I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4143 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to combat terrorism against railroad 

carriers and mass transportation systems on land, on water, or through 

the air, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 2, 2004 

Mrs. CAPITO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to combat terrorism 

against railroad carriers and mass transportation systems on land, on water, or through the air, 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 ‘‘Railroad Carriers and 

5 Mass Transportation Protection Act of 2004’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. ATTACKS AGAINST RAILROAD CARRIERS AND MASS 

2 TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 97 of title 18, United 

4 States Code, is amended by striking sections 1992 through 

5 1993 and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘§ 1992. Terrorist attacks and other violence against 

7 railroad carriers and against mass trans8 portation systems on land, on water, or 

9 through the air 

10 ‘‘(a) GENERAL PROHIBITIONS.—Whoever, in a cir11 cumstance described in subsection (c), knowingly— 

12 ‘‘(1) wrecks, derails, sets fire to, or disables 

13 railroad on-track equipment or a mass transpor14 tation vehicle; 

15 ‘‘(2) with intent to endanger the safety of any 

16 passenger or employee of a railroad carrier or mass 

17 transportation provider, or with a reckless disregard 

18 for the safety of human life, and without previously 

19 obtaining the permission of the railroad carrier— 

20 ‘‘(A) places any biological agent or toxin, 

21 destructive substance, or destructive device in, 

22 upon, or near railroad on-track equipment or a 

23 mass transportation vehicle; or 

24 ‘‘(B) releases a hazardous material or a bi25 ological agent or toxin on or near the property 
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1 of a railroad carrier or mass transportation pro2 vider; 

3 ‘‘(3) sets fire to, undermines, makes unwork4 able, unusable, or hazardous to work on or use, or 

5 places any biological agent or toxin, destructive sub6 stance, or destructive device in, upon, or near any— 

7 ‘‘(A) tunnel, bridge, viaduct, trestle, track, 

8 electromagnetic guideway, signal, station, depot, 

9 warehouse, terminal, or any other way, struc10 ture, property, or appurtenance used in the op11 eration of, or in support of the operation of, a 

12 railroad carrier, without previously obtaining 

13 the permission of the railroad carrier, and with 

14 intent to, or knowing or having reason to know 

15 such activity would likely, derail, disable, or 

16 wreck railroad on-track equipment; 

17 ‘‘(B) garage, terminal, structure, track, 

18 electromagnetic guideway, supply, or facility 

19 used in the operation of, or in support of the 

20 operation of, a mass transportation vehicle, 

21 without previously obtaining the permission of 

22 the mass transportation provider, and with in23 tent to, or knowing or having reason to know 

24 such activity would likely, derail, disable, or 

25 wreck a mass transportation vehicle used, oper-
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1 ated, or employed by a mass transportation pro2 vider; or 

3 ‘‘(4) removes an appurtenance from, damages, 

4 or otherwise impairs the operation of a railroad sig5 nal system or mass transportation signal or dis6 patching system, including a train control system, 

7 centralized dispatching system, or highway-railroad 

8 grade crossing warning signal, without authorization 

9 from the rail carrier or mass transportation pro10 vider; 

11 ‘‘(5) with intent to endanger the safety of any 

12 passenger or employee of a railroad carrier or mass 

13 transportation provider or with a reckless disregard 

14 for the safety of human life, interferes with, dis15 ables, or incapacitates any dispatcher, driver, cap16 tain, locomotive engineer, railroad conductor, or 

17 other person while the person is employed in dis18 patching, operating, or maintaining railroad on-track 

19 equipment or a mass transportation vehicle; 

20 ‘‘(6) engages in conduct, including the use of a 

21 dangerous weapon, with the intent to cause death or 

22 serious bodily injury to any person who is on the 

23 property of a railroad carrier or mass transportation 

24 provider that is used for railroad or mass transpor25 tation purposes; 
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1 ‘‘(7) conveys false information, knowing the in2 formation to be false, concerning an attempt or al3 leged attempt that was made, is being made, or is 

4 to be made, to engage in a violation of this sub5 section; or 

6 ‘‘(8) attempts, threatens, or conspires to engage 

7 in any violation of any of paragraphs (1) through 

8 (8); 

9 shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 

10 20 years, or both. 

11 ‘‘(b) AGGRAVATED OFFENSE.—Whoever commits an 

12 offense under subsection (a) of this section in a cir13 cumstance in which— 

14 ‘‘(1) the railroad on-track equipment or mass 

15 transportation vehicle was carrying a passenger or 

16 employee at the time of the offense; 

17 ‘‘(2) the railroad on-track equipment or mass 

18 transportation vehicle was carrying high-level radio19 active waste or spent nuclear fuel at the time of the 

20 offense; 

21 ‘‘(3) the railroad on-track equipment or mass 

22 transportation vehicle was carrying a hazardous ma23 terial at the time of the offense that— 
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1 ‘‘(A) was required to be placarded under 

2 subpart F of part 172 of title 49, Code of Fed3 eral Regulations; and 

4 ‘‘(B) is identified as class number 3, 4, 5, 

5 6.1, or 8 and packing group I or packing group 

6 II, or class number 1, 2, or 7 under the haz7 ardous materials table of section 172.101 of 

8 title 49, Code of Federal Regulations; or 

9 ‘‘(4) the offense results in the death of any per10 son; 

11 shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for any term 

12 of years or life, or both. In the case of a violation described 

13 in paragraph (2), the term of imprisonment shall be not 

14 less than 30 years; and, in the case of a violation described 

15 in paragraph (4), the offender shall be fined under this 

16 title and imprisoned for life and be subject to the death 

17 penalty. 

18 ‘‘(c) CIRCUMSTANCES REQUIRED FOR OFFENSE.—A 

19 circumstance referred to in subsection (a) is any of the 

20 following: 

21 ‘‘(1) Any of the conduct required for the offense 

22 is, or, in the case of an attempt, threat, or con23 spiracy to engage in conduct, the conduct required 

24 for the completed offense would be, engaged in, on, 

25 against, or affecting a mass transportation provider 
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1 or railroad carrier engaged in or affecting interstate 

2 or foreign commerce. 

3 ‘‘(2) Any person travels or communicates across 

4 a State line in order to commit the offense, or trans5 ports materials across a State line in aid of the com6 mission of the offense. 

7 ‘‘(d) NONAPPLICABILITY.—Subsection (a) does not 

8 apply to the conduct with respect to a destructive sub9 stance or destructive device that is also classified under 

10 chapter 51 of title 49 as a hazardous material in com11 merce if the conduct— 

12 ‘‘(1) complies with chapter 51 of title 49 and 

13 regulations, exemptions, approvals, and orders 

14 issued under that chapter, or 

15 ‘‘(2) constitutes a violation, other than a crimi16 nal violation, of chapter 51 of title 49 or a regula17 tion or order issued under that chapter. 

18 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

19 ‘‘(1) the term ‘biological agent’ has the meaning 

20 given to that term in section 178(1); 

21 ‘‘(2) the term ‘dangerous weapon’ means a 

22 weapon, device, instrument, material, or substance, 

23 animate or inanimate, that is used for, or is readily 

24 capable of, causing death or serious bodily injury, in-
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cluding a pocket knife with a blade of less than 21 1 ⁄2

2 inches in length and a box cutter; 

3 ‘‘(3) the term ‘destructive device’ has the mean4 ing given to that term in section 921(a)(4); 

5 ‘‘(4) the term ‘destructive substance’ means an 

6 explosive substance, flammable material, infernal 

7 machine, or other chemical, mechanical, or radio8 active device or material, or matter of a combustible, 

9 contaminative, corrosive, or explosive nature, except 

10 that the term ‘radioactive device’ does not include 

11 any radioactive device or material used solely for 

12 medical, industrial, research, or other peaceful pur13 poses; 

14 ‘‘(5) the term ‘hazardous material’ has the 

15 meaning given to that term in chapter 51 of title 49; 

16 ‘‘(6) the term ‘high-level radioactive waste’ has 

17 the meaning given to that term in section 2(12) of 

18 the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 

19 10101(12)); 

20 ‘‘(7) the term ‘mass transportation’ has the 

21 meaning given to that term in section 5302(a)(7) of 

22 title 49, except that the term includes school bus, 

23 charter, and sightseeing transportation; 
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1 ‘‘(8) the term ‘on-track equipment’ means a 

2 carriage or other contrivance that runs on rails or 

3 electromagnetic guideways; 

4 ‘‘(9) the term ‘railroad on-track equipment’ 

5 means a train, locomotive, tender, motor unit, 

6 freight or passenger car, or other on-track equip7 ment used, operated, or employed by a railroad car8 rier; 

9 ‘‘(10) the term ‘railroad’ has the meaning given 

10 to that term in chapter 201 of title 49; 

11 ‘‘(11) the term ‘railroad carrier’ has the mean12 ing given to that term in chapter 201 of title 49; 

13 ‘‘(12) the term ‘serious bodily injury’ has the 

14 meaning given to that term in section 1365; 

15 ‘‘(13) the term ‘spent nuclear fuel’ has the 

16 meaning given to that term in section 2(23) of the 

17 Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 

18 10101(23)); 

19 ‘‘(14) the term ‘State’ has the meaning given to 

20 that term in section 2266; 

21 ‘‘(15) the term ‘toxin’ has the meaning given to 

22 that term in section 178(2); and 

23 ‘‘(16) the term ‘vehicle’ means any carriage or 

24 other contrivance used, or capable of being used, as 
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1 a means of transportation on land, on water, or 

2 through the air.’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

4 (1) The table of sections at the beginning of 

5 chapter 97 of title 18, United States Code, is 

6 amended— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘RAILROADS’’ in the 

8 chapter heading and inserting ‘‘RAILROAD 

9 CARRIERS AND MASS TRANSPOR10 TATION SYSTEMS ON LAND, ON 

11 WATER, OR THROUGH THE AIR’’; 

12 (B) by striking the items relating to sec13 tions 1992 and 1993; and 

14 (C) by inserting after the item relating to 

15 section 1991 the following: 

‘‘1992. Terrorist attacks and other violence against railroad carriers and 

against mass transportation systems on land, on water, or 

through the air.’’. 

16 (2) The table of chapters at the beginning of 

17 part I of title 18, United States Code, is amended 

18 by striking the item relating to chapter 97 and in19 serting the following: 

‘‘97. Railroad carriers and mass transportation systems 

on land, on water, or through the air ............ 1991’’. 

20 (3) Title 18, United States Code, is amended— 

21 (A) in section 2332b(g)(5)(B)(i), by strik22 ing ‘‘1992 (relating to wrecking trains), 1993 
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1 (relating to terrorist attacks and other acts of 

2 violence against mass transportation systems),’’ 

3 and inserting ‘‘1992 (relating to terrorist at4 tacks and other acts of violence against railroad 

5 carriers and against mass transportation sys6 tems on land, on water, or through the air),’’; 

7 (B) in section 2339A, by striking ‘‘1993,’’; 

8 and 

9 (C) in section 2516(1)(c) by striking 

10 ‘‘1992 (relating to wrecking trains),’’ and in11 serting ‘‘1992 (relating to terrorist attacks and 

12 other acts of violence against railroad carriers 

13 and against mass transportation systems on 

14 land, on water, or through the air),’’. 

Æ