I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4604 

To improve railroad security and to authorize railroad security funding, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 17, 2004 

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska (for himself, Mr. QUINN, and Mr. PORTER) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation 

and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To improve railroad security and to authorize railroad 

security funding, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Railroads 

5 against Enemy Efforts through Modernization, Planning, 

6 and Technology Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. RAILROAD TRANSPORTATION SECURITY PLAN. 

8 (a) REQUIREMENT.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transpor10 tation, in consultation with the Under Secretary of 
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1 Homeland Security for Border and Transportation 

2 Security and in accordance with the Memorandum of 

3 Understanding executed under section 3, shall de4 velop a plan for the security of the Nation’s rail5 roads. The plan shall include— 

6 (A) identification and evaluation of critical 

7 railroad assets and infrastructures; 

8 (B) identification of threats to those assets 

9 and infrastructures; 

10 (C) identification of vulnerabilities that are 

11 specific to the transportation of hazardous ma12 terials via railroad; 

13 (D) identification of redundant and backup 

14 systems required to ensure the continued oper15 ation of critical elements of the railroad system 

16 in the event of an attack or other incident, in17 cluding disruption of commercial electric power 

18 or communications networks; 

19 (E) identification of security weaknesses in 

20 passenger and cargo security, transportation in21 frastructure, protection systems, procedural 

22 policies, communications systems, employee 

23 training, emergency response planning, and any 

24 other area identified by the plan; 
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1 (F) a plan for the Federal Government to 

2 provide increased security support at high or 

3 severe threat levels of alert, developed in con4 sultation with the freight and intercity pas5 senger railroads and State and local govern6 ments; 

7 (G) procedures for establishing and main8 taining permanent and comprehensive consult9 ative relations among the parties described in 

10 subsection (b); and 

11 (H) a contingency plan, developed in con12 junction with freight and intercity and com13 muter passenger railroads, to ensure the contin14 ued movement of freight and passengers in the 

15 event of an attack affecting the railroad system, 

16 which shall contemplate— 

17 (i) the possibility of rerouting traffic 

18 due to the loss of critical infrastructure, 

19 such as a bridge, tunnel, yard, or station; 

20 and 

21 (ii) methods of continuing railroad 

22 service in the Northeast Corridor in the 

23 event of a commercial power loss, or catas24 trophe affecting a critical bridge, tunnel, 

25 yard, or station. 
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1 (2) EXISTING PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SECTOR

2 EFFORTS.—The plan shall take into account actions 

3 taken or planned by both public and private entities 

4 to address identified security issues and assess the 

5 effective integration of such actions. 

6 (3) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Secretary of 

7 Transportation shall develop prioritized rec8 ommendations for improving railroad security, in9 cluding recommendations for— 

10 (A) improving the security of rail tunnels, 

11 rail bridges, rail switching and car storage 

12 areas, other rail infrastructure and facilities, in13 formation systems, and other areas identified 

14 by the Secretary as posing significant railroad15 related risks to public safety and the movement 

16 of interstate commerce, taking into account the 

17 impact that any proposed security measure 

18 might have on the provision of railroad service; 

19 (B) deploying equipment to detect explo20 sives and hazardous chemical, biological, and 

21 radioactive substances, and any appropriate 

22 countermeasures; 

23 (C) installing redundant and backup sys24 tems to ensure the continued operation of crit25 ical elements of the railroad system in the event 
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1 of an attack or other incident, including disrup2 tion of commercial electric power or commu3 nications networks; 

4 (D) conducting public outreach campaigns 

5 on passenger railroads; 

6 (E) deploying surveillance equipment; and 

7 (F) identifying the immediate and long8 term costs of measures that may be required to 

9 address those risks. 

10 (b) CONSULTATION.—In developing the plan under 

11 subsection (a), the Secretary of Transportation shall con12 sult with rail management, rail labor, owners or lessors 

13 of rail cars used to transport hazardous materials, first 

14 responders, shippers of hazardous materials, State De15 partments of Transportation, public safety officials (in16 cluding those within agencies and offices of the Depart17 ment of Homeland Security), and other relevant parties. 

18 (c) REPORT.— 

19 (1) CONTENTS.—Not later than 180 days after 

20 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

21 Transportation shall transmit to the Committee on 

22 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Sen23 ate and the Committee on Transportation and Infra24 structure of the House of Representatives a report 

25 containing the plan and prioritized recommendations 
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1 required by subsection (a), along with an estimate of 

2 the cost to implement such recommendations. 

3 (2) FORMAT.—The Secretary may submit the 

4 report in both classified and redacted formats if the 

5 Secretary determines that such action is appropriate 

6 or necessary. 

7 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

8 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of 

9 Transportation $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2005 for the 

10 purpose of carrying out this section. 

11 SEC. 3. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING. 

12 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

13 of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation and the Sec14 retary of Homeland Security shall execute a memorandum 

15 of understanding governing the roles and responsibilities 

16 of the Department of Transportation and the Department 

17 of Homeland Security, respectively, in addressing railroad 

18 transportation security matters, including the processes 

19 the departments will follow to promote communications, 

20 efficiency, and nonduplication of effort. 

21 SEC. 4. RAILROAD SECURITY UPGRADES. 

22 (a) SECURITY IMPROVEMENT GRANTS.—The Sec23 retary of Transportation is authorized to make grants to 

24 railroads, hazardous materials shippers, owners of rail 

25 cars used in the transportation of hazardous materials, 
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1 universities, colleges, and research centers, and State and 

2 local governments (for railroad facilities and infrastruc3 ture) for full or partial reimbursement of costs incurred 

4 to prevent or respond to acts of terrorism, sabotage, or 

5 other railroad security threats, including providing for— 

6 (1) automated security inspection; 

7 (2) continued development and pilot deployment 

8 of communications-based train control systems; 

9 (3) emergency bridge repair and replacement 

10 technology and testing; 

11 (4) track, structure, and right-of-way integrity 

12 monitoring; 

13 (5) technologies for reduction of tank car vul14 nerability; 

15 (6) demonstration of bridge and tunnel inspec16 tion technologies; 

17 (7) establishment of a unified national railroad 

18 emergency operations center; 

19 (8) signal system security at turnouts; 

20 (9) security and redundancy for critical commu21 nications, electric power (including traction power), 

22 computer, and train control systems essential for se23 cure railroad operations or to continue railroad oper24 ations after an attack impacting railroad operations; 
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1 (10) the security of hazardous material trans2 portation by railroad; 

3 (11) secure passenger railroad stations, trains, 

4 and infrastructure; 

5 (12) public security awareness campaigns for 

6 passenger train operations; 

7 (13) the sharing of intelligence and information 

8 about railroad security threats; 

9 (14) train tracking and interoperable commu10 nications systems that are coordinated to the max11 imum extent possible; 

12 (15) additional police and security officers, in13 cluding canine units; and 

14 (16) other improvements recommended by the 

15 report required by section 2, including infrastruc16 ture, facilities, and equipment upgrades. 

17 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

18 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of 

19 Transportation— 

20 (1) $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2005 

21 and 2006 for automated security inspection; 

22 (2) $20,000,000 for continued development and 

23 deployment of communications-based train control 

24 systems; 
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1 (3) $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2005 

2 through 2008 for emergency bridge repair and re3 placement technology and testing; 

4 (4) $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2005 for track, 

5 structure, and right-of-way integrity monitoring; 

6 (5) $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2005 for tech7 nologies for reduction of tank car vulnerability; 

8 (6) $20,000,000 for demonstration of bridge 

9 and tunnel inspection technologies; 

10 (7) $10,000,000 for establishment of a unified 

11 national railroad emergency operations center; 

12 (8) $1,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2005 

13 and 2006 for signal system security at turnouts; and 

14 (9) $350,000,000 for fiscal year 2005 to carry 

15 out paragraphs (9) through (16) of subsection (a). 

16 Amounts appropriated pursuant to this subsection shall 

17 remain available until expended. 

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

19 (a) LIFE-SAFETY NEEDS.—The Secretary of Trans20 portation is authorized to procure fire and life-safety im21 provements to the tunnels on the Northeast Corridor in 

22 New York, New York, Baltimore, Maryland, and Wash23 ington, D.C. 

24 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

25 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of 
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1 Transportation for the purposes of carrying out subsection 

2 (a) the following amounts: 

3 (1) For the 6 New York tunnels, to provide 

4 ventilation, electrical, and fire safety technology up5 grades, emergency communication and lighting sys6 tems, and emergency access and egress for pas7 sengers— 

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

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

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

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

12 and 

13 (E) $170,000,000 for fiscal year 2009. 

14 (2) For the Baltimore & Potomac tunnel and 

15 the Union tunnel, together, to provide adequate 

16 drainage, ventilation, communication, lighting, and 

17 passenger egress upgrades— 

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

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

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

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

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

23 (3) For the Washington, D.C., Union Station 

24 tunnels, to improve ventilation, communication, 

25 lighting, and passenger egress upgrades— 
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1 (A) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2005; 

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

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

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

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

6 (c) AVAILABILITY OF APPROPRIATED FUNDS.— 

7 Amounts appropriated pursuant to this section shall re8 main available until expended. 

9 SEC. 6. MISCELLANEOUS TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING 

10 PROVISIONS. 

11 (a) RAIL POLICE OFFICERS.—Section 28101 of title 

12 49, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘the rail 

13 carrier’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘any rail car14 rier’’. 

15 (b) REVIEW OF RAIL REGULATIONS.—Not later than 

16 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec17 retary of Transportation, in consultation with the Under 

18 Secretary of Homeland Security for Border and Transpor19 tation Security, shall review existing rail regulations of the 

20 Department of Transportation for the purpose of identi21 fying areas in which those regulations need to be revised 

22 to improve railroad security. 

23 (c) RAILROAD SECURITY.—Section 20101 of title 49, 

24 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘safety’’ and 

25 inserting ‘‘safety, including security,’’. 
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1 (d) RAIL SAFETY REGULATIONS.—Section 20103(a) 

2 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking 

3 ‘‘safety’’ the first place it appears, and inserting ‘‘safety, 

4 including security,’’. 

5 (e) CERTAIN PERSONNEL LIMITATIONS NOT TO

6 APPLY.—Any statutory limitation on the number of em7 ployees in the Transportation Security Administration of 

8 the Department of Transportation, before or after its 

9 transfer to the Department of Homeland Security, does 

10 not apply to the extent that any such employees are re11 sponsible for implementing the provisions of this Act. 

12 SEC. 7. DEFINITION. 

13 For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘railroad’’ has the 

14 meaning given that term in section 20102 of title 49, 

15 United States Code. 

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