IB 
Union Calendar No. 26
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 874
[Report No. 108–39] 
To establish a program, coordinated by the National Transportation Safety 
Board, of assistance to families of passengers involved in rail passenger 
accidents. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 25, 2003
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska (for himself, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. QUINN, Ms. CORRINE 
BROWN of Florida, Mr. GARY G. MILLER of California, and Mr. BUR-
GESS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Transportation and Infrastructure 
MARCH 18, 2003
Additional sponsor: Mr. SIMMONS
MARCH 18, 2003
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 
and ordered to be printed 
A BILL 
To establish a program, coordinated by the National Trans-
portation Safety Board, of assistance to families of pas-
sengers involved in rail passenger accidents.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rail Passenger Dis-
aster Family Assistance Act of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. ASSISTANCE BY NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFE-
TY BOARD TO FAMILIES OF PASSENGERS IN-
VOLVED IN RAIL PASSENGER ACCIDENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 11 of 
title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘§ 1138. Assistance to families of passengers involved 
in rail passenger accidents 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after 
being notified of a rail passenger accident within the 
United States involving a rail passenger carrier and result-
ing in a major loss of life, the Chairman of the National 
Transportation Safety Board shall—
‘‘(1) designate and publicize the name and 
phone number of a director of family support serv-
ices who shall be an employee of the Board and shall 
be responsible for acting as a point of contact within 
the Federal Government for the families of pas-
sengers involved in the accident and a liaison be-
tween the rail passenger carrier and the families; 
and 
‘‘(2) designate an independent nonprofit organi-
zation, with experience in disasters and posttrauma
communication with families, which shall have pri-
mary responsibility for coordinating the emotional 
care and support of the families of passengers in-
volved in the accident. 
‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE BOARD.—The Board 
shall have primary Federal responsibility for—
‘‘(1) facilitating the recovery and identification 
of fatally injured passengers involved in an accident 
described in subsection (a); and 
‘‘(2) communicating with the families of pas-
sengers involved in the accident as to the roles of—
‘‘(A) the organization designated for an ac-
cident under subsection (a)(2); 
‘‘(B) Government agencies; and 
‘‘(C) the rail passenger carrier involved, 
with respect to the accident and the post-accident 
activities. 
‘‘(c) RESPONSIBILITIES OF DESIGNATED ORGANIZA-
TION.—The organization designated for an accident under 
subsection (a)(2) shall have the following responsibilities 
with respect to the families of passengers involved in the 
accident:
‘‘(1) To provide mental health and counseling 
services, in coordination with the disaster response 
team of the rail passenger carrier involved.
‘‘(2) To take such actions as may be necessary 
to provide an environment in which the families may 
grieve in private. 
‘‘(3) To meet with the families who have trav-
eled to the location of the accident, to contact the 
families unable to travel to such location, and to 
contact all affected families periodically thereafter 
until such time as the organization, in consultation 
with the director of family support services des-
ignated for the accident under subsection (a)(1), de-
termines that further assistance is no longer needed. 
‘‘(4) To arrange a suitable memorial service, in 
consultation with the families. 
‘‘(d) PASSENGER LISTS.—
‘‘(1) REQUESTS FOR PASSENGER LISTS.—
‘‘(A) REQUESTS BY DIRECTOR OF FAMILY 
SUPPORT SERVICES.—It shall be the responsi-
bility of the director of family support services 
designated for an accident under subsection 
(a)(1) to request, as soon as practicable, from 
the rail passenger carrier involved in the acci-
dent a list, which is based on the best available 
information at the time of the request, of the 
names of the passengers that were aboard the 
rail passenger carrier’s train involved in the ac-
cident. A rail passenger carrier shall use rea-
sonable efforts, with respect to its unreserved 
trains, and passengers not holding reservations 
on its other trains, to ascertain the names of 
passengers aboard a train involved in an acci-
dent. 
‘‘(B) REQUESTS BY DESIGNATED ORGANI-
ZATION.—The organization designated for an 
accident under subsection (a)(2) may request 
from the rail passenger carrier involved in the 
accident a list described in subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(2) USE OF INFORMATION.—The director of 
family support services and the organization may 
not release to any person information on a list ob-
tained under paragraph (1) but may provide infor-
mation on the list about a passenger to the family 
of the passenger to the extent that the director of 
family support services or the organization considers 
appropriate. 
‘‘(e) 
CONTINUING
RESPONSIBILITIES
OF
THE 
BOARD.—In the course of its investigation of an accident 
described in subsection (a), the Board shall, to the max-
imum extent practicable, ensure that the families of pas-
sengers involved in the accident—
‘‘(1) are briefed, prior to any public briefing, 
about the accident and any other findings from the 
investigation; and 
‘‘(2) are individually informed of and allowed to 
attend any public hearings and meetings of the 
Board about the accident. 
‘‘(f) USE
OF
RAIL
PASSENGER
CARRIER
RE-
SOURCES.—To the extent practicable, the organization 
designated for an accident under subsection (a)(2) shall 
coordinate its activities with the rail passenger carrier in-
volved in the accident to facilitate the reasonable use of 
the resources of the carrier. 
‘‘(g) PROHIBITED ACTIONS.—
‘‘(1) ACTIONS
TO
IMPEDE
THE
BOARD.—No 
person (including a State or political subdivision) 
may impede the ability of the Board (including the 
director of family support services designated for an 
accident under subsection (a)(1)), or an organization 
designated for an accident under subsection (a)(2), 
to carry out its responsibilities under this section or 
the ability of the families of passengers involved in 
the accident to have contact with one another. 
‘‘(2) UNSOLICITED COMMUNICATIONS.—No un-
solicited communication concerning a potential ac-
tion for personal injury or wrongful death may be
made by an attorney (including any associate, agent, 
employee, or other representative of an attorney) or 
any potential party to the litigation to an individual 
(other than an employee of the rail passenger car-
rier) injured in the accident, or to a relative of an 
individual involved in the accident, before the 45th 
day following the date of the accident. 
‘‘(3) PROHIBITION
ON
ACTIONS
TO
PREVENT 
MENTAL HEALTH AND COUNSELING SERVICES.—No 
State or political subdivision may prevent the em-
ployees, agents, or volunteers of an organization des-
ignated for an accident under subsection (a)(2) from 
providing mental health and counseling services 
under subsection (c)(1) in the 30-day period begin-
ning on the date of the accident. The director of 
family support services designated for the accident 
under subsection (a)(1) may extend such period for 
not to exceed an additional 30 days if the director 
determines that the extension is necessary to meet 
the needs of the families and if State and local au-
thorities are notified of the determination. 
‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following 
definitions apply:
‘‘(1) RAIL
PASSENGER
ACCIDENT.—The term 
‘rail passenger accident’ means any rail passenger 
disaster occurring in the provision of—
‘‘(A) interstate intercity rail passenger 
transportation (as such term is defined in sec-
tion 24102); or 
‘‘(B) interstate or intrastate high-speed 
rail (as such term is defined in section 26105) 
transportation, 
regardless of its cause or suspected cause. 
‘‘(2) RAIL
PASSENGER
CARRIER.—The term 
‘rail passenger carrier’ means a rail carrier pro-
viding—
‘‘(A) interstate intercity rail passenger 
transportation (as such term is defined in sec-
tion 24102); or 
‘‘(B) interstate or intrastate high-speed 
rail (as such term is defined in section 26105) 
transportation, 
except that such term shall not include a tourist, 
historic, scenic, or excursion rail carrier. 
‘‘(3) PASSENGER.—The term ‘passenger’ in-
cludes—
‘‘(A) an employee of a rail passenger car-
rier aboard a train;
‘‘(B) any other person aboard the train 
without regard to whether the person paid for 
the transportation, occupied a seat, or held a 
reservation for the rail transportation; and 
‘‘(C) any other person injured or killed in 
the accident. 
‘‘(i) LIMITATION ON STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—
Nothing in this section may be construed as limiting the 
actions that a rail passenger carrier may take, or the obli-
gations that a rail passenger carrier may have, in pro-
viding assistance to the families of passengers involved in 
a rail passenger accident. 
‘‘(j) RELINQUISHMENT
OF
INVESTIGATIVE
PRI-
ORITY.—
‘‘(1) GENERAL RULE.—This section (other than 
subsection (g)) shall not apply to a railroad accident 
if the Board has relinquished investigative priority 
under section 1131(a)(2)(B) and the Federal agency 
to which the Board relinquished investigative pri-
ority is willing and able to provide assistance to the 
victims and families of the passengers involved in 
the accident. 
‘‘(2) BOARD ASSISTANCE.—If this section does 
not apply to a railroad accident because the Board 
has relinquished investigative priority with respect to
the accident, the Board shall assist, to the maximum 
extent possible, the agency to which the Board has 
relinquished investigative priority in assisting fami-
lies with respect to the accident.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec-
tions for such chapter is amended by inserting after the 
item relating to section 1137 the following:
‘‘1138. Assistance to families of passengers involved in rail passenger acci-
dents.’’.
SEC. 3. RAIL PASSENGER CARRIER PLANS TO ADDRESS 
NEEDS OF FAMILIES OF PASSENGERS IN-
VOLVED IN RAIL PASSENGER ACCIDENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part C of subtitle V of title 49, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following new chapter: 
‘‘CHAPTER 251—FAMILY ASSISTANCE
‘‘Sec. 
‘‘25101.
Plans to address needs of families of passengers involved in rail pas-
senger accidents.
‘‘§ 25101.
Plans to address needs of families of pas-
sengers involved in rail passenger acci-
dents 
‘‘(a) SUBMISSION
OF PLANS.—Not later than 6 
months after the date of the enactment of this section, 
each rail passenger carrier shall submit to the Secretary 
of Transportation and the Chairman of the National 
Transportation Safety Board a plan for addressing the
needs of the families of passengers involved in any rail 
passenger accident involving a train of the rail passenger 
carrier and resulting in a major loss of life. 
‘‘(b) CONTENTS OF PLANS.—A plan to be submitted 
by a rail passenger carrier under subsection (a) shall in-
clude, at a minimum, the following:
‘‘(1) A plan for publicizing a reliable, toll-free 
telephone number, and for providing staff, to handle 
calls from the families of the passengers. 
‘‘(2) A process for notifying the families of the 
passengers, before providing any public notice of the 
names of the passengers, either by utilizing the serv-
ices of the organization designated for the accident 
under section 1138(a)(2) of this title or the services 
of other suitably trained individuals. 
‘‘(3) An assurance that the notice described in 
paragraph (2) will be provided to the family of a 
passenger as soon as the rail passenger carrier has 
verified that the passenger was aboard the train 
(whether or not the names of all of the passengers 
have been verified) and, to the extent practicable, in 
person. 
‘‘(4) An assurance that the rail passenger car-
rier will provide to the director of family support 
services designated for the accident under section
1138(a)(1) of this title, and to the organization des-
ignated for the accident under section 1138(a)(2) of 
this title, immediately upon request, a list (which is 
based on the best available information at the time 
of the request) of the names of the passengers 
aboard the train (whether or not such names have 
been verified), and will periodically update the list. 
The plan shall include a procedure, with respect to 
unreserved trains and passengers not holding res-
ervations on other trains, for the rail passenger car-
rier to use reasonable efforts to ascertain the names 
of passengers aboard a train involved in an accident. 
‘‘(5) An assurance that the family of each pas-
senger will be consulted about the disposition of all 
remains and personal effects of the passenger within 
the control of the rail passenger carrier. 
‘‘(6) An assurance that if requested by the fam-
ily of a passenger, any possession of the passenger 
within the control of the rail passenger carrier (re-
gardless of its condition) will be returned to the fam-
ily unless the possession is needed for the accident 
investigation or any criminal investigation. 
‘‘(7) An assurance that any unclaimed posses-
sion of a passenger within the control of the rail