I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 30 

To require Surface Transportation Board consideration of the impacts of 

certain railroad transactions on local communities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 5, 2011 

Mrs. BIGGERT (for herself, Mr. WALSH of Illinois, and Mr. MANZULLO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To require Surface Transportation Board consideration of 

the impacts of certain railroad transactions on local communities, 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 ‘‘Taking Responsible 

5 Action for Community Safety Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EFFECT OF MERGERS ON LOCAL COMMUNITIES 

7 AND RAIL PASSENGER TRANSPORTATION. 

8 Section 11324 of title 49, United States Code, is 

9 amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a)— 

2 (A) by striking the last sentence and in3 serting ‘‘The Board shall hold public hearings 

4 on the proposed transaction, including public 

5 hearings in the affected communities, unless the 

6 Board determines that public hearings are not 

7 necessary in the public interest.’’; 

8 (2) in subsection (b)— 

9 (A) by striking ‘‘which involves the merger 

10 or control of at least two Class I railroads,’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘with respect to a transaction 

12 that involves at least one Class I railroad,’’; 

13 (B) by inserting ‘‘the effect on the public 

14 interest, including’’ after ‘‘the Board shall con15 sider’’; 

16 (C) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘on the 

17 public interest’’; 

18 (D) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para19 graph (4); 

20 (E) by striking the period at the end of 

21 paragraph (5) and inserting a semicolon; and 

22 (F) by adding at the end the following new 

23 paragraphs: 

24 ‘‘(6) the safety and environmental effects of the 

25 proposed transaction, including the effects on local 


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1 communities, such as public safety, grade crossing 

2 safety, hazardous materials transportation safety, 

3 emergency response time, noise, and socioeconomic 

4 impacts; and 

5 ‘‘(7) the effect of the proposed transaction on 

6 intercity rail passenger transportation and commuter 

7 rail passenger transportation, as defined by section 

8 24102 of this title.’’; 

9 (3) by redesignating subsections (c), (d), (e), 

10 and (f) as subsections (d), (e), (f), and (g) and in11 serting a new subsection (c) as follows: 

12 ‘‘(c) The Board shall approve and authorize a trans13 action under this section when it finds the transaction is 

14 consistent with the public interest. The Board shall not 

15 approve a transaction described in subsection (b) if it finds 

16 that the transaction’s impacts on safety and on all affected 

17 communities, as defined under subsection (b), outweigh 

18 the transportation benefits of the transaction. The Board 

19 may impose conditions governing a transaction under this 

20 section, including conditions to mitigate the effects of the 

21 transaction on local communities.’’; 

22 (4) in subsection (d), as redesignated, by strik23 ing ‘‘The Board shall approve’’ and all that follows 

24 through ‘‘the transaction, including’’ and inserting 


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1 ‘‘The conditions the Board may impose under this 

2 section include’’; and 

3 (5) in subsection (e), as redesignated, by strik4 ing ‘‘the merger or control of at least two Class I 

5 railroads, as defined by the Board’’ and inserting ‘‘a 

6 transaction described in subsection (b)’’. 

Æ 


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