I 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4896
To provide for the security of the United States railroad system. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 22, 2004
Mr. OBERSTAR (for himself, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. LIPINSKI, 
Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. LARSEN of Wash-
ington, Mr. BISHOP of New York, and Mr. MEEHAN) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To provide for the security of the United States railroad 
system.
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 ‘‘Protecting Railroad 
Operators, Travelers, Employees, and Communities with 
Transportation Security Act of 2004’’. 
SEC. 2. RAIL TRANSPORTATION SECURITY RISK ASSESS-
MENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—
(1) VULNERABILITY
ASSESSMENT.—The Sec-
retary of Transportation, in consultation with the 
Secretary of Homeland Security, shall complete a 
vulnerability assessment of railroad transportation. 
The assessment shall include—
(A) identification and evaluation of critical 
assets and infrastructures to reduce the vulner-
ability of the railroad transportation system in 
the event of an attack on any one target and 
to ensure that our cities continue to function 
should an attack occur; 
(B) identification of threats to those assets 
and infrastructures; 
(C) identification of vulnerabilities that are 
specific to the transportation of hazardous ma-
terials by railroad; 
(D) identification of redundant and backup 
systems required to ensure the continued oper-
ation of critical elements of the railroad system 
in the event of an attack or other incident, in-
cluding disruption of commercial electric power 
or communications networks; and 
(E) identification of security weaknesses in 
passenger and cargo security, transportation in-
frastructure, protection systems, procedural
policies, communications systems, employee 
training, emergency response planning, and any 
other area identified by the assessment. 
(2) EXISTING
PRIVATE
AND
PUBLIC
SECTOR 
EFFORTS.—The assessment may take into account 
actions taken or planned by both public and private 
entities to address identified security issues and as-
sess the effective integration of such actions. 
(3) RECOMMENDATIONS.—Based on the assess-
ment conducted under paragraph (1), the Secretary 
of Transportation, in consultation with the Secretary 
of Homeland Security, shall develop prioritized rec-
ommendations for improving rail security, including 
any recommendations the Secretary of Transpor-
tation has for—
(A) improving the security of rail tunnels, 
rail bridges, rail switching and car storage 
areas, other rail infrastructure and facilities, in-
formation systems, and other areas identified 
by the Secretary of Transportation as posing 
significant rail-related risks to public safety and 
the movement of interstate commerce, taking 
into account the impact that any proposed secu-
rity measure might have on the provision of rail 
service;
(B) monitoring critical assets and infra-
structure; 
(C) deploying equipment to detect explo-
sives and hazardous chemical, biological, and 
radioactive substances, and any appropriate 
countermeasures; 
(D) training employees and emergency re-
sponders in terrorism prevention, passenger 
evacuation, including tunnel evacuation, and re-
sponse activities; 
(E) conducting public outreach campaigns 
on passenger railroads; 
(F) deploying surveillance equipment; and 
(G) identifying the immediate and long-
term costs of measures that may be required to 
address those risks. 
(4) PLANS.—The report required by subsection 
(c) shall include—
(A) a plan for the Federal Government to 
provide increased security support at high or 
severe threat levels of alert; and 
(B) a plan for coordinating rail security 
initiatives undertaken by the public and private 
sectors.
(b) 
CONSULTATION; 
USE
OF
EXISTING
RE-
SOURCES.—In carrying out the assessment required by 
subsection (a), the Secretary of Transportation shall con-
sult with railroad carriers, nonprofit employee organiza-
tions that represent railroad workers, owners or lessors 
of rail cars used to transport hazardous materials, ship-
pers of hazardous materials by rail, public safety officials 
(including those within other Federal agencies), and other 
relevant parties. 
(c) REPORT.—
(1) CONTENTS.—Not later than 180 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
Transportation shall transmit to the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Sen-
ate and the Committee on Transportation and Infra-
structure of the House of Representatives a report 
containing the assessment and prioritized rec-
ommendations required by subsection (a) and an es-
timate of the cost to implement such recommenda-
tions. 
(2) FORMAT.—The Secretary of Transportation 
may submit the report in both classified and re-
dacted formats if the Secretary of Transportation 
determines that such action is appropriate or nec-
essary.