II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2858 

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

materials, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014 

Mr. MENENDEZ introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To enhance rail safety and provide for the safe transport 

of hazardous materials, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Toxics by Rail Ac5 countability and Community Knowledge (TRACK) Act of 

6 2014’’. 

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

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) LONG-LASTING OR IRREVERSIBLE HEALTH

10 CONSEQUENCES.—The term ‘‘long-lasting or irreVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:13 Oct 01, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2858.IS S2858

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1 versible health consequences’’ means those health 

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

4 2 or AEGL–3, as established by the National Advi5 sory Committee on Acute Exposure Guideline Levels 

6 for Hazardous Substances. 

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

11 health made by a qualified entity. 

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

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

15 public health, chemical safety or transportation, or 

16 environmental protection. 

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

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

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

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

22 unintended release of hazardous materials shall periodi23 cally review any post-accident public health assessments 

24 regarding the extent to which individuals exposed to the 


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1 hazardous material that was released could experience 

2 long-lasting or irreversible health consequences, and— 

3 (1) inform in a timely manner individuals ex4 posed to the hazardous material of any health infor5 mation, including information regarding long-lasting 

6 or irreversible health consequences, included in such 

7 reports; and 

8 (2) offer to renegotiate any legal settlements 

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

11 the potential for long-lasting or irreversible health 

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

14 (c) ENFORCEMENT.—Any railroad carrier violating 

15 subsection (b)(2) or a regulation prescribed pursuant to 

16 such subsection shall be liable to the Federal Government 

17 for a civil penalty for each violation or for each day the 

18 violation continues, as follows: 

19 (1) For a railroad carrier that has annual car20 rier operating revenues that meet the threshold 

21 amount for Class I carriers as determined by the 

22 Surface Transportation Board under section 

23 1201.1–1 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, 

24 the penalty shall be not less than $100,000 and not 

25 more than $1,000,000. 


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1 (2) For a railroad carrier that has annual car2 rier operating revenues that meet the threshold 

3 amount for Class II carriers as determined by the 

4 Surface Transportation Board under section 

5 1201.1–1 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, 

6 the penalty shall be not less than $25,000 and not 

7 more than $250,000. 

8 (3) For a railroad carrier that has annual car9 rier operating revenues that meet the threshold 

10 amount for Class III carriers as determined by the 

11 Surface Transportation Board under section 

12 1201.1–1 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, 

13 the penalty shall be not less than $10,000 and not 

14 more than $100,000. 

15 SEC. 3. COMMODITY FLOW TRANSPARENCY. 

16 Not later than two years after the date of the enact17 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall 

18 prescribe regulations requiring a railroad carrier trans19 porting a hazardous material to provide first responders, 

20 emergency response officials, and law enforcement per21 sonnel in the communities through which the hazardous 

22 material is transported with accurate and current com23 modity flow data and assist with development of emer24 gency operations and response plans designed to protect 

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1 road accident or incident involving the hazardous material. 

2 In prescribing these regulations, the Secretary may con3 sider which hazardous materials or classes of hazardous 

4 materials are most relevant to be included within com5 modity flow information based on factors including the 

6 volume of the hazardous material transported and the 

7 threat to public health and community safety posed by 

8 each hazardous material. 

9 SEC. 4. MOVEABLE BRIDGE INSPECTION BEFORE TRAIN 

10 MOVEMENT. 

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

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

13 Secretary of Transportation shall prescribe regulations es14 tablishing a procedure for a railroad carrier to permit a 

15 train to pass a red signal aspect protecting a moveable 

16 bridge. 

17 (b) TRAINING AND QUALIFICATIONS.— 

18 (1) TRAINING PROGRAM.—The procedure estab19 lished pursuant to subsection (a) shall require a rail20 road carrier that operates across a moveable bridge 

21 to have in place a program to train and qualify em22 ployees of the carrier to determine whether a train 

23 can safely travel across a moveable bridge when a 

24 signal protecting the bridge is displaying a red sig25 nal aspect. 


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1 (2) REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS.—The railroad 

2 carrier shall ensure that only an individual qualified 

3 under the railroad carrier’s training program is re4 sponsible for making a determination regarding 

5 whether it is safe for a train to travel across a move6 able bridge when a signal protecting the bridge is 

7 displaying a red signal aspect. 

8 (c) ENFORCEMENT.—Any railroad carrier violating 

9 this section or a regulation prescribed in this section shall 

10 be liable to the Federal Government for a civil penalty for 

11 each violation or for each day the violation continues, as 

12 follows: 

13 (1) For a railroad carrier that has annual car14 rier operating revenues that meet the threshold 

15 amount for Class I carriers as determined by the 

16 Surface Transportation Board under section 

17 1201.1–1 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, 

18 the penalty shall be not less than $100,000 and not 

19 more than $1,000,000. 

20 (2) For a railroad carrier that has annual car21 rier operating revenues that meet the threshold 

22 amount for Class II carriers as determined by the 

23 Surface Transportation Board under section 

24 1201.1–1 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, 


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1 the penalty shall be not less than $25,000 and not 

2 more than $250,000. 

3 (3) For a railroad carrier that has annual car4 rier operating revenues that meet the threshold 

5 amount for Class III carriers as determined by the 

6 Surface Transportation Board under section 

7 1201.1–1 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, 

8 the penalty shall be not less than $10,000 and not 

9 more than $100,000. 

10 SEC. 5. ROUTE RISK ASSESSMENT. 

11 (a) ROUTE RISK ASSESSMENT TOOLS.—The Sec12 retary of Transportation, in collaboration with the Sec13 retary of Homeland Security and the American Short Line 

14 and Regional Railroad Association, shall develop a route 

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

16 railroad carriers that— 

17 (1) addresses any known limitations of the Rail 

18 Corridor Risk Management Safety software tool for 

19 short line and regional railroad carriers; and 

20 (2) allows for safety and security risk assess21 ments to be performed by short line and regional 

22 railroad carriers in instances when alternative routes 

23 are not available. 

24 (b) ROUTE RISK ASSESSMENT AUDITS.—The Sec25 retary of Transportation, in collaboration with the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:13 Oct 01, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2858.IS S2858

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1 retary of Homeland Security and the American Short Line 

2 and Regional Railroad Association, shall implement a pro3 gram to conduct audits of short line and regional railroads 

4 to ensure that proper route risk assessments that identify 

5 safety and security vulnerabilities are being performed and 

6 are incorporated into a safety management system pro7 gram. 

8 SEC. 6. RAILROAD SAFETY RISK REDUCTION PROGRAM 

9 AMENDMENTS. 

10 (a) SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS.—Section 

11 20156(d)(1) of title 49, United States Code, is amended— 

12 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

13 and inserting a semicolon; 

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

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

16 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub17 paragraph: 

18 ‘‘(C) the use of safety management sys19 tems and their associated key principles, includ20 ing top-down ownership and policies, analysis of 

21 operational incidents and accidents, and contin22 uous evaluation and improvement programs.’’. 

23 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con24 gress that, under the Railroad Safety Risk Reduction Pro25 gram under section 20156 of title 49, United States Code, 


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1 the Secretary of Transportation should include within the 

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

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

4 for an incident, accident, or emergency involving haz5 ardous materials that has led to a fatality or personal in6 jury, an evacuation, or environmental damage within the 

7 last five years. 

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

9 (a) REAL-TIME EMERGENCY RESPONSE NOTIFICA10 TION.—Not later than one year after the date of the enact11 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall 

12 prescribe regulations— 

13 (1) requiring a railroad carrier transporting a 

14 hazardous material to have the capability to gen15 erate, maintain, retrieve, and promptly deliver accu16 rate and real-time consists that include the identity 

17 and location of the hazardous material on the train; 

18 (2) requiring a railroad carrier transporting a 

19 hazardous material to provide such information 

20 promptly to first responders, emergency response of21 ficials, and law enforcement personnel in the event 

22 of an incident, accident, or emergency, or as re23 quired by these entities to protect public health and 

24 community safety; and 


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1 (3) prohibiting a railroad carrier, employee, or 

2 agent from withholding, or a railroad carrier from 

3 instructing its employees or agents to withhold, a 

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

5 responders, emergency response officials, and law 

6 enforcement personnel in the event of an incident, 

7 accident, or emergency involving the transportation 

8 of hazardous materials by railroad that threatens 

9 public health or safety. 

10 (b) EMERGENCY RESPONSE STANDARDIZATION.— 

11 The Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with rail12 road carriers, shall ensure that emergency response infor13 mation carried by train crews transporting hazardous ma14 terials is consistent with and is at least as protective as 

15 the emergency response guidance provided in the Emer16 gency Response Guidebook issued by the Department of 

17 Transportation. 

18 (c) ENFORCEMENT.—Any railroad carrier violating 

19 subsection (a)(3) or a regulation prescribed under sub20 section (a)(3) shall be liable to the Federal Government 

21 for a civil penalty for each violation or each day the viola22 tion continues, as follows: 

23 (1) For a railroad carrier that has annual car24 rier operating revenues that meet the threshold 

25 amount for Class I carriers as determined by the 


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1 Surface Transportation Board under section 

2 1201.1–1 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, 

3 the penalty shall be not less than $100,000 and not 

4 more than $1,000,000. 

5 (2) For a railroad carrier that has annual car6 rier operating revenues that meet the threshold 

7 amount for Class II carriers as determined by the 

8 Surface Transportation Board under section 

9 1201.1–1 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, 

10 the penalty shall be not less than $25,000 and not 

11 more than $250,000. 

12 (3) For a railroad carrier that has annual car13 rier operating revenues that meet the threshold 

14 amount for Class III carriers as determined by the 

15 Surface Transportation Board under section 

16 1201.1–1 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, 

17 the penalty shall be not less than $10,000 and not 

18 more than $100,000. 

19 SEC. 8. PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

20 Not later than one year after the date of the enact21 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall 

22 prescribe regulations requiring railroad carriers trans23 porting hazardous materials to develop, implement, and 

24 periodically evaluate a public education program for the 

25 communities along railroad hazardous materials routes. 


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1 The public education program may include the following 

2 elements: 

3 (1) Procedures for reporting the release of a 

4 hazardous material. 

5 (2) Physical indications of a release of a haz6 ardous material, including a focus on hazardous ma7 terials that are most commonly transported in or 

8 near a given community. 

9 (3) Methods of communication that will be used 

10 to alert the community in the event of a railroad in11 cident, accident, or emergency involving a hazardous 

12 material. 

13 (4) Steps that should be taken by community 

14 residents to ensure public health and safety in the 

15 event of a hazardous material release. 

16 (5) Discussion of possible public health and 

17 safety concerns associated with an unintended re18 lease of a hazardous material, including a focus on 

19 hazardous materials that are most commonly trans20 ported in or near a given community. 

21 SEC. 9. INFLATION ADJUSTMENTS. 

22 The Secretary of Transportation shall issue a state23 ment of agency policy adjusting the penalty schedules for 

24 violations outlined in this Act as necessary to account for 

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


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1 review the minimum and maximum civil monetary penalty 

2 for inflation under the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation 

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

4 2461 note). The Secretary may subject the statement of 

5 agency policy to notice and comment, as the Secretary 

6 considers appropriate. 

Æ 


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