I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4476

To provide for the security and safety of rail and rail transit transportation 

systems, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 1, 2004

Mr. LYNCH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL

To provide for the security and safety of rail and rail transit 

transportation systems, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

5 ‘‘Rail Transit Security and Safety Act of 2004’’. 

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

7 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Rail transportation security risk assessment. 

Sec. 3. Federal Rail Security Managers. 

Sec. 4. Study of foreign rail transport security programs. 

Sec. 5. Fire and life-safety improvements. 

Sec. 6. Security assistance grants. 

Sec. 7. Rail security research and development. 
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Sec. 8. Whistleblower protections for rail employees. 

Sec. 9. Authorization of appropriations.

1 SEC. 2. RAIL TRANSPORTATION SECURITY RISK ASSESS2 MENT. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—

4 (1) VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT.—The Under 

5 Secretary for Border and Transportation Security of 

6 the Department of Homeland Security, in consulta7 tion with the Secretary of Transportation, shall com8 plete a vulnerability assessment of freight and pas9 senger rail transportation (encompassing railroad 

10 carriers, as that term is defined in section 20102(2) 

11 of title 49, United States Code). The assessment 

12 shall include—

13 (A) identification and evaluation of critical 

14 assets and infrastructures; 

15 (B) identification of threats to those assets 

16 and infrastructures; 

17 (C) identification of vulnerabilities that are 

18 specific to the transportation of hazardous ma19 terials via railroad; and 

20 (D) identification of security weaknesses in 

21 passenger and cargo security, transportation in22 frastructure, protection systems, procedural 

23 policies, communications systems, employee 
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1 training, emergency response planning, and any 

2 other area identified by the assessment. 

3 (2) EXISTING PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SECTOR

4 EFFORTS.—The assessment shall take into account 

5 actions taken or planned by both public and private 

6 entities to address identified security issues and as7 sess the effective integration of such actions. 

8 (3) RECOMMENDATIONS.—Based on the assess9 ment conducted under paragraph (1), the Under 

10 Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of 

11 Transportation, shall develop prioritized rec12 ommendations for improving rail security, including 

13 any recommendations the Under Secretary has for—

14 (A) improving the security of rail tunnels, 

15 rail bridges, rail switching areas, other rail in16 frastructure and facilities, information systems, 

17 and other areas identified by the Under Sec18 retary as posing significant rail-related risks to 

19 public safety and the movement of interstate 

20 commerce, taking into account the impact that 

21 any proposed security measure might have on 

22 the provision of rail service; 

23 (B) deploying weapon detection equipment; 
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1 (C) training employees in terrorism pre2 vention, passenger evacuation, and response ac3 tivities; 

4 (D) conducting public outreach campaigns 

5 on passenger railroads; 

6 (E) deploying surveillance equipment; and 

7 (F) identifying the immediate and long8 term economic impact of measures that may be 

9 required to address those risks. 

10 (4) PLANS.—The report required by subsection 

11 (c) shall include—

12 (A) a plan, developed in consultation with 

13 the freight and intercity passenger railroads, 

14 and State and local governments, for the Fed15 eral Government to provide increased security 

16 support at high or severe threat levels of alert; 

17 and 

18 (B) a plan for coordinating rail security 

19 initiatives undertaken by the public and private 

20 sectors. 

21 (b) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the assessment 

22 required by subsection (a), the Under Secretary for Bor23 der and Transportation Security of the Department of 

24 Homeland Security shall consult with rail management, 

25 rail labor, owners or lessors of rail cars used to transport 
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1 hazardous materials, shippers of hazardous materials, 

2 public safety officials (including those within other agen3 cies and offices within the Department of Homeland Secu4 rity) and other relevant parties. 

5 (c) REPORT.—

6 (1) CONTENTS.—Within 90 days after the date 

7 of enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary shall 

8 transmit to the Senate Committee on Commerce, 

9 Science, and Transportation and the House of Rep10 resentatives Committee on Transportation and In11 frastructure a report containing the assessment and 

12 prioritized recommendations required by subsection 

13 (a) and an estimate of the cost to implement such 

14 recommendations. 

15 (2) FORMAT.—The Under Secretary may sub16 mit the report in both classified and redacted for17 mats if the Under Secretary determines that such 

18 action is appropriate or necessary. 

19 (d) ALLOCATIONS.—The assessment required by sub20 section (a) shall be used as the basis for allocating grant 

21 funds under section 6, unless the Secretary of Homeland 

22 Security determines that an adjustment is necessary to re23 spond to an urgent threat or other significant factors. 

24 (e) 2-YEAR UPDATES.—The Under Secretary, in con25 sultation with the Secretary of Transportation, shall up-
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1 date the assessment and recommendations every 2 years 

2 and transmit a report, which may be submitted in both 

3 classified and redacted formats, to the Committees named 

4 in subsection (c)(1), containing the updated assessment 

5 and recommendations. 

6 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

7 are authorized to be appropriated to the Under Secretary 

8 for Border and Transportation Security of the Depart9 ment of Homeland Security $5,000,000 for fiscal year 

10 2005 for the purpose of carrying out this section. 

11 SEC. 3. FEDERAL RAIL SECURITY MANAGERS. 

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT, DESIGNATION, AND STA13 TIONING.—The Under Secretary for Border and Trans14 portation Security of the Department of Homeland Secu15 rity shall establish the position of Federal Rail Security 

16 Manager within each of at least 8 regional areas, as di17 vided on a geographical basis. The Under Secretary shall 

18 designate individuals as Managers for, and station those 

19 Managers within, those regions. 

20 (b) DUTIES AND POWERS.—The Manager within 

21 each region shall—

22 (1) receive intelligence information related to 

23 rail and mass transit security; 
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1 (2) ensure, and assist in, the implementation of 

2 a comprehensive rail security plan for the region de3 scribed in section 2(a)(4); 

4 (3) serve as the regional coordinator of the 

5 Under Secretary’s response to terrorist incidents and 

6 threats to rail and rail assets within the region; 

7 (4) coordinate efforts related to rail security 

8 with State and local law enforcement; and 

9 (5) coordinate with other Managers. 

10 SEC. 4. STUDY OF FOREIGN RAIL TRANSPORT SECURITY 

11 PROGRAMS. 

12 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR STUDY.—Within one year 

13 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 

14 General shall complete a study of the rail passenger trans15 portation security programs that are carried out for rail 

16 transportation systems in Japan, member nations of the 

17 European Union, and other foreign countries. 

18 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this study shall be to 

19 identify effective rail transportation security measures 

20 that are in use in foreign rail transportation systems, in21 cluding innovative measures and screening procedures de22 termined effective. 

23 (c) REPORT.—The Comptroller General shall submit 

24 a report on the results of this study to the Senate Com25 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the 
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1 House of Representatives Committee on Transportation 

2 and Infrastructure. The report shall include the Comp3 troller General’s assessment regarding whether it is fea4 sible to implement within the United States any of the 

5 same or similar security measures that are determined ef6 fective under the study. 

7 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

8 are authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000 for fiscal 

9 year 2005 to carry out the provisions of this section, which 

10 shall remain available until expended. 

11 SEC. 5. FIRE AND LIFE-SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS. 

12 (a) LIFE-SAFETY NEEDS.—The Secretary of Trans13 portation is authorized to make grants to Amtrak for the 

14 purpose of making fire and life-safety improvements to 

15 tunnels on the Northeast Corridor in New York, New 

16 York, Baltimore, Maryland, Washington, District of Co17 lumbia, and Boston, Massachusetts. 

18 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

19 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of 

20 Transportation for the purposes of carrying out subsection 

21 (a) the following amounts: 

22 (1) For the 6 New York tunnels to provide ven23 tilation, electrical, and fire safety technology up24 grades, emergency communication and lighting sys-
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1 tems, and emergency access and egress for pas2 sengers—

3 (A) $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2005; 

4 (B) $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; 

5 (C) $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; 

6 (D) $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; 

7 and 

8 (E) $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2009. 

9 (2) For the Baltimore & Potomac Tunnel and 

10 the Union tunnel, together, to provide adequate 

11 drainage, ventilation, communication, lighting, and 

12 passenger egress upgrades—

13 (A) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2005; 

14 (B) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; 

15 (C) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; 

16 (D) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; and 

17 (E) $17,000,000 for fiscal year 2009. 

18 (3) For the Washington, District of Columbia, 

19 Union Station tunnels to improve ventilation, com20 munication, lighting, and passenger egress up21 grades—

22 (A) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2005; 

23 (B) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; 

24 (C) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; 

25 (D) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; and 
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1 (E) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2009. 

2 (4) For the Boston, Massachusetts, Back Bay 

3 tunnels to improve ventilation, communication, light4 ing, and passenger egress upgrades—

5 (A) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2005; 

6 (B) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; 

7 (C) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; 

8 (D) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; and 

9 (E) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2009. 

10 (c) INFRASTRUCTURE UPGRADES.—There are au11 thorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Transpor12 tation for fiscal year 2005 $3,000,000 for the preliminary 

13 design of options for a new tunnel on a different alignment 

14 to augment the capacity of the existing Baltimore tunnels. 

15 (d) AVAILABILITY OF APPROPRIATED FUNDS.—

16 Amounts appropriated pursuant to this section shall re17 main available until expended. 

18 (e) PLAN REQUIRED.—The Secretary may not make 

19 amounts available to Amtrak for obligation or expenditure 

20 under subsection (a)—

21 (1) until Amtrak has submitted to the Sec22 retary, and the Secretary has approved, an engineer23 ing and financial plan for such projects; and 

24 (2) unless, for each project funded pursuant to 

25 this section, the Secretary has approved a project 
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1 management plan prepared by Amtrak addressing 

2 project budget, construction schedule, recipient staff 

3 organization, document control and record keeping, 

4 change order procedure, quality control and assur5 ance, periodic status reports, and such other matter 

6 the Secretary deems appropriate; 

7 (f) FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION FROM OTHER TUN8 NEL USERS.—The Secretary shall, taking into account the 

9 need for timely completion of all life-safety portions of the 

10 tunnel projects described in subsection (a)—

11 (1) consider the extent to which rail carriers 

12 other than Amtrak use the tunnels; 

13 (2) consider the feasibility of seeking a financial 

14 contribution from those other rail carriers toward 

15 the costs of the projects; and 

16 (3) seek financial contributions or commitments 

17 from such other rail carriers at levels reflecting the 

18 extent of their use of the tunnels. 

19 SEC. 6. SECURITY ASSISTANCE GRANTS. 

20 (a) CAPITAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 

22 Security shall award grants directly to public trans23 portation agencies for allowable capital security im24 provements based on the recommendations estab25 lished under section 2(a)(3). 
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1 (2) ALLOWABLE USE OF FUNDS.—Grants 

2 awarded under paragraph (1) may be used for—

3 (A) tunnel protection systems; 

4 (B) perimeter protection systems; 

5 (C) redundant critical operations control 

6 systems; 

7 (D) chemical, biological, radiological, or ex8 plosive detection systems; 

9 (E) surveillance equipment; 

10 (F) communications equipment; 

11 (G) emergency response equipment; 

12 (H) fire suppression and decontamination 

13 equipment; 

14 (I) global positioning or automated vehicle 

15 locator type system equipment; 

16 (J) evacuation improvements; and 

17 (K) other capital safety improvements. 

18 (b) OPERATIONAL SECURITY ASSISTANCE PRO19 GRAM.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 

21 Security shall award grants directly to public trans22 portation agencies for allowable operational security 

23 improvements based on the recommendations estab24 lished under section 2(a)(3). 
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1 (2) ALLOWABLE USE OF FUNDS.—Grants 

2 awarded under paragraph (1) may be used for—

3 (A) security training for transit employees, 

4 including rail operators, mechanics, customer 

5 service, maintenance employees, transit police, 

6 and security personnel; 

7 (B) live or simulated drills; 

8 (C) public awareness campaigns for en9 hanced public transit security; 

10 (D) canine patrols for chemical, biological, 

11 or explosives detection; 

12 (E) overtime reimbursement for enhanced 

13 security personnel during significant national 

14 and international public events; and 

15 (F) other appropriate security improve16 ments. 

17 (c) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 

18 3 days before any grant is awarded under this section, 

19 the Secretary of Homeland Security shall notify the Com20 mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House 

21 of Representatives of the intent to award such grant. 

22 (d) PROCEDURES FOR GRANT AWARD.—The Sec23 retary shall prescribe procedures and schedules for the 

24 awarding of grants under this section, including applica25 tion and qualification procedures, and a record of decision 
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1 on applicant eligibility. The procedures shall include the 

2 execution of a grant agreement between the grant recipi3 ent and the Secretary. The Secretary shall issue a final 

4 rule establishing the procedures not later than 90 days 

5 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

6 (e) TRANSIT AGENCY RESPONSIBILITIES.—Each 

7 public transportation agency that receives a grant under 

8 this section shall—

9 (1) identify a security coordinator to coordinate 

10 security improvements; 

11 (2) develop a comprehensive plan that dem12 onstrates the agency’s capacity for operating and 

13 maintaining the equipment purchased under this 

14 subsection; 

15 (3) develop a comprehensive training plan that 

16 demonstrates the agency’s capacity to train all em17 ployees in emergency response and security aware18 ness; and 

19 (4) report annually to the Department of 

20 Homeland Security on the use of grant funds re21 ceived under this section. 

22 (f) RETURN OF MISSPENT GRANT FUNDS.—If the 

23 Secretary of Homeland Security determines that a grantee 

24 used any portion of the grant funds received under this 

25 section for a purpose other than allowable uses specified 
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1 for that grant under this section, the grantee shall return 

2 any amount so used to the Treasury of the United States. 

3 SEC. 7. RAIL SECURITY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOP5 MENT PROGRAM.—The Under Secretary for Border and 

6 Transportation Security of the Department of Homeland 

7 Security, in conjunction with the Secretary of Transpor8 tation, shall carry out a research and development pro9 gram for the purpose of improving freight and intercity 

10 passenger rail security, including research and develop11 ment projects to—

12 (1) reduce the vulnerability of passenger trains, 

13 stations, infrastructure, and equipment to explosives; 

14 (2) test new emergency response techniques and 

15 technologies; 

16 (3) research chemical, biological, radiological, or 

17 explosive detection systems; 

18 (4) research imaging technologies; 

19 (5) research technologies for sealing rail cars; 

20 and 

21 (6) support enhanced security for transpor22 tation of hazardous materials by rail, including—

23 (A) technologies to detect a breach in a 

24 tank car and transit information about the in25 tegrity of tank cars to the train crew; 
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1 (B) research to improve tank car integrity, 

2 with a focus on tank cars that carry toxic-inha3 lation chemicals; and 

4 (C) techniques to transfer hazardous mate5 rials from rail cars that are damaged or other6 wise represent an unreasonable risk to human 

7 life or public safety. 

8 (b) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT GRANTS.—The 

9 Under Secretary, in consultation with the Federal Transit 

10 Administration, shall award grants to public or private en11 tities to conduct research into, and demonstration of, tech12 nologies and methods to reduce and deter terrorist threats 

13 or mitigate damages resulting from terrorist attacks 

14 against public transportation systems, as described in sub15 section (a). 

16 SEC. 8. WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTIONS FOR RAIL EM17 PLOYEES. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—No company involved in rail 

19 transportation (encompassing railroad carriers, as that 

20 term is defined in section 20102(2) of title 49, United 

21 States Code) or any officer, employee, contractor, subcon22 tractor, or agent of such company, may discharge, demote, 

23 suspend, threaten, harass, hold liable, or discriminate in 

24 any way against an employee because of any lawful act 

25 done by the employee—
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1 (1) to provide information, to cause information 

2 to be provided, or otherwise assist in any investiga3 tion or proceeding regarding conduct that the em4 ployee believes reasonably contravenes the purposes, 

5 functions, or responsibilities of this Act, when that 

6 information or assistance is provided to or the inves7 tigation is conducted by—

8 (A) a Federal or State regulatory or law 

9 enforcement agency; 

10 (B) any Member of Congress or any com11 mittee of Congress; or 

12 (C) a person with supervisory authority 

13 over the employee (or such other person work14 ing for the employer who has the authority to 

15 investigate, discover, or terminate misconduct); 

16 or 

17 (2) to refuse to violate or assist in the violation 

18 of any rule, law, or regulation related to rail secu19 rity. 

20 (b) ENFORCEMENT ACTION.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—A person who alleges dis22 charge or other discrimination by any person in vio23 lation of subsection (a) may seek relief under sub24 section (c) by—
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1 (A) filing a complaint with the Secretary of 

2 Labor; or 

3 (B) if the Secretary of Labor has not 

4 issued a final decision within 180 days of the 

5 filing of the complaint and there is no showing 

6 that such delay is due to bad faith of the claim7 ant, bringing an action at law or equity for de 

8 novo review in the appropriate district court of 

9 the United States, which shall have jurisdiction 

10 over such action without regard to the amount 

11 in controversy. 

12 (2) PROCEDURE.—

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—An action brought 

14 under paragraph (1)(A) shall be governed by 

15 the rules and procedures set forth in section 

16 42121(b)(1) of title 49, United States Code. 

17 (B) EXCEPTION.—Notification made under 

18 section 42121(b)(1) of title 49, United States 

19 Code, shall be made to the person named in the 

20 complaint and to the employer. 

21 (C) BURDENS OF PROOF.—An action 

22 under paragraph (1)(B) shall be governed by 

23 the legal burdens of proof set forth in section 

24 42121(b) of title 49, United States Code. 
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1 (D) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—An action 

2 brought under paragraph (1) shall be com3 menced not later than 90 days after the date on 

4 which the violation occurs. 

5 (c) REMEDIES.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—An employee prevailing in 

7 any action under subsection (b)(1) shall be entitled 

8 to all relief necessary to make the employee whole. 

9 (2) COMPENSATORY DAMAGES.—Relief for any 

10 action under paragraph (1) shall include—

11 (A) reinstatement with the same seniority 

12 status that the employee would have had, but 

13 for the discrimination; 

14 (B) the amount of back pay, with interest; 

15 and 

16 (C) the compensation for any special dam17 ages sustained as a result of the discrimination, 

18 including litigation costs, expert witness fees, 

19 and reasonable attorney’s fees. 

20 (d) RIGHTS RETAINED BY EMPLOYEE.—Nothing in 

21 this section shall be deemed to diminish the rights, privi22 leges, or remedies of any employee under any Federal or 

23 State law, or under any collective bargaining agreement. 
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1 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 (a) CAPITAL SECURITY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.—

3 There are authorized to be appropriated $2,500,000,000 

4 for fiscal year 2005 to carry out the provisions of section 

5 6(a), which shall remain available until expended. 

6 (b) OPERATIONAL SECURITY ASSISTANCE PRO7 GRAM.—There are authorized to be appropriated to carry 

8 out the provisions of section 6(b)—

9 (1) $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2005; 

10 (2) $750,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; and 

11 (3) $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2007. 

12 (c) RAIL SECURITY RESEARCH AND DEVELOP13 MENT.—There are authorized to be appropriated 

14 $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2005 to carry out the provi15 sions of section 7(a), and $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2005 

16 to carry out the provisions of section 7(b), which shall re17 main available until expended.

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