108TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 874

AN ACT

To establish a program, coordinated by the National Transportation Safety Board, of assistance

to families of passengers involved in rail passenger accidents.

108TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 874

AN ACT

To establish a program, coordinated by the National Transportation Safety Board, of assistance to families of passengers involved in rail passenger accidents.

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.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rail Passenger Dis3 aster Family Assistance Act of 2003’’.

4 SEC. 2. ASSISTANCE BY NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFE5 TY BOARD TO FAMILIES OF PASSENGERS IN6 VOLVED IN RAIL PASSENGER ACCIDENTS.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 11 of

8 title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the

9 end the following:

10 ‘‘§ 1138. Assistance to families of passengers involved

11 in rail passenger accidents

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

13 being notified of a rail passenger accident within the

14 United States involving a rail passenger carrier and result15 ing in a major loss of life, the Chairman of the National

16 Transportation Safety Board shall—

17 ‘‘(1) designate and publicize the name and

18 phone number of a director of family support serv19 ices who shall be an employee of the Board and shall

20 be responsible for acting as a point of contact within

21 the Federal Government for the families of pas22 sengers involved in the accident and a liaison be23 tween the rail passenger carrier and the families;

24 and

25 ‘‘(2) designate an independent nonprofit organi26 zation, with experience in disasters and posttrauma
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1 communication with families, which shall have pri2 mary responsibility for coordinating the emotional

3 care and support of the families of passengers in4 volved in the accident.

5 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE BOARD.—The Board

6 shall have primary Federal responsibility for—

7 ‘‘(1) facilitating the recovery and identification

8 of fatally injured passengers involved in an accident

9 described in subsection (a); and

10 ‘‘(2) communicating with the families of pas11 sengers involved in the accident as to the roles of—

12 ‘‘(A) the organization designated for an ac13 cident under subsection (a)(2);

14 ‘‘(B) Government agencies; and

15 ‘‘(C) the rail passenger carrier involved,

16 with respect to the accident and the post-accident

17 activities.

18 ‘‘(c) RESPONSIBILITIES OF DESIGNATED ORGANIZA19 TION.—The organization designated for an accident under

20 subsection (a)(2) shall have the following responsibilities

21 with respect to the families of passengers involved in the

22 accident:

23 ‘‘(1) To provide mental health and counseling

24 services, in coordination with the disaster response

25 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 trav5 eled to the location of the accident, to contact the

6 families unable to travel to such location, and to

7 contact all affected families periodically thereafter

8 until such time as the organization, in consultation

9 with the director of family support services des10 ignated for the accident under subsection (a)(1), de11 termines that further 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

21 the rail passenger carrier involved in the acci22 dent a list, which is based on the best available

23 information at the time of the request, of the

24 names of the passengers that were aboard the

25 rail passenger carrier’s train involved in the ac-
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1 cident. A rail passenger carrier shall use rea2 sonable efforts, with respect to its unreserved

3 trains, and passengers not holding reservations

4 on its other trains, to ascertain the names of

5 passengers aboard a train involved in an acci6 dent.

7 ‘‘(B) REQUESTS BY DESIGNATED ORGANI8 ZATION.—The organization designated for an

9 accident under subsection (a)(2) may request

10 from the rail passenger carrier involved in the

11 accident a list described in subparagraph (A).

12 ‘‘(2) USE OF INFORMATION.—The director of

13 family support services and the organization may

14 not release to any person information on a list ob15 tained under paragraph (1) but may provide infor16 mation on the list about a passenger to the family

17 of the passenger to the extent that the director of

18 family support services or the organization considers

19 appropriate.

20 ‘‘(e) CONTINUING RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE

21 BOARD.—In the course of its investigation of an accident

22 described in subsection (a), the Board shall, to the max23 imum extent practicable, ensure that the families of pas24 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

6 Board about the accident.

7 ‘‘(f) USE OF RAIL PASSENGER CARRIER RE8 SOURCES.—To the extent practicable, the organization

9 designated for an accident under subsection (a)(2) shall

10 coordinate its activities with the rail passenger carrier in11 volved in the accident to facilitate the reasonable use of

12 the resources of the carrier.

13 ‘‘(g) PROHIBITED ACTIONS.—

14 ‘‘(1) ACTIONS TO IMPEDE THE BOARD.—No

15 person (including a State or political subdivision)

16 may impede the ability of the Board (including the

17 director of family support services designated for an

18 accident under subsection (a)(1)), or an organization

19 designated for an accident under subsection (a)(2),

20 to carry out its responsibilities under this section or

21 the ability of the families of passengers involved in

22 the accident to have contact with one another.

23 ‘‘(2) UNSOLICITED COMMUNICATIONS.—No un24 solicited communication concerning a potential ac25 tion for personal injury or wrongful death may be
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1 made by an attorney (including any associate, agent,

2 employee, or other representative of an attorney) or

3 any potential party to the litigation to an individual

4 (other than an employee of the rail passenger car5 rier) injured in the accident, or to a relative of an

6 individual involved in the accident, before the 45th

7 day 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

16 family support services designated for the accident

17 under subsection (a)(1) may extend such period for

18 not to exceed an additional 30 days if the director

19 determines that the extension is necessary to meet

20 the needs of the families and if State and local au21 thorities are notified of the determination.

22 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following

23 definitions apply:
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1 ‘‘(1) RAIL PASSENGER ACCIDENT.—The term

2 ‘rail passenger accident’ means any rail passenger

3 disaster occurring in the provision of—

4 ‘‘(A) interstate intercity rail passenger

5 transportation (as such term is defined in sec6 tion 24102); or

7 ‘‘(B) interstate or intrastate high-speed

8 rail (as such term is defined in section 26105)

9 transportation,

10 regardless of its cause or suspected cause.

11 ‘‘(2) RAIL PASSENGER CARRIER.—The term

12 ‘rail passenger carrier’ means a rail carrier

13 providing—

14 ‘‘(A) interstate intercity rail passenger

15 transportation (as such term is defined in sec16 tion 24102); or

17 ‘‘(B) interstate or intrastate high-speed

18 rail (as such term is defined in section 26105)

19 transportation,

20 except that such term shall not include a tourist,

21 historic, scenic, or excursion rail carrier.

22 ‘‘(3) PASSENGER.—The term ‘passenger’

23 includes—

24 ‘‘(A) an employee of a rail passenger car25 rier aboard a train;
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1 ‘‘(B) any other person aboard the train

2 without regard to whether the person paid for

3 the transportation, occupied a seat, or held a

4 reservation for the rail transportation; and

5 ‘‘(C) any other person injured or killed in

6 the accident.

7 ‘‘(i) LIMITATION ON STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—

8 Nothing in this section may be construed as limiting the

9 actions that a rail passenger carrier may take, or the obli10 gations that a rail passenger carrier may have, in pro11 viding assistance to the families of passengers involved in

12 a rail passenger accident.

13 ‘‘(j) RELINQUISHMENT OF INVESTIGATIVE PRI14 ORITY.—

15 ‘‘(1) GENERAL RULE.—This section (other than

16 subsection (g)) shall not apply to a railroad accident

17 if the Board has relinquished investigative priority

18 under section 1131(a)(2)(B) and the Federal agency

19 to which the Board relinquished investigative pri20 ority is willing and able to provide assistance to the

21 victims and families of the passengers involved in

22 the accident.

23 ‘‘(2) BOARD ASSISTANCE.—If this section does

24 not apply to a railroad accident because the Board

25 has relinquished investigative priority with respect to
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1 the accident, the Board shall assist, to the maximum

2 extent possible, the agency to which the Board has

3 relinquished investigative priority in assisting fami4 lies with respect to the accident.’’.

5 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec6 tions for such chapter is amended by inserting after the

7 item relating to section 1137 the following:

‘‘1138. Assistance to families of passengers involved in rail passenger accidents.’’.

8 SEC. 3. RAIL PASSENGER CARRIER PLANS TO ADDRESS

9 NEEDS OF FAMILIES OF PASSENGERS IN10 VOLVED IN RAIL PASSENGER ACCIDENTS.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part C of subtitle V of title 49,

12 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the

13 following new chapter:

14 ‘‘CHAPTER 251—FAMILY ASSISTANCE

‘‘Sec.

‘‘25101. Plans to address needs of families of passengers involved in rail passenger accidents.

15 ‘‘§ 25101. Plans to address needs of families of pas16 sengers involved in rail passenger acci17 dents

18 ‘‘(a) SUBMISSION OF PLANS.—Not later than 6

19 months after the date of the enactment of this section,

20 each rail passenger carrier shall submit to the Secretary

21 of Transportation and the Chairman of the National

22 Transportation Safety Board a plan for addressing the
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1 needs of the families of passengers involved in any rail

2 passenger accident involving a train of the rail passenger

3 carrier and resulting in a major loss of life.

4 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS OF PLANS.—A plan to be submitted

5 by a rail passenger carrier under subsection (a) shall in6 clude, at a minimum, the following:

7 ‘‘(1) A plan for publicizing a reliable, toll-free

8 telephone number, and for providing staff, to handle

9 calls from the families of the passengers.

10 ‘‘(2) A process for notifying the families of the

11 passengers, before providing any public notice of the

12 names of the passengers, either by utilizing the serv13 ices of the organization designated for the accident

14 under section 1138(a)(2) of this title or the services

15 of other suitably trained individuals.

16 ‘‘(3) An assurance that the notice described in

17 paragraph (2) will be provided to the family of a

18 passenger as soon as the rail passenger carrier has

19 verified that the passenger was aboard the train

20 (whether or not the names of all of the passengers

21 have been verified) and, to the extent practicable, in

22 person.

23 ‘‘(4) An assurance that the rail passenger car24 rier will provide to the director of family support

25 services designated for the accident under section
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1 1138(a)(1) of this title, and to the organization des2 ignated for the accident under section 1138(a)(2) of

3 this title, immediately upon request, a list (which is

4 based on the best available information at the time

5 of the request) of the names of the passengers

6 aboard the train (whether or not such names have

7 been verified), and will periodically update the list.

8 The plan shall include a procedure, with respect to

9 unreserved trains and passengers not holding res10 ervations on other trains, for the rail passenger car11 rier to use reasonable efforts to ascertain the names

12 of passengers aboard a train involved in an accident.

13 ‘‘(5) An assurance that the family of each pas14 senger will be consulted about the disposition of all

15 remains and personal effects of the passenger within

16 the control of the rail passenger carrier.

17 ‘‘(6) An assurance that if requested by the fam18 ily of a passenger, any possession of the passenger

19 within the control of the rail passenger carrier (re20 gardless of its condition) will be returned to the fam21 ily unless the possession is needed for the accident

22 investigation or any criminal investigation.

23 ‘‘(7) An assurance that any unclaimed posses24 sion of a passenger within the control of the rail
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1 passenger carrier will be retained by the rail pas2 senger carrier for at least 18 months.

3 ‘‘(8) An assurance that the family of each pas4 senger or other person killed in the accident will be

5 consulted about construction by the rail passenger

6 carrier of any monument to the passengers, includ7 ing any inscription on the monument.

8 ‘‘(9) An assurance that the treatment of the

9 families of nonrevenue passengers will be the same

10 as the treatment of the families of revenue pas11 sengers.

12 ‘‘(10) An assurance that the rail passenger car13 rier will work with any organization designated

14 under section 1138(a)(2) of this title on an ongoing

15 basis to ensure that families of passengers receive an

16 appropriate level of services and assistance following

17 each accident.

18 ‘‘(11) An assurance that the rail passenger car19 rier will provide reasonable compensation to any or20 ganization designated under section 1138(a)(2) of

21 this title for services provided by the organization.

22 ‘‘(12) An assurance that the rail passenger car23 rier will assist the family of a passenger in traveling

24 to the location of the accident and provide for the
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1 physical care of the family while the family is stay2 ing at such location.

3 ‘‘(13) An assurance that the rail passenger car4 rier will commit sufficient resources to carry out the

5 plan.

6 ‘‘(14) An assurance that the rail passenger car7 rier will provide adequate training to the employees

8 and agents of the carrier to meet the needs of sur9 vivors and family members following an accident.

10 ‘‘(15) An assurance that, upon request of the

11 family of a passenger, the rail passenger carrier will

12 inform the family of whether the passenger’s name

13 appeared on any preliminary passenger manifest for

14 the train involved in the accident.

15 ‘‘(c) 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 the rail passenger carrier in preparing or pro19 viding a passenger list, or in providing information con20 cerning a train reservation, pursuant to a plan submitted

21 by the rail passenger carrier under subsection (b), unless

22 such liability was caused by conduct of the rail passenger

23 carrier which was grossly negligent or which constituted

24 intentional misconduct.

25 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section—
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1 ‘‘(1) the terms ‘rail passenger accident’ and

2 ‘rail passenger carrier’ have the meanings such

3 terms have in section 1138 of this title; and

4 ‘‘(2) the term ‘passenger’ means a person

5 aboard a rail passenger carrier’s train that is in6 volved in a rail passenger accident.

7 ‘‘(e) LIMITATION ON STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—

8 Nothing in this section may be construed as limiting the

9 actions that a rail passenger carrier may take, or the obli10 gations that a rail passenger carrier may have, in pro11 viding assistance to the families of passengers involved in

12 a rail passenger accident.’’.

13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of chap14 ters for subtitle V of title 49, United States Code, is

15 amended by adding after the item relating to chapter 249

16 the following new item:

‘‘251. FAMILY ASSISTANCE .......................................................... 25101’’.

17 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF TASK FORCE.

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Transpor19 tation, in cooperation with the National Transportation

20 Safety Board, organizations potentially designated under

21 section 1138(a)(2) of title 49, United States Code, rail

22 passenger carriers, and families which have been involved

23 in rail accidents, shall establish a task force consisting of

24 representatives of such entities and families, representa25 tives of passenger rail carrier employees, and representa-
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1 tives of such other entities as the Secretary considers ap2 propriate.

3 (b) MODEL PLAN AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—The

4 task force established pursuant to subsection (a) shall

5 develop—

6 (1) a model plan to assist passenger rail car7 riers in responding to passenger rail accidents;

8 (2) recommendations on methods to improve

9 the timeliness of the notification provided by pas10 senger rail carriers to the families of passengers in11 volved in a passenger rail accident;

12 (3) recommendations on methods to ensure that

13 the families of passengers involved in a passenger

14 rail accident who are not citizens of the United

15 States receive appropriate assistance; and

16 (4) recommendations on methods to ensure that

17 emergency services personnel have as immediate and

18 accurate a count of the number of passengers on19 board the train as possible.

20 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date

21 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall transmit

22 to Congress a report containing the model plan and rec-
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1 ommendations developed by the task force under sub2 section (b).

Passed the House of Representatives May 8, 2003.

Attest:

Clerk.