II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 859 

To protect the public, communities across America, and the environment 

by increasing the safety of crude oil transportation by railroad, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 25, 2015 

Ms. CANTWELL (for herself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, and Mrs. MURRAY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To protect the public, communities across America, and the 

environment by increasing the safety of crude oil transportation by railroad, 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 ‘‘Crude-By-Rail Safety 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act— 

8 (1) HIGH-HAZARD FLAMMABLE TRAIN.—The 

9 term ‘‘high-hazard flammable train’’ means a single 


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1 train transporting 20 or more tank cars loaded with 

2 a Class 3 flammable liquid (as defined in section 

3 173.120(a) of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations). 

4 (2) OIL.—The term ‘‘oil’’ means oil of any kind 

5 or in any form, including crude, petroleum, fuel oil, 

6 sludge, oil refuse, oil mixed with wastes other than 

7 dredged spoil, any bitumen or bituminous mixture, 

8 oil derived from a bitumen or bituminous mixture, 

9 any oil derived from kerogen-bearing sources, devel10 oping oils, and emerging oils. 

11 (3) RAIL CARRIER.—The term ‘‘rail carrier’’ 

12 has the meaning given the term ‘‘railroad carrier’’ in 

13 section 20102 of title 49, United States Code. 

14 (4) WORST CASE DISCHARGE.—The term 

15 ‘‘worst case discharge’’ has the meaning given such 

16 term in section 130.5 of title 49, Code of Federal 

17 Regulations. 

18 SEC. 3. CERTAINTY ON SAFETY REGULATIONS. 

19 (a) INTERIM NATIONAL STANDARD FOR MAXIMUM

20 VOLATILITY.— 

21 (1) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 90 days 

22 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec23 retary of Transportation, by regulation, shall estab24 lish an interim national standard for the maximum 

25 volatility of crude oil transported by rail within the 


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1 United States. Volatility in the interim national 

2 standard shall be measured by the vapor pressure of 

3 the crude oil. 

4 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The national standard 

5 established pursuant to paragraph (1) shall take ef6 fect not later than 90 days after it is issued by the 

7 Secretary. 

8 (b) STUDY OF CRUDE OIL CHARACTERISTICS AND

9 ASSOCIATED SAFETY.—Not later than 2 years after the 

10 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Trans11 portation, in collaboration with the Secretary of Energy, 

12 shall complete a study of— 

13 (1) the best methods for reliably measuring the 

14 volatility of crude oil; and 

15 (2) the level of volatility that is consistent with 

16 the safest practicable shipment of crude oil by rail. 

17 (c) FINAL NATIONAL STANDARD FOR MAXIMUM

18 VOLATILITY.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

20 the completion of the study under subsection (b), the 

21 Secretary of Transportation shall issue a final rule 

22 that establishes the maximum volatility of crude oil 

23 that is transported by rail. 

24 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The maximum volatility 

25 standard established pursuant to paragraph (1)— 


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1 (A) shall be consistent with the findings of 

2 the study conducted under subsection (b); and 

3 (B) shall require that the transportation of 

4 crude oil by rail be as safe as practicable. 

5 (d) TANK CAR DESIGN.—Not later than 90 days 

6 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

7 of Transportation shall issue a final rule, based on the 

8 safety standards contained in the Notice of Proposed 

9 Rulemaking issued on August 1, 2014, and entitled ‘‘En10 hanced Tank Car Standards and Operational Controls for 

11 High-Hazard Flammable Trains’’, which requires that all 

12 new tank cars designed to transport a Class 3 flammable 

13 liquid that are constructed after October 1, 2015, meet 

14 or exceed the design standards set forth under option 1 

15 of table 2 in such rulemaking. 

16 (e) ENHANCED BRAKING.—Beginning on the date 

17 identified in the final rule issued pursuant to subsection 

18 (d), all high-hazard flammable trains shall operate with 

19 electronically controlled pneumatic brakes. 

20 SEC. 4. ENDING USE OF UNSAFE TANK CARS. 

21 (a) MINIMUM SAFETY STANDARD.— 

22 (1) OIL.—Except as provided under paragraph 

23 (4), the Secretary of Transportation shall imme24 diately prohibit the shipment of oil in— 


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1 (A) any DOT–111 tank car that does not 

2 meet the requirements of Casualty Prevention 

3 Circular 1232, issued by the Association of 

4 American Railroads on August 31, 2011; or 

5 (B) any unjacketed CPC–1232 tank car. 

6 (2) ETHANOL.—Except as provided under para7 graph (4), beginning on the date that is 2 years 

8 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec9 retary of Transportation shall prohibit the shipment 

10 of ethanol in any tank car described in subpara11 graph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1). 

12 (3) ADDITIONAL PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES.— 

13 Any rail carrier or shipper who offers for transpor14 tation, or transports, in a tank car by rail in com15 merce to, from, or within the United States, a bulk 

16 quantity of oil or ethanol shall take additional pre17 cautionary measures to enhance the safe shipment of 

18 such liquids, including by avoiding the shipment of 

19 such liquids in tank cars with unsafe tank car at20 tributes identified by the Secretary of Transpor21 tation, to the extent practicable. 

22 (4) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding paragraphs 

23 (1) and (2), tank cars described in subparagraphs 

24 (A) and (B) of paragraph (1) may continue to trans25 port oil or ethanol if they have been retrofitted to 


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1 meet or exceed the design standards set forth under 

2 Option 3 of table 2 in the Notice of Proposed Rule3 making issued on August 1, 2014, and entitled ‘‘En4 hanced Tank Car Standards and Operational Con5 trols for High-Hazard Flammable Trains’’. All retro6 fitted tank cars shall be equipped with electronically 

7 controlled pneumatic brakes. 

8 (5) JACKETED CPC–1232 TANK CARS.—The Sec9 retary of Transportation shall establish, by regula10 tion, a retrofit standard and timeline for jacketed 

11 CPC–1232 tank cars that transport oil or ethanol. 

12 (b) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this section 

13 may be construed to prohibit the Secretary of Transpor14 tation from issuing, by regulation or order, a safety stand15 ard for tank cars transporting oil or ethanol that is more 

16 stringent than the requirements referred to in section 

17 3(d). 

18 SEC. 5. CRUDE-BY-RAIL INSPECTIONS. 

19 (a) RAIL INSPECTIONS FOR HAZARDOUS MATERIAL

20 ROUTES.—Rail carriers shall— 

21 (1) perform at least 2 additional internal rail 

22 inspections per calendar year than is required under 

23 section 213.237(c) of title 49, Code of Federal Reg24 ulations, on routes that— 


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1 (A) the rail carrier owns or has been as2 signed maintenance responsibility under section 

3 213.5 of such title; and 

4 (B) over which 1 or more high-hazard 

5 flammable trains are operated; and 

6 (2) conduct at least 4 track geometry inspec7 tions each calendar year on routes that— 

8 (A) the rail carrier owns or has been as9 signed maintenance responsibility under such 

10 section 213.5; and 

11 (B) over which 1 or more high-hazard 

12 flammable trains are operated. 

13 (b) ENERGY PRODUCT INSPECTIONS.— 

14 (1) INSPECTION REQUIREMENT.—A person that 

15 offers oil for transportation shall complete spot in16 spections on 5 percent of all individual rail cars 

17 loaded with crude oil— 

18 (A) to test and record the volatility of the 

19 crude oil in such cars; and 

20 (B) to ensure that such crude oil meets— 

21 (i) the interim national standard for 

22 maximum volatility established pursuant to 

23 section 3(a); or 


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1 (ii) any subsequently enacted volatility 

2 standard that is more restrictive than such 

3 standard. 

4 (2) SPOT INSPECTIONS AND AUDITS.— 

5 (A) SPOT INSPECTIONS.—The Secretary of 

6 Transportation shall complete spot inspections 

7 on crude oil volatility to ensure that the vola8 tility standards referred to in paragraph (1)(B) 

9 are being met. 

10 (B) AUDITS.—The Secretary of Transpor11 tation shall audit records of the inspections con12 ducted under paragraph (1) to ensure that the 

13 volatility of the crude oil does not exceed the 

14 volatility standards referred to in paragraph 

15 (1)(B). 

16 SEC. 6. PENALTIES FOR NONCOMPLIANCE. 

17 (a) FINES FOR VIOLATING HAZARDOUS MATERIALS

18 TRANSPORTATION LAW.—Section 5123(a) of title 49, 

19 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘(a) PENALTY.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A person that knowingly 

22 violates this chapter or a regulation, order, special 

23 permit, or approval issued under this chapter is lia24 ble to the United States Government for a civil penVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Apr 02, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S859.IS S859

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1 alty of not more than $500,000 for each such viola2 tion. A person acts knowingly when— 

3 ‘‘(A) the person has actual knowledge of 

4 the facts giving rise to the violation; or 

5 ‘‘(B) a reasonable person acting in the 

6 same circumstances and exercising reasonable 

7 care would have such knowledge. 

8 ‘‘(2) ENHANCED PENALTY.—If the Secretary 

9 finds that a violation under paragraph (1) results in 

10 death, serious illness, or severe injury to any person, 

11 substantial destruction of property, or significant en12 vironmental damage, the Secretary may increase the 

13 amount of the civil penalty for such violation to not 

14 more than $1,000,000. 

15 ‘‘(3) SEPARATE VIOLATION.—A separate viola16 tion occurs for each day a person continues to know17 ingly violate this chapter or any regulation, order, 

18 special permit, or approval issued under this chap19 ter.’’. 

20 (b) FINES FOR VIOLATING ENERGY PRODUCT IN21 SPECTIONS.—A person that offers oil for transportation 

22 that violates the maximum volatility rule issued pursuant 

23 to subsection (a) or (c) of section 3, or the inspection re24 quirement under section 5(b) shall be liable to the United 


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1 States Government for a civil penalty of not more than 

2 $1,000,000 for each such violation. 

3 (c) FINES FOR VIOLATING RAIL INSPECTIONS.—A 

4 rail carrier that violates the rail inspections requirement 

5 under section 5(a) shall be liable to the United States Gov6 ernment for a civil penalty of not more than $1,000,000 

7 for each such violation. 

8 SEC. 7. SAFE TRANSPORTATION OF ENERGY PRODUCTS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation 

10 shall establish or expand safety programs relating to the 

11 transportation of energy products and other Class 3 flam12 mable liquids by rail, pipeline, highway, and waterway, 

13 which shall include initiatives— 

14 (1) to expedite rulemaking proceedings; 

15 (2) to conduct technical studies of energy prod16 ucts; 

17 (3) to increase rail, pipeline, and energy prod18 uct inspections; 

19 (4) to provide grants to States for additional 

20 railroad track and pipeline inspectors; 

21 (5) to improve notification procedures from 

22 State Emergency Response Commission contacts to 

23 first responders; 

24 (6) to develop and conduct first responder 

25 training programs, in collaboration with the Federal 


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1 Emergency Management Agency, the Department of 

2 Homeland Security, the Coast Guard, the Environ3 mental Protection Agency, and national first re4 sponder organizations; 

5 (7) to conduct technical research on infrastruc6 ture-related causes of train and pipeline accidents; 

7 (8) to identify ways to mitigate the causes and 

8 consequences of train accidents; 

9 (9) to provide grants to communities to update 

10 emergency response plans developed by local emer11 gency planning committees; and 

12 (10) to audit comprehensive oil spill response 

13 plans established under section 8(b). 

14 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

15 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the safety 

16 initiatives described in subsection (a)— 

17 (1) $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2016; and 

18 (2) $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2017. 

19 SEC. 8. OIL SPILL RESPONSE PLANS. 

20 (a) DEFINED TERM.—In this section, the term ‘‘max21 imum extent practicable’’ has the meaning given such 

22 term in section 130.5 of title 49, Code of Federal Regula23 tions. 

24 (b) COMPREHENSIVE RESPONSE PLANS.— 


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1 (1) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 180 days 

2 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec3 retary of Transportation, in consultation with the 

4 Secretary of the department in which the Coast 

5 Guard is operating and the Administrator of the En6 vironmental Protection Agency, shall publish a final 

7 rule revising the regulations set out in part 130 of 

8 title 49, Code of Federal Regulations (relating to oil 

9 spill prevention and response plans)— 

10 (A) to modify the 1,000 barrels (42,000 

11 gallons) requirement for a comprehensive writ12 ten plan in subsection (b) of section 130.31 of 

13 title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, to ac14 count for worst-case discharges resulting from 

15 accidents involving unit trains or blocks of tank 

16 cars; and 

17 (B) to include additional requirements in 

18 each written plan required under such section 

19 130.31 to respond to a discharge of oil that oc20 curs during transportation by a rail carrier that 

21 has a reasonable probability of impacting a 

22 water body or other area that is subject to the 

23 jurisdiction of the Coast Guard or of the Envi24 ronmental Protection Agency under the Federal 


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1 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et 

2 seq.) including such a discharge— 

3 (i) into or on the navigable waters of 

4 the United States; 

5 (ii) on the adjoining shorelines to the 

6 navigable waters; 

7 (iii) inland waters; or 

8 (iv) other impacted lands. 

9 (2) COORDINATION.—The additional require10 ments under paragraph (1)(B) shall be promulgated 

11 by the Secretary of Transportation in coordination 

12 with— 

13 (A) the Secretary of the department in 

14 which the Coast Guard is operating, in the case 

15 of potential impacts to a water body or other 

16 area subject to the jurisdiction of the Coast 

17 Guard; and 

18 (B) the Administrator of the Environ19 mental Protection Agency, in the case of poten20 tial impacts to a water body or other area sub21 ject to the jurisdiction of the Environmental 

22 Protection Agency under the Federal Water 

23 Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.). 

24 (c) NATIONAL CONTINGENCY PLAN.—To ensure effi25 cient and timely prevention, preparedness, and response 


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1 by the lead agency and the rail carrier in the event of 

2 a discharge of oil, the President shall, for each comprehen3 sive written plan required under section 130.31(b) of title 

4 49, Code of Federal Regulations (or similar successor reg5 ulation)— 

6 (1) include such plan in the National Contin7 gency Plan required under section 311(d) of the 

8 Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 

9 1321(d)); and 

10 (2) integrate such plan into the appropriate Re11 gional Response Plan required under section 

12 300.210(b) of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations 

13 (or similar successor regulation). 

14 (d) AUDITS REQUIRED.—The Secretary of Transpor15 tation shall— 

16 (1) develop a program to audit response plans 

17 for rail carriers of oil to ensure that adequate provi18 sions are in place— 

19 (A) to respond to and remove a worst-case 

20 discharge to the maximum extent practicable; 

21 and 

22 (B) to mitigate or prevent a substantial 

23 threat of a worst-case discharge; and 


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1 (2) audit rail carriers of oil to ensure that the 

2 shippers and rail carriers with respect to trans3 porting oil by railroad— 

4 (A) are using appropriate hazardous mate5 rials shipping classifications; 

6 (B) have developed transportation safety 

7 and security plans; and 

8 (C) have made adequate provisions for 

9 safety and security. 

10 (e) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this section 

11 may be construed to prohibit the Secretary of Transpor12 tation from issuing, by regulation or order, a requirement 

13 for comprehensive response plans for railroads trans14 porting oil or ethanol that is more stringent than the re15 quirements under subsection (b). 

16 SEC. 9. DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENT. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—A rail carrier may not operate any 

18 high-hazard flammable train in any State until the rail 

19 carrier has provided the Emergency Response Commission 

20 for such State and any local emergency planning com21 mittee along the route such train will operate with— 

22 (1) a reasonable estimate of the number of such 

23 trains that are expected to travel, per week, through 

24 the State; 


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1 (2) a description of the flammable liquid ex2 pected to be transported through the State, in ac3 cordance with subpart C of part 172 of title 49, 

4 Code of Federal Regulations; 

5 (3) all applicable emergency response informa6 tion required under subpart G of such part; 

7 (4) the identification of the routes over which 

8 the oil or ethanol will be transported; and 

9 (5) the contact information for at least 1 point 

10 of contact at the rail carrier responsible for serving 

11 as the point of contact for the State Emergency Re12 sponse Commission and relevant emergency respond13 ers. 

14 (b) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this section 

15 may be construed to prohibit the Secretary of Transpor16 tation from issuing, by regulation or order, a disclosure 

17 requirement for high-hazard flammable train movement 

18 that is wider than the requirements under subsection (a). 

19 SEC. 10. EMERGENCY RESPONSE RESOURCE INVENTORY. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Rail carriers shall collaborate to 

21 develop an inventory of emergency response resources 

22 along routes over which 1 or more high-hazard flammable 

23 trains operate for responding to worst case discharges re24 sulting from accidents involving unit trains or blocks of 


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1 tank cars transporting Class 3 flammable liquids in the 

2 event of an incident. 

3 (b) INCLUSIONS.—The inventory developed pursuant 

4 to subsection (a) shall include— 

5 (1) a detailed description of the type and quan6 tity of private emergency response resources; 

7 (2) sufficient equipment to respond to a worst 

8 case discharge from accidents involving unit trains 

9 or blocks of tank cars; 

10 (3) sufficient equipment to respond to a fire or 

11 explosion that could result from a worst case dis12 charge from accidents involving unit trains or blocks 

13 of tank cars; 

14 (4) locations for the staging of emergency re15 sponse equipment; and 

16 (5) contacts for the notification of communities, 

17 as appropriate. 

18 (c) ACCESS.—Rail carriers shall— 

19 (1) provide the Department of Transportation 

20 with access to the inventory developed under this 

21 section; and 

22 (2) make relevant information from the inven23 tory, upon request, available to emergency respond24 ers located along identified routes over which 1 or 

25 more high-hazard flammable trains operate. 


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1 SEC. 11. CONFIDENTIAL CLOSE CALL REPORTING SYSTEMS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 201 of 

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

4 end the following: 

5 ‘‘§ 20168. Confidential close call reporting systems 

6 ‘‘(a) RULEMAKING.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

8 the date of the enactment of the Crude-By-Rail 

9 Safety Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall 

10 promulgate regulations setting forth the require11 ments for an applicable railroad carrier to follow in 

12 establishing a confidential close call reporting system 

13 program. 

14 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—The Secretary may 

15 use any information and experience gathered 

16 through research and pilot programs on confidential 

17 close call reporting systems in developing the regula18 tions, including continuing the use of third parties 

19 for the collection of close call reports and distribu20 tion of close call data. The Secretary shall ensure 

21 that an applicable railroad carrier’s employees re22 ceive protection under its program from any related 

23 Federal Railroad Administration enforcement ac24 tions. 

25 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT AND OVERSIGHT.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

2 after the date of the final regulations under sub3 section (a), an applicable railroad carrier shall de4 velop a proposed program and submit it to the Sec5 retary of Transportation for review and approval. 

6 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—A railroad carrier shall de7 scribe its proposed program’s core principles and 

8 values, explain the rights, roles, and responsibilities 

9 of program stakeholders, identify concerns and inter10 ests, and describe how the program will operate. 

11 ‘‘(3) REVIEW.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

13 review and approve or disapprove each proposed 

14 program within a reasonable amount of time. If 

15 a proposed program is not approved, the Sec16 retary shall notify the applicable railroad car17 rier in writing as to the specific areas in which 

18 the proposed program is deficient. The applica19 ble railroad carrier shall correct all deficiencies 

20 within a reasonable period of time following re21 ceipt of written notice from the Secretary. 

22 ‘‘(B) UPDATES.—An applicable railroad 

23 carrier shall update its program as needed and 

24 obtain the Secretary’s approval before making 

25 any major changes to its program. 


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1 ‘‘(C) ANNUAL REVIEWS.—The Secretary 

2 shall conduct an annual review to ensure that 

3 each applicable railroad carrier is in compliance 

4 with its program. 

5 ‘‘(c) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 

6 date of the enactment of the Crude-By-Rail Safety Act, 

7 each applicable railroad carrier shall establish a confiden8 tial close call reporting system. 

9 ‘‘(d) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.—Each applicable rail10 road carrier shall— 

11 ‘‘(1) provide a safe environment for its employ12 ees to report unsafe events and conditions; 

13 ‘‘(2) for unsafe events and conditions reported 

14 within the scope of a confidential close call reporting 

15 system, ensure its employees are protected from rail16 road carrier discipline; 

17 ‘‘(3) use information collected through the con18 fidential close call reporting system to develop and 

19 implement targeted corrective actions, as appro20 priate; and 

21 ‘‘(4) use information collected by the programs 

22 to supplement inspection data in identifying safety 

23 issues and emerging risks before they develop into 

24 accidents. 

25 ‘‘(e) CONSENSUS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each applicable railroad 

2 carrier shall consult with, employ good faith with, 

3 and use its best efforts to reach agreement with all 

4 of its directly affected employees, including any non5 profit employee labor organization representing a 

6 class or craft of directly affected employees of the 

7 applicable railroad carrier, on the development and 

8 implementation of the proposed program. 

9 ‘‘(2) STATEMENTS.—If an applicable railroad 

10 carrier and its directly affected employees, including 

11 any nonprofit employee labor organization rep12 resenting a class or craft of directly affected employ13 ees of the applicable railroad carrier, cannot reach 

14 consensus on the development and implementation of 

15 the proposed program, then directly affected employ16 ees and such organization may file a statement with 

17 the Secretary of Transportation explaining their 

18 views on the proposed program on which consensus 

19 was not reached. The Secretary shall consider such 

20 views during review of the proposed program under 

21 subsection (b)(3)(A). 

22 ‘‘(f) VOLUNTARY PROGRAM ESTABLISHMENT.—Any 

23 railroad carrier that is not an applicable railroad carrier 

24 may voluntarily establish a program under this section. 

25 This section, and any regulations promulgated under this 


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1 section, shall apply to a program that is voluntarily estab2 lished. 

3 ‘‘(g) USE OF DATA.—The Secretary of Transpor4 tation may use the confidential close call reporting data— 

5 ‘‘(1) when implementing or updating the Fed6 eral Railroad Administration’s National Inspection 

7 Plan; 

8 ‘‘(2) when performing focused inspections; or 

9 ‘‘(3) when developing agency rulemakings and 

10 guidance, as appropriate. 

11 ‘‘(h) DEFINITION OF APPLICABLE RAILROAD CAR12 RIER.—In this section, the term ‘applicable railroad car13 rier’ means— 

14 ‘‘(1) a railroad carrier that is a Class I rail15 road; 

16 ‘‘(2) a railroad carrier that has inadequate safe17 ty performance, as determined by the Secretary; or 

18 ‘‘(3) a railroad carrier that provides intercity 

19 rail passenger or commuter rail passenger transpor20 tation. 

21 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

22 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Trans23 portation such sums as may be necessary to implement 

24 this section and to support the nationwide implementation, 


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1 as the Secretary determines appropriate, of confidential 

2 close call reporting system programs.’’. 

3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

4 for subchapter II of chapter 201 of title 49, United States 

5 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘20168. Confidential close call reporting systems.’’. 

6 SEC. 12. HIGH-HAZARD FLAMMABLE TRAIN LIABILITY 

7 STUDY. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after the 

9 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Trans10 portation shall contract with the Transportation Research 

11 Board of the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a 

12 study on high-hazard flammable train liability. 

13 (b) PURPOSE.—The study conducted under sub14 section (a) shall evaluate— 

15 (1) the level of insurance, including self insur16 ance, available in the private market against the full 

17 liability potential for damages arising from an inci18 dent involving a high-hazard flammable train; 

19 (2) the ability of the level and availability of in20 surance referred to in paragraph (1)— 

21 (A) to address externalities that exist be22 cause of gaps between insurance coverage and 

23 liability risk; 

24 (B) to equitably allocate risk and financial 

25 responsibility for claims; 


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1 (C) to ensure that rail carriers have suffi2 cient financial capacity to pay claims to those 

3 affected by high consequence incidents in a 

4 timely manner; and 

5 (D) to ensure that rail carriers and ship6 pers of high-hazard flammable trains can con7 tinue to operate despite the risk of catastrophic 

8 disaster; and 

9 (3) the potential applicability to high-hazard 

10 flammable trains of— 

11 (A) a liability regime modeled after section 

12 170 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 

13 U.S.C. 2210); and 

14 (B) a liability regime modeled after sub15 title 2 of title XXI of the Public Health Service 

16 Act (42 U.S.C. 300aa–10 et seq.). 

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

18 of the enactment of this Act, the Transportation Research 

19 Board of the National Academy of Sciences shall submit 

20 a report containing the results of the study and rec21 ommendations for addressing high hazard flammable train 

22 liability issues to— 

23 (1) the Secretary of Transportation; 

24 (2) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

25 Transportation of the Senate; and 


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1 (3) the Committee on Transportation and In2 frastructure of the House of Representatives. 

3 SEC. 13. REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation, 

5 in cooperation with the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary 

6 of Homeland Security, the Commanding General of the 

7 United States Army Corps of Engineers, and the Adminis8 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall con9 duct a comprehensive review of existing regulations for en10 ergy products that are transported by all modes of trans11 portation. 

12 (b) REVIEW ELEMENTS.—The review under sub13 section (a) shall assess the effectiveness of existing regula14 tions and industry capability— 

15 (1) to improve the safety of energy product 

16 transportation through populated or environmentally 

17 sensitive areas; 

18 (2) to maximize, to the extent possible, the sta19 bility and uniformity of energy products prior to 

20 transportation; 

21 (3) to eliminate the occurrence of accidents in22 volving transportation of such products, and mini23 mize the severity of such accidents should they 

24 occur; 


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1 (4) to minimize energy product routing through 

2 populated or environmentally sensitive areas; 

3 (5) to reduce the environmental impact of 

4 transporting, loading, or unloading energy products; 

5 (6) to improve the security of energy product 

6 transportation; and 

7 (7) to prepare for an appropriate emergency re8 sponse to accidents. 

9 (c) SUBMISSION OF REVIEW AND RECOMMENDA10 TIONS.—Not later than June 30, 2016, the Secretary of 

11 Transportation, in cooperation with the Secretary of En12 ergy, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Com13 manding General of the United States Army Corps of En14 gineers, and the Administrator of the Environmental Pro15 tection Agency, shall submit the results of the review 

16 under subsection (a) to Congress, in conjunction with rec17 ommendations for— 

18 (1) improving all aspects of energy product 

19 transport by all transportation modes; 

20 (2) regulatory measures that the Secretary of 

21 Transportation is authorized to undertake that 

22 would improve the safety and reduce the environ23 mental and community impact of transporting en24 ergy products; and 


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1 (3) legislative changes that should be made to 

2 improve the safety and reduce the environmental 

3 and community impact of transporting energy prod4 ucts. 

Æ 


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