine whether— 

2 (A) the required intervals of track inspec3 tions for each class of track should be amended; 

4 (B) track remedial action requirements 

5 should be amended; 

6 (C) different track inspection and repair 

7 priorities or methods should be required; and 

8 (2) issue recommendations for changes to the 

9 Federal track safety standards in part 213 of title 49, 

10 Code of Federal Regulations, based on the results of 

11 the study. 

12 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—In conducting the study the 

13 Secretary shall consider— 

14 (1) the most current rail flaw, rail defect growth, 

15 rail fatigue, and other relevant track- or rail-related 

16 research and studies; 

17 (2) the availability and feasibility of developing 

18 and implementing new or novel rail inspection tech19 nology for routine track inspections; 

20 (3) information from National Transportation 

21 Safety Board or Federal Railroad Administration ac22 cident investigations where track defects were the 

23 cause or a contributing cause; and 

24 (4) other relevant information, as determined by 

25 the Secretary. 


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1 (c) UPDATE OF REGULATIONS.—Not later than 2 years 

2 after the completion of the study required by subsection (b), 

3 the Secretary shall issue regulations implementing the rec4 ommendations of the study. 

5 SEC. 404. STUDY OF METHODS TO IMPROVE OR CORRECT 

6 STATION PLATFORM GAPS. 

7 Not later than 2 years after the enactment of this Act, 

8 the Secretary shall complete a study to determine the most 

9 safe, efficient, and cost-effective way to improve the safety 

10 of rail passenger station platforms gaps in order to increase 

11 compliance with the requirements under the Americans 

12 with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), including 

13 regulations issued pursuant to section 504 of such Act (42 

14 U.S.C. 12204) and to minimize the safety risks associated 

15 with such gaps for railroad passengers and employees. 

16 SEC. 405. LOCOMOTIVE CAB STUDIES. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

18 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, through the Rail19 road Safety Advisory Committee if the Secretary makes 

20 such a request, shall complete a study on the safety impact 

21 of the use of personal electronic devices, including cell 

22 phones, video games, and other distracting devices, by safe23 ty-related railroad employees (as defined in section 

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1 formance of such employees’ duties. The study shall consider 

2 the prevalence of the use of such devices. 

3 (b) LOCOMOTIVE CAB ENVIRONMENT.—The Secretary 

4 may also study other elements of the locomotive cab environ5 ment and their effect on an employee’s health and safety. 

6 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after the com7 pletion of any study under this section, the Secretary shall 

8 issue a report on the study to the Senate Committee on 

9 Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House of 

10 Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infra11 structure. 

12 (d) AUTHORITY.—Based on the conclusions of the 

13 study required under (a), the Secretary of Transportation 

14 may prohibit the use of personal electronic devices, such as 

15 cell phones, video games, or other electronic devices that 

16 may distract employees from safely performing their duties, 

17 unless those devices are being used according to railroad 

18 operating rules or for other work purposes. Based on the 

19 conclusions of other studies conducted under subsection (b), 

20 the Secretary may issue regulations to improve elements of 

21 the cab environment to protect an employee’s health and 

22 safety. 


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1 SEC. 406. RAILROAD SAFETY TECHNOLOGY GRANTS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 201, as 

3 amended by section 401 of this Act, is further amended by 

4 adding at the end thereof the following: 

5 ‘‘§ 20163. Railroad safety technology grants 

6 ‘‘(a) GRANT PROGRAM.—The Secretary of Transpor7 tation shall establish a grant program for the deployment 

8 of train control technologies, train control component tech9 nologies, processor-based technologies, electronically con10 trolled pneumatic brakes, rail integrity inspection systems, 

11 rail integrity warning systems, switch position indicators, 

12 remote control power switch technologies, track integrity 

13 circuit technologies, and other new or novel railroad safety 

14 technology. 

15 ‘‘(b) GRANT CRITERIA.— 

16 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBILITY.—Grants shall be made under 

17 this section to eligible passenger and freight railroad 

18 carriers, railroad suppliers, and State and local gov19 ernments for projects described in subsection (a) that 

20 have a public benefit of improved safety and network 

21 efficiency. 

22 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—Priority shall be given 

23 to projects that— 

24 ‘‘(A) focus on making technologies inter25 operable between railroad systems, such as train 

26 control technologies; 


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1 ‘‘(B) provide incentives for train control 

2 technology deployment on high-risk corridors, 

3 such as those that have high volumes of haz4 ardous materials shipments or over which com5 muter or passenger trains operate; or 

6 ‘‘(C) benefit both passenger and freight safe7 ty and efficiency. 

8 ‘‘(3) TECHNOLOGY IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.— 

9 Grants may not be awarded under this section to en10 tities that fail to develop and submit to the Secretary 

11 a technology implementation plan as required by sec12 tion 20157(d)(2). 

13 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are 

14 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Transpor15 tation $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 

16 2013 to carry out this section. Amounts appropriated pur17 suant to this section shall remain available until ex18 pended.’’. 

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter analysis 

20 for chapter 201, as amended by section 401 of this Act, is 

21 further amended by inserting after the item relating to sec22 tion 20163 the following: 

‘‘20163. Railroad safety technology grants.’’. 


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1 SEC. 407. RAILROAD SAFETY INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVE2 MENT GRANTS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 201, as 

4 amended by section 406 of this Act, is further amended by 

5 adding at the end thereof the following: 

6 ‘‘§ 20164. Railroad safety infrastructure improvement 

7 grants 

8 ‘‘(a) GRANT PROGRAM.—The Secretary of Transpor9 tation shall establish a grant program for safety improve10 ments to railroad infrastructure, including the acquisition, 

11 improvement, or rehabilitation of intermodal or rail equip12 ment or facilities, including track, bridges, tunnels, yards, 

13 buildings, passenger stations, facilities, and maintenance 

14 and repair shops. 

15 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—Grants shall be made under this 

16 section to eligible passenger and freight railroad carriers, 

17 and State and local governments for projects described in 

18 subsection (a). 

19 ‘‘(c) CONSIDERATIONS.—In awarding grants the Sec20 retary shall consider, at a minimum— 

21 ‘‘(1) the age and condition of the rail infrastruc22 ture of the applicant; 

23 ‘‘(2) the railroad’s safety record, including acci24 dent and incident numbers and rates; 

25 ‘‘(3) the volume of hazardous materials trans26 ported by the railroad; 


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1 ‘‘(4) the operation of passenger trains over the 

2 railroad; and 

3 ‘‘(5) whether the railroad has submitted a rail4 road safety risk reduction program, as required by 

5 section 20157. 

6 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

7 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Trans8 portation $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 

9 2013 to carry out this section. Amounts appropriated pur10 suant to this subsection shall remain available until ex11 pended.’’. 

12 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter analysis 

13 for chapter 201, as amended by section 406 of this Act, is 

14 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

15 20163 the following: 

‘‘20164. Railroad safety infrastructure improvement grants.’’. 

16 SEC. 408. AMENDMENT TO THE MOVEMENT-FOR-REPAIR 

17 PROVISION. 

18 Section 20303 is amended by adding at the end the 

19 following: 

20 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS FOR MOVEMENT TO

21 MAKE REPAIRS TO DEFECTIVE OR INSECURE VEHICLES.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transpor23 tation may impose conditions for the movement of a 

24 defective or insecure vehicle to make repairs in addiVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:10 Mar 04, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00179 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889

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1 tion to those conditions set forth in subsection (a) by 

2 prescribing regulations or issuing orders as necessary. 

3 ‘‘(2) NECESSITY OF MOVEMENT.—The movement 

4 of a defective or insecure vehicle from a location may 

5 be necessary to make repairs of the vehicle even 

6 though a mobile repair truck capable of making the 

7 repairs has gone to the location on an irregular basis 

8 (as specified in regulations prescribed by the Sec9 retary). 

10 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 ‘‘(1) NEAREST.—The term ‘nearest’ means the 

12 closest in the forward direction of travel for the defec13 tive or insecure vehicle. 

14 ‘‘(2) PLACE AT WHICH THE REPAIRS CAN BE

15 MADE.—The term ‘place at which the repairs can be 

16 made’ means— 

17 ‘‘(A) a location with a fixed facility for con18 ducting the repairs that are necessary to bring 

19 the defective or insecure vehicle into compliance 

20 with this chapter; or 

21 ‘‘(B) a location where a mobile repair truck 

22 capable of making the repairs that are necessary 

23 to bring the defective or insecure vehicle into 

24 compliance with this chapter makes the same 

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1 fied in regulations prescribed by the Sec2 retary).’’. 

3 SEC. 409. DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF RAIL SAFETY TECH4 NOLOGY. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 201, as 

6 amended by section 407 of this Act, is further amended by 

7 adding at the end the following new section: 

8 ‘‘§ 20165. Development and use of rail safety tech9 nology 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after enact11 ment of the Railroad Safety Enhancement Act of 2007, the 

12 Secretary of Transportation shall issue standards, guid13 ance, regulations, or orders governing the development, use, 

14 and implementation of rail safety technology in dark terri15 tory, in arrangements not defined in section 20501 or other16 wise not covered by Federal standards, guidance, regula17 tions, or orders that ensures its safe operation, such as— 

18 ‘‘(1) switch position monitoring devices; 

19 ‘‘(2) radio, remote control or other power-assisted 

20 switches; 

21 ‘‘(3) hot box, high water or earthquake detectors; 

22 ‘‘(4) remote control locomotive zone limiting de23 vices; 

24 ‘‘(5) slide fences; 

25 ‘‘(6) grade crossing video monitors; 


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1 ‘‘(7) track integrity warning systems; 

2 ‘‘(8) or other similar rail safety technologies, as 

3 determined by the Secretary. 

4 ‘‘(b) DARK TERRITORY DEFINED.—In this section, the 

5 term ‘dark territory’ means any territory in a railroad sys6 tem that does not have a signal or train control system in7 stalled or operational.’’. 

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter analysis 

9 for chapter 201, as amended by section 407 of this Act, is 

10 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

11 20164 the following: 

‘‘20165. Development and use of rail safety technology.’’. 

12 SEC. 410. EMPLOYEE SLEEPING QUARTERS. 

13 Section 21106 is amended— 

14 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before ‘‘A 

15 railroad carrier’’; 

16 (2) by striking ‘‘sanitary and give those employ17 ees and individuals an opportunity for rest free from 

18 the interruptions caused by noise under the control of 

19 the carrier;’’ in paragraph (1) and inserting ‘‘sani20 tary, give those employees and individuals an oppor21 tunity for rest free from the interruptions caused by 

22 noise under the control of the carrier, and provide in23 door toilet facilities, potable water, and other features 

24 to protect the health of employees;’’ and 

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


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1 ‘‘(b) CAMP CARS.—No later than 12 months after the 

2 date of enactment of the Railroad Safety Enhancement Act 

3 of 2007, the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary 

4 of Labor, shall issue regulations governing the use of camp 

5 cars, pursuant to subsection (a)(1), for employees and any 

6 individuals employed to maintain the right of way of a 

7 railroad carrier. The regulations may also prohibit the use 

8 of camp cars, if necessary, to protect the health and safety 

9 of the employees.’’. 

10 SEC. 411. EMPLOYEE PROTECTIONS. 

11 Section 20109(a) is amended— 

12 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (5) through (7) 

13 as paragraphs (6) through (8), respectively; and 

14 (2) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(5) to request that a railroad carrier provide 

17 first aid, prompt medical treatment, or transpor18 tation to an appropriate medical facility or hospital 

19 after being injured during the course of employment, 

20 or to comply with treatment prescribed by a physi21 cian or licensed health care professional consistent 

22 with the carrier’s medical standards for fitness for 

23 duty;’’. 


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1 SEC. 412. UNIFIED TREATMENT OF FAMILIES OF RAILROAD 

2 CARRIERS. 

3 Section 20102(3), as redesignated by section 2(b) of 

4 this Act, is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(3) ‘railroad carrier’ means a person providing 

6 railroad transportation, except that, upon petition by 

7 a group of commonly controlled railroad carriers that 

8 the Secretary determines is operating within the 

9 United States as a single, integrated rail system, the 

10 Secretary may by order treat the group of railroad 

11 carriers as a single railroad carrier for purposes of 

12 one or more provisions of part A, subtitle V of this 

13 title and implementing regulations and order, subject 

14 to any appropriate conditions that the Secretary may 

15 impose.’’. 

16 SEC. 413. STUDY OF REPEAL OF CONRAIL PROVISION. 

17 Within 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, 

18 the Secretary shall complete a study of the impacts of re19 pealing section 711 of the Regional Rail Reorganization Act 

20 of 1973 (45 U.S.C. 797j). Within 6 months after completing 

21 the study, the Secretary shall transmit a report with the 

22 Secretary’s findings, conclusions, and recommendations to 

23 the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans24 portation and the House of Representatives Committee on 

25 Transportation and Infrastructure. 


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1 SEC. 414. LIMITATIONS ON NON-FEDERAL ALCOHOL AND 

2 DRUG TESTING BY RAILROAD CARRIERS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 20l, as amended by section 

4 409, is further amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘§ 20166. Limitations on non-federal alcohol and drug 

6 testing 

7 ‘‘(a) TESTING REQUIREMENTS.—Any non-Federal al8 cohol and drug testing program of a railroad carrier must 

9 provide that all post-employment tests of the specimens of 

10 employees who are subject to both the program and chapter 

11 211 of this title be conducted using a scientifically recog12 nized method of testing capable of determining the presence 

13 of the specific analyte at a level above the cut-off level estab14 lished by the carrier. 

15 ‘‘(b) REDRESS PROCESS.—Each railroad carrier that 

16 has a non-Federal alcohol and drug testing program must 

17 provide a redress process to its employees who are subject 

18 to both the alcohol and drug testing program and chapter 

19 211 of this title for such an employee to petition for, and 

20 receive, a carrier hearing to review his or her specimen test 

21 results that were determined to be in violation of the pro22 gram. A dispute or grievance raised by a railroad carrier 

23 or its employee, except a probationary employee, in connec24 tion with the carrier’s alcohol and drug testing program 

25 and the application of this section is subject to resolution 

26 under section 3 of the Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. 153).’’. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter analysis 

2 for chapter 201, as amended by section 409 of this Act, is 

3 further amended by inserting after the item relating to sec4 tion 20165 the following: 

‘‘20166. Limitations on non-federal alcohol and drug testing by railroad carriers.’’. 

5 SEC. 415. CRITICAL INCIDENT STRESS PLAN. 

6 The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of 

7 Labor and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 

8 as appropriate, shall require each Class 1 railroad, and any 

9 other railroad that the Secretary determines appropriate— 

10 (1) to develop and submit for approval to the 

11 Secretary a critical incident stress plan that provides 

12 for debriefing, counseling, guidance, and other appro13 priate support services to be offered to an employee 

14 affected by a critical incident; 

15 (2) immediately relieve an employee involved in 

16 a critical incident of his or her duties; and 

17 (3) upon the employee’s request, relieve an em18 ployee that witnessed a critical incident of his or her 

19 duties as soon as feasible. 


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1 TITLE V—RAIL PASSENGER 

2 DISASTER FAMILY ASSISTANCE 

3 SEC. 501. ASSISTANCE BY NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION 

4 SAFETY BOARD TO FAMILIES OF PASSENGERS 

5 INVOLVED IN RAIL PASSENGER ACCIDENTS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 11 is amended by adding 

7 at the end of subchapter III the following: 

8 ‘‘§ 1139. Assistance to families of passengers involved 

9 in rail passenger accidents 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after being 

11 notified of a rail passenger accident within the United 

12 States involving a rail passenger carrier and resulting in 

13 a major loss of life, the Chairman of the National Transpor14 tation Safety Board shall— 

15 ‘‘(1) designate and publicize the name and phone 

16 number of a director of family support services who 

17 shall be an employee of the Board and shall be re18 sponsible for acting as a point of contact within the 

19 Federal Government for the families of passengers in20 volved in the accident and a liaison between the rail 

21 passenger carrier and the families; and 

22 ‘‘(2) designate an independent nonprofit organi23 zation, with experience in disasters and posttrauma 

24 communication with families, which shall have pri25 mary responsibility for coordinating the emotional 


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1 care and support of the families of passengers in2 volved in the accident. 

3 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE BOARD.—The Board 

4 shall have primary Federal responsibility for— 

5 ‘‘(1) facilitating the recovery and identification 

6 of fatally injured passengers involved in an accident 

7 described in subsection (a); and 

8 ‘‘(2) communicating with the families of pas9 sengers involved in the accident as to the roles of— 

10 ‘‘(A) the organization designated for an ac11 cident under subsection (a)(2); 

12 ‘‘(B) Government agencies; and 

13 ‘‘(C) the rail passenger carrier involved, 

14 with respect to the accident and the post-accident ac15 tivities. 

16 ‘‘(c) RESPONSIBILITIES OF DESIGNATED ORGANIZA17 TION.—The organization designated for an accident under 

18 subsection (a)(2) shall have the following responsibilities 

19 with respect to the families of passengers involved in the 

20 accident: 

21 ‘‘(1) To provide mental health and counseling 

22 services, in coordination with the disaster response 

23 team of the rail passenger carrier involved. 


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1 ‘‘(2) To take such actions as may be necessary 

2 to provide an environment in which the families may 

3 grieve in private. 

4 ‘‘(3) To meet with the families who have traveled 

5 to the location of the accident, to contact the families 

6 unable to travel to such location, and to contact all 

7 affected families periodically thereafter until such 

8 time as the organization, in consultation with the di9 rector of family support services designated for the ac10 cident under subsection (a)(1), determines that fur11 ther assistance is no longer needed. 

12 ‘‘(4) To arrange a suitable memorial service, in 

13 consultation with the families. 

14 ‘‘(d) PASSENGER LISTS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) REQUESTS FOR PASSENGER LISTS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) REQUESTS BY DIRECTOR OF FAMILY

17 SUPPORT SERVICES.—It shall be the responsi18 bility of the director of family support services 

19 designated for an accident under subsection 

20 (a)(1) to request, as soon as practicable, from the 

21 rail passenger carrier involved in the accident a 

22 list, which is based on the best available infor23 mation at the time of the request, of the names 

24 of the passengers that were aboard the rail pas25 senger carrier’s train involved in the accident. A 


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1 rail passenger carrier shall use reasonable efforts, 

2 with respect to its unreserved trains, and pas3 sengers not holding reservations on its other 

4 trains, to ascertain the names of passengers 

5 aboard a train involved in an accident. 

6 ‘‘(B) REQUESTS BY DESIGNATED ORGANIZA7 TION.—The organization designated for an acci8 dent under subsection (a)(2) may request from 

9 the rail passenger carrier involved in the acci10 dent a list described in subparagraph (A). 

11 ‘‘(2) USE OF INFORMATION.—Except as provided 

12 in subsection (k), the director of family support serv13 ices and the organization may not release to any per14 son information on a list obtained under paragraph 

15 (1) but may provide information on the list about a 

16 passenger to the family of the passenger to the extent 

17 that the director of family support services or the or18 ganization considers appropriate. 

19 ‘‘(e) CONTINUING RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE

20 BOARD.—In the course of its investigation of an accident 

21 described in subsection (a), the Board shall, to the max22 imum extent practicable, ensure that the families of pas23 sengers involved in the accident— 


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1 ‘‘(1) are briefed, prior to any public briefing, 

2 about the accident and any other findings from the 

3 investigation; and 

4 ‘‘(2) are individually informed of and allowed to 

5 attend any public hearings and meetings of the Board 

6 about the accident. 

7 ‘‘(f) USE OF RAIL PASSENGER CARRIER RE8 SOURCES.—To the extent practicable, the organization des9 ignated for an accident under subsection (a)(2) shall coordi10 nate its activities with the rail passenger carrier involved 

11 in the accident to facilitate the reasonable use of the re12 sources of the carrier. 

13 ‘‘(g) PROHIBITED ACTIONS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) ACTIONS TO IMPEDE THE BOARD.—No per15 son (including a State or political subdivision) may 

16 impede the ability of the Board (including the direc17 tor of family support services designated for an acci18 dent under subsection (a)(1)), or an organization des19 ignated for an accident under subsection (a)(2), to 

20 carry out its responsibilities under this section or the 

21 ability of the families of passengers involved in the 

22 accident to have contact with one another. 

23 ‘‘(2) UNSOLICITED COMMUNICATIONS.—No unso24 licited communication concerning a potential action 

25 for personal injury or wrongful death may be made 


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1 by an attorney (including any associate, agent, em2 ployee, or other representative of an attorney) or any 

3 potential party to the litigation to an individual 

4 (other than an employee of the rail passenger carrier) 

5 injured in the accident, or to a relative of an indi6 vidual involved in the accident, before the 45th day 

7 following the date of the accident. 

8 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITION ON ACTIONS TO PREVENT

9 MENTAL HEALTH AND COUNSELING SERVICES.—No 

10 State or political subdivision may prevent the em11 ployees, agents, or volunteers of an organization des12 ignated for an accident under subsection (a)(2) from 

13 providing mental health and counseling services 

14 under subsection (c)(1) in the 30-day period begin15 ning on the date of the accident. The director of fam16 ily support services designated for the accident under 

17 subsection (a)(1) may extend such period for not to 

18 exceed an additional 30 days if the director deter19 mines that the extension is necessary to meet the 

20 needs of the families and if State and local authori21 ties are notified of the determination. 

22 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 ‘‘(1) RAIL PASSENGER ACCIDENT.—The term 

24 ‘rail passenger accident’ means any rail passenger 


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1 disaster resulting in a major loss of life occurring in 

2 the provision of— 

3 ‘‘(A) interstate intercity rail passenger 

4 transportation (as such term is defined in sec5 tion 24102); or 

6 ‘‘(B) interstate or intrastate high-speed rail 

7 (as such term is defined in section 26105) trans8 portation, 

9 regardless of its cause or suspected cause. 

10 ‘‘(2) RAIL PASSENGER CARRIER.—The term ‘rail 

11 passenger carrier’ means a rail carrier providing— 

12 ‘‘(A) interstate intercity rail passenger 

13 transportation (as such term is defined in sec14 tion 24102); or 

15 ‘‘(B) interstate or intrastate high-speed rail 

16 (as such term is defined in section 26105) trans17 portation, 

18 except that such term does not include a tourist, his19 toric, scenic, or excursion rail carrier. 

20 ‘‘(3) PASSENGER.—The term ‘passenger’ in21 cludes— 

22 ‘‘(A) an employee of a rail passenger car23 rier aboard a train; 

24 ‘‘(B) any other person aboard the train 

25 without regard to whether the person paid for the 


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1 transportation, occupied a seat, or held a res2 ervation for the rail transportation; and 

3 ‘‘(C) any other person injured or killed in 

4 the accident. 

5 ‘‘(i) LIMITATION ON STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.— 

6 Nothing in this section may be construed as limiting the 

7 actions that a rail passenger carrier may take, or the obli8 gations that a rail passenger carrier may have, in pro9 viding assistance to the families of passengers involved in 

10 a rail passenger accident. 

11 ‘‘(j) RELINQUISHMENT OF INVESTIGATIVE PRI12 ORITY.— 

13 ‘‘(1) GENERAL RULE.—This section (other than 

14 subsection (g)) shall not apply to a railroad accident 

15 if the Board has relinquished investigative priority 

16 under section 1131(a)(2)(B) and the Federal agency 

17 to which the Board relinquished investigative priority 

18 is willing and able to provide assistance to the vic19 tims and families of the passengers involved in the 

20 accident. 

21 ‘‘(2) BOARD ASSISTANCE.—If this section does 

22 not apply to a railroad accident because the Board 

23 has relinquished investigative priority with respect to 

24 the accident, the Board shall assist, to the maximum 

25 extent possible, the agency to which the Board has reVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:10 Mar 04, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00194 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889

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1 linquished investigative priority in assisting families 

2 with respect to the accident. 

3 ‘‘(k) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this section shall 

4 be construed to abridge the authority of the Board or the 

5 Secretary of Transportation to investigate the causes or cir6 cumstances of any rail accident, including development of 

7 information regarding the nature of injuries sustained and 

8 the manner in which they were sustained for the purposes 

9 of determining compliance with existing laws and regula10 tions or for identifying means of preventing similar inju11 ries in the future, or both.’’. 

12 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

13 for such chapter is amended by inserting after the item re14 lating to section 1138 the following: 

‘‘1139. Assistance to families of passengers involved in rail passenger accidents.’’. 

15 SEC. 502. RAIL PASSENGER CARRIER PLAN TO ASSIST FAMI16 LIES OF PASSENGERS INVOLVED IN RAIL PAS17 SENGER ACCIDENTS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 243 is amended by adding 

19 at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘§ 24316. Plans to address needs of families of pas21 sengers involved in rail passenger acci22 dents 

23 ‘‘(a) SUBMISSION OF PLAN.—Not later than 6 months 

24 after the date of the enactment of the Railroad Safety En25 hancement Act of 2007, a rail passenger carrier shall subVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:10 Mar 04, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00195 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889

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1 mit to the Chairman of the National Transportation Safety 

2 Board, the Secretary of Transportation, and the Secretary 

3 of Homeland Security a plan for addressing the needs of 

4 the families of passengers involved in any rail passenger 

5 accident involving a rail passenger carrier intercity train 

6 and resulting in a major loss of life. 

7 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS OF PLANS.—The plan to be submitted 

8 by a rail passenger carrier under subsection (a) shall in9 clude, at a minimum, the following: 

10 ‘‘(1) A process by which a rail passenger carrier 

11 will maintain and provide to the National Transpor12 tation Safety Board, the Secretary of Transportation, 

13 and the Secretary of Homeland Security, immediately 

14 upon request, a list (which is based on the best avail15 able information at the time of the request) of the 

16 names of the passengers aboard the train (whether or 

17 not such names have been verified), and will periodi18 cally update the list. The plan shall include a proce19 dure, with respect to unreserved trains and passengers 

20 not holding reservations on other trains, for a rail 

21 passenger carrier to use reasonable efforts to ascertain 

22 the number and names of passengers aboard a train 

23 involved in an accident. 

24 ‘‘(2) A plan for creating and publicizing a reli25 able, toll-free telephone number within 4 hours after 


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1 such an accident occurs, and for providing staff, to 

2 handle calls from the families of the passengers. 

3 ‘‘(3) A process for notifying the families of the 

4 passengers, before providing any public notice of the 

5 names of the passengers, by suitably trained individ6 uals. 

7 ‘‘(4) A process for providing the notice described 

8 in paragraph (2) to the family of a passenger as soon 

9 as a rail passenger carrier has verified that the pas10 senger was aboard the train (whether or not the 

11 names of all of the passengers have been verified). 

12 ‘‘(5) A process by which the family of each pas13 senger will be consulted about the disposition of all 

14 remains and personal effects of the passenger within 

15 a rail passenger carrier’s control; that any possession 

16 of the passenger within a rail passenger carrier’s con17 trol will be returned to the family unless the posses18 sion is needed for the accident investigation or any 

19 criminal investigation; and that any unclaimed pos20 session of a passenger within a rail passenger car21 rier’s control will be retained by the rail passenger 

22 carrier for at least 18 months. 

23 ‘‘(6) A process by which the treatment of the 

24 families of nonrevenue passengers will be the same as 

25 the treatment of the families of revenue passengers. 


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1 ‘‘(7) An assurance that a rail passenger carrier 

2 will provide adequate training to its employees and 

3 agents to meet the needs of survivors and family 

4 members following an accident. 

5 ‘‘(c) USE OF INFORMATION.—Neither the National 

6 Transportation Safety Board, the Secretary of Transpor7 tation, the Secretary of Homeland Security, nor a rail pas8 senger carrier may release any personal information on a 

9 list obtained under subsection (b)(1) but may provide infor10 mation on the list about a passenger to the family of the 

11 passenger to the extent that the Board or a rail passenger 

12 carrier considers appropriate. 

13 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON LIABILITY.—A rail passenger car14 rier shall not be liable for damages in any action brought 

15 in a Federal or State court arising out of the performance 

16 of a rail passenger carrier under this section in preparing 

17 or providing a passenger list, or in providing information 

18 concerning a train reservation, pursuant to a plan sub19 mitted by a rail passenger carrier under subsection (b), un20 less such liability was caused by a rail passenger carrier’s 

21 gross negligence or extreme misconduct. 

22 ‘‘(e) LIMITATION ON STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.— 

23 Nothing in this section may be construed as limiting the 

24 actions that a rail passenger carrier may take, or the obli25 gations that a rail passenger carrier may have, in proVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:10 Mar 04, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00198 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1889.RS S1889

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1 viding assistance to the families of passengers involved in 

2 a rail passenger accident. 

3 ‘‘(f) FUNDING.—Out of funds appropriated pursuant 

4 to section 20117(a)(1)(A), there shall be made available to 

5 the Secretary of Transportation $500,000 for fiscal year 

6 2008 to carry out this section. Amounts made available 

7 pursuant to this subsection shall remain available until ex8 pended.’’. 

9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter analysis 

10 for chapter 243 is amended by adding at the end the fol11 lowing: 

‘‘24316. Plan to assist families of passengers involved in rail passenger accidents.’’. 

12 SEC. 503. ESTABLISHMENT OF TASK FORCE. 

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, in cooperation 

14 with the National Transportation Safety Board, organiza15 tions potentially designated under section 1139(a)(2) of 

16 title 49, United States Code, rail passenger carriers, and 

17 families which have been involved in rail accidents, shall 

18 establish a task force consisting of representatives of such 

19 entities and families, representatives of passenger rail car20 rier employees, and representatives of such other entities as 

21 the Secretary considers appropriate. 

22 (b) MODEL PLAN AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—The task 

23 force established pursuant to subsection (a) shall develop— 


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1 (1) a model plan to assist passenger rail carriers 

2 in responding to passenger rail accidents; 

3 (2) recommendations on methods to improve the 

4 timeliness of the notification provided by passenger 

5 rail carriers to the families of passengers involved in 

6 a passenger rail accident; 

7 (3) recommendations on methods to ensure that 

8 the families of passengers involved in a passenger rail 

9 accident who are not citizens of the United States re10 ceive appropriate assistance; and 

11 (4) recommendations on methods to ensure that 

12 emergency services personnel have as immediate and 

13 accurate a count of the number of passengers onboard 

14 the train as possible. 

15 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date of 

16 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall transmit to 

17 Congress a report containing the model plan and rec18 ommendations developed by the task force under subsection 

19 (b). 


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1 TITLE VI—CLARIFICATION OF 

2 FEDERAL JURISDICTION 

3 OVER SOLID WASTE FACILI4 TIES 

5 SEC. 601. SHORT TITLE. 

6 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Clean Railroads Act 

7 of 2007’’. 

8 SEC. 602. REGULATION OF SOLID WASTE RAIL TRANSFER 

9 FACILITIES. 

10 Subtitle A of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 

11 6901 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end thereof the 

12 following: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 1009. CLARIFICATION OF FEDERAL JURISDICTION 

14 OVER SOLID WASTE RAIL TRANSFER FACILI15 TIES. 

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A State or political subdivision 

17 thereof may enforce state solid waste environmental laws 

18 at a solid waste rail transfer facility. 

19 ‘‘(b) EXISTING FACILITIES.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Within 180 days after the 

21 date of enactment of the Rail Safety Enhancement 

22 Act of 2007, a solid waste rail transfer facility oper23 ating as of that date shall comply with all State solid 

24 waste environmental laws other than those requiring 

25 permits. 


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1 ‘‘(2) PERMITTING REQUIREMENTS.—Any solid 

2 waste rail transfer facility described in paragraph (1) 

3 that does not already posses permits related to State 

4 solid waste environmental laws as of the date of en5 actment of the Rail Safety Enhancement Act of 2007 

6 shall not be required by a solid waste facility permit7 ting agency to possess any permits related to State 

8 solid waste environmental laws in order to operate 

9 the facility— 

10 ‘‘(A) if within 1 year after the date of en11 actment of the Rail Safety Enhancement Act of 

12 2007, the railroad carrier that owns or operates 

13 the solid waste rail transfer facility has sub14 mitted, in good faith, a complete application for 

15 all permits required by a State’s solid waste en16 vironmental laws to a solid waste facility per17 mitting agency authorized to grant such permits; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(B) until a solid waste facility permitting 

20 agency has either approved or denied the rail21 road carrier’s application for a permit or per22 mits. 

23 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

24 ‘‘(1) SOLID WASTE FACILITY PERMITTING AGEN25 CY.—The term ‘solid waste facility permitting agency’ 


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1 means an agency of a State or subdivision thereof au2 thorized to grant permits, including licenses or other 

3 approvals or credentials, from such State or subdivi4 sion in order to generate, store, treat, handle, manage, 

5 or dispose of solid waste in such State. 

6 ‘‘(2) SOLID WASTE RAIL TRANSFER FACILITY.— 

7 The term ‘solid waste rail transfer facility’— 

8 ‘‘(A) means the portion of a facility owned 

9 or operated by or on behalf of a railroad carrier 

10 (as defined in section 10102 of title 49, United 

11 States Code) where solid waste, as a commodity 

12 to be transported in commerce, is collected, 

13 stored, separated, processed, treated, managed, 

14 disposed of, or transferred outside of original 

15 sealed shipping containers; but 

16 ‘‘(B) does not include a facility to the extent 

17 that activities taking place at such facility are 

18 comprised of the railroad transportation of solid 

19 waste after the solid waste is placed on or in a 

20 rail car, including railroad transportation for 

21 the purpose of interchanging railroad cars con22 taining sealed solid waste shipments. 

23 ‘‘(3) STATE SOLID WASTE ENVIRONMENTAL

24 LAWS.—The term ‘State solid waste environmental 

25 laws’— 


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1 ‘‘(A) means— 

2 ‘‘(i) the substantive and procedural as3 pects of statutes, regulations, and orders of 

4 a State or its subdivisions that establish 

5 public health and safety or environmental 

6 standards concerning the generation, stor7 age, treatment, handling, management, or 

8 disposal of solid waste; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) the substantive and procedural 

10 aspects of statutes, regulations, and orders 

11 of a State or its subdivisions which govern 

12 the processes and procedures by which per13 mits, licenses, or other approvals or creden14 tials from such State or subdivision are re15 quired in order to generate, store, treat, 

16 handle, manage, or dispose of solid waste 

17 are granted; but 

18 ‘‘(B) does not include the statutes, regula19 tions, and orders of a State or its subdivisions 

20 which govern land use, including land use re21 strictions or zoning ordinances.’’. 

22 SEC. 603. CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO TITLE 49. 

23 Section 10501(c)(2) is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(2) Except as provided in paragraph (3), the 

2 Board does not have jurisdiction under this part 

3 over— 

4 ‘‘(A) mass transportation provided by a 

5 local government authority; or 

6 ‘‘(B) a solid waste rail transfer facility (as 

7 defined in section 1009 (c)(2) of the Solid Waste 

8 Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6909(c)(2))).’’. 


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Calendar No. 590 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1889 

[Report No. 110

–270] 

A BILL 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to improve 

materials releases, and for other purposes. vent railroad fatalities, injuries, and hazardous railroad safety by reducing accidents and to preMARCH 3, 2008 

Reported with an amendment in the nature of a 

substitute 


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