II 

Calendar No. 641 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 650 

To extend the positive train control system implementation deadline, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 4, 2015 

Mr. BLUNT (for himself, Mrs. MCCASKILL, Mr. THUNE, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. 

INHOFE, Mrs. FISCHER, Mr. SULLIVAN, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. MORAN, 

Mr. HELLER, Mr. RUBIO, Ms. AYOTTE, and Mr. PORTMAN) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 

Reported by Mr. THUNE, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To extend the positive train control system implementation 

deadline, 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 Safety and 

5 Positive Train Control Extension Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. IMPLEMENTATION DEADLINE. 

2 (a) TECHNOLOGY IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Section 

3 20156(e)(4) of title 49, United States Code, is amended 

4 to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(4) POSITIVE TRAIN CONTROL.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as required by 

7 section 20157 (relating to the requirements for 

8 implementation of positive train control sys9 tems), the Secretary shall ensure that each rail10 road carrier’s technology implementation plan 

11 required under paragraph (1) that includes a 

12 schedule for implementation of a positive train 

13 control system complies with that schedule. 

14 ‘‘(B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 

15 in this section shall be construed as requiring 

16 the installation of positive train control on rail17 road tracks if— 

18 ‘‘(i) positive train control is not re19 quired on those tracks under section 

20 20157; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) the railroad does not choose to 

22 implement positive train control as a tech23 nology on those tracks under this section.’’. 

24 (b) EXTENSION OF DEADLINE.—Section 20157 of 

25 title 49, United States Code, is amended— 

26 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘Not later than 18 months 

2 after the date of enactment of the Rail Safety 

3 Improvement Act of 2008, each’’ and inserting 

4 ‘‘Each’’; and 

5 (B) by striking ‘‘by December 31, 2015’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘by December 31, 2020’’; and 

7 (2) in subsection (a)(1)(B), by striking ‘‘trans8 ported’’ and inserting ‘‘transported on or after De9 cember 31, 2015’’. 

10 SEC. 3. AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION 

11 TO EXTEND IMPLEMENTATION DEADLINE. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 20157 of title 49, United 

13 States Code, as amended by section 2(b) of this Act, is 

14 further amended— 

15 (1) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘Each 

16 Class I’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided under 

17 subsection (i), each Class I’’; 

18 (2) by redesignating subsection (i) as subsection 

19 (j); and 

20 (3) by inserting before subsection (j), as redes21 ignated, the following: 

22 ‘‘(i) IMPLEMENTATION EXTENSIONS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may extend 

24 in 1-year increments, upon application, the deadline 

25 for implementing a positive train control system 


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1 under subsection (a)(1) for an applicant, if the Sec2 retary determines that— 

3 ‘‘(A) full implementation will likely be in4 feasible due to circumstances beyond the control 

5 of the applicant, including funding availability, 

6 spectrum acquisition, resource and technology 

7 availability, software development and testing, 

8 availability of alternate risk reduction strate9 gies, and interoperability standards; 

10 ‘‘(B) the applicant has demonstrated good 

11 faith in its positive train control system imple12 mentation; 

13 ‘‘(C) the applicant has presented a revised 

14 plan for implementing a positive train control 

15 system indicating how the applicant will fully 

16 implement a positive train control system as 

17 soon as feasible, but not later than December 

18 31, 2022; and 

19 ‘‘(D) the extension will not extend later 

20 than December 31, 2022. 

21 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In making a deter22 mination under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 

23 consider— 

24 ‘‘(A) whether the affected areas of track 

25 have been identified as areas of greater risk to 


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1 the public and railroad employees in the appli2 cant’s positive train control implementation 

3 plan under section 236.1011(a)(4) of title 49, 

4 Code of Federal Regulations (relating to PTC 

5 Implementation Plan content requirements); 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(B) the risk of operational failure to the 

8 affected service areas and the applicant. 

9 ‘‘(3) REVIEW.—Not later than 10 days after 

10 the Secretary receives an application under para11 graph (1), the Secretary shall review and approve or 

12 disapprove the application.’’. 

13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

14 20156(e)(2) of title 49, United States Code, is amended 

15 by striking ‘‘as defined in section 20157(i)’’ and inserting 

16 ‘‘as defined in section 20157(j)’’. 

17 SEC. 4. EQUIPPING LOCOMOTIVES OPERATING IN POSITIVE 

18 TRAIN CONTROL TERRITORY. 

19 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

20 of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall revise 

21 section 236.1006(b)(4)(iii)(B) of title 49, Code of Federal 

22 Regulations (relating to equipping locomotives operating 

23 in PTC territory) to extend each deadline 5 years. 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Railroad Safety and 

3 Positive Train Control Extension Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. IMPLEMENTATION DEADLINE. 

5 (a) TECHNOLOGY IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Section 

6 20156(e)(4) of title 49, United States Code, is amended to 

7 read as follows: 

8 ‘‘(4) POSITIVE TRAIN CONTROL.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as required by 

10 section 20157 (relating to the requirements for 

11 implementation of positive train control sys12 tems), the Secretary shall ensure that each rail13 road carrier’s technology implementation plan 

14 required under paragraph (1) that includes a 

15 schedule for implementation of a positive train 

16 control system complies with that schedule. 

17 ‘‘(B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

18 this section shall be construed as requiring the 

19 installation of positive train control on railroad 

20 tracks if— 

21 ‘‘(i) positive train control is not re22 quired on those tracks under section 20157; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(ii) the railroad does not choose to 

25 implement positive train control as a tech26 nology on those tracks under this section.’’. 


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1 (b) EXTENSION OF DEADLINE.—Section 20157 of title 

2 49, United States Code, is amended— 

3 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘Not later than 18 months 

5 after the date of enactment of the Rail Safety 

6 Improvement Act of 2008, each’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘Each’’; and 

8 (B) by striking ‘‘by December 31, 2015’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘by December 31, 2020’’; and 

10 (2) in subsection (a)(1)(B), by striking ‘‘trans11 ported’’ and inserting ‘‘transported on or after De12 cember 31, 2015’’. 

13 SEC. 3. AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION 

14 TO EXTEND IMPLEMENTATION DEADLINE. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 20157 of title 49, United 

16 States Code, as amended by section 2(b) of this Act, is fur17 ther amended— 

18 (1) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘Each Class 

19 I’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided under sub20 section (i), each Class I’’; 

21 (2) by redesignating subsection (i) as subsection 

22 (j); and 

23 (3) by inserting before subsection (j), as redesig24 nated, the following: 

25 ‘‘(i) IMPLEMENTATION EXTENSIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may extend in 

2 1-year increments, upon application, the deadline for 

3 implementing a positive train control system under 

4 subsection (a)(1) for an applicant, if the Secretary 

5 determines that— 

6 ‘‘(A) full implementation will likely be in7 feasible due to circumstances beyond the control 

8 of the applicant, including funding availability, 

9 spectrum acquisition, resource and technology 

10 availability, software development and testing, 

11 availability of alternate risk reduction strategies, 

12 and interoperability standards; 

13 ‘‘(B) the applicant has demonstrated good 

14 faith in its positive train control system imple15 mentation; 

16 ‘‘(C) the applicant has presented a revised 

17 plan for implementing a positive train control 

18 system indicating how the applicant will fully 

19 implement a positive train control system as 

20 soon as feasible, but not later than December 31, 

21 2022; and 

22 ‘‘(D) the extension will not extend later 

23 than December 31, 2022. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In making a deter2 mination under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 

3 consider— 

4 ‘‘(A) whether the affected areas of track have 

5 been identified as areas of greater risk to the 

6 public and railroad employees in the applicant’s 

7 positive train control implementation plan 

8 under section 236.1011(a)(4) of title 49, Code of 

9 Federal Regulations (relating to PTC Implemen10 tation Plan content requirements); and 

11 ‘‘(B) the risk of operational failure to the 

12 affected service areas and the applicant. 

13 ‘‘(3) REVIEW.—Not later than 10 days after the 

14 Secretary receives an application under paragraph 

15 (1), the Secretary shall review and approve or dis16 approve the application.’’. 

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 20156(e)(2) 

18 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘as 

19 defined in section 20157(i)’’ and inserting ‘‘as defined in 

20 section 20157(j)’’. 

21 SEC. 4. EQUIPPING LOCOMOTIVES OPERATING IN POSITIVE 

22 TRAIN CONTROL TERRITORY. 

23 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

24 of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall revise sec25 tion 236.1006(b)(4)(iii)(B) of title 49, Code of Federal RegVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:16 Sep 22, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S650.RS S650

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1 ulations (relating to equipping locomotives operating in 

2 PTC territory) to extend each deadline 5 years. 

3 SEC. 5. REPORTS. 

4 Section 20157(a) of title 49, United States Code, is 

5 amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(3) PROGRESS REPORTS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning 6 months 

8 after the date of the enactment of the Railroad 

9 Safety and Positive Train Control Extension 

10 Act, and annually thereafter until its positive 

11 train control system is certified by the Secretary 

12 under subsection (h), each Class I railroad car13 rier, and each entity providing regularly sched14 uled intercity or commuter rail passenger trans15 portation, required to submit a plan under para16 graph (1) shall submit a progress report to the 

17 Secretary on the status of the plan. 

18 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—A progress report under 

19 subparagraph (A) shall include— 

20 ‘‘(i) a section describing the total num21 ber of positive train control components re22 quired, the number of components that have 

23 been installed, equipped, or deployed as of 

24 the date of the progress report, the number 

25 of components that remain to be installed, 


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1 equipped, or deployed, and an estimated 

2 completion date for full positive train con3 trol system completion; 

4 ‘‘(ii) a section summarizing the num5 ber of employees requiring training under 

6 section 236.1041 of title 49, Code of Federal 

7 Regulations, and the status of the training 

8 activities; and 

9 ‘‘(iii) a section summarizing the re10 maining challenges to full positive train 

11 control system implementation, including 

12 testing issues, interoperability challenges, 

13 and certification challenges. 

14 ‘‘(C) DEFINITION OF COMPONENT.—In this 

15 paragraph, the term ‘component’ means a loco16 motive apparatus, wayside interface unit, 

17 switches in non-signal positive train control ter18 ritory, base station radio, wayside radio, or loco19 motive radio. 

20 ‘‘(D) WEBSITE.—Not later than 30 days 

21 after receiving a progress report under this para22 graph, the Secretary shall make the report avail23 able on the website of the Federal Railroad Ad24 ministration.’’. 


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Calendar No. 641 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 650 

A BILL 

To extend the positive train control system 

implementation deadline, and for other purposes. 

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 

Reported with an amendment 


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