ority, recognizing the clear intent, encouragement, and 
dedication of Congress to the furtherance of the highest 
degree of safety in railroad transportation. 
‘‘(c) ADMINISTRATOR.—The head of the Administra-
tion shall be the Administrator who shall be appointed by 
the President, by and with the advice and consent of the 
Senate, and shall be an individual with professional experi-
ence in railroad safety, hazardous materials safety, or 
other transportation safety. The Administrator shall re-
port directly to the Secretary of Transportation. 
‘‘(d) DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR.—The Administration 
shall have a Deputy Administrator who shall be appointed 
by the Secretary. The Deputy Administrator shall carry 
out duties and powers prescribed by the Administrator. 
‘‘(e) CHIEF SAFETY OFFICER.—The Administration 
shall have an Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety 
appointed in the competitive service by the Secretary. The 
Associate Administrator shall be the Chief Safety Officer 
of the Administration. The Associate Administrator shall 
carry out the duties and powers prescribed by the Admin-
istrator. 
‘‘(f) DUTIES
AND
POWERS
OF
THE
ADMINIS-
TRATOR.—The Administrator shall carry out— 
‘‘(1) duties and powers related to railroad safe-
ty vested in the Secretary by section 20134(c) and 
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chapters 203 through 211 of this title, and by chap-
ter 213 of this title for carrying out chapters 203 
through 211; and 
‘‘(2) other duties and powers prescribed by the 
Secretary. 
‘‘(g) LIMITATION.—A duty or power specified in sub-
section (f)(1) may be transferred to another part of the 
Department of Transportation or another Federal Govern-
ment entity only when specifically provided by law. A deci-
sion of the Administrator in carrying out the duties or 
powers of the Administration and involving notice and 
hearing required by law is administratively final. 
‘‘(h) AUTHORITIES.—Subject to the provisions of 
subtitle I of title 40 and title III of the Federal Property 
and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 251 
et seq.), the Secretary of Transportation may make, enter 
into, and perform such contracts, grants, leases, coopera-
tive agreements, and other similar transactions with Fed-
eral or other public agencies (including State and local 
governments) and private organizations and persons, and 
make such payments, by way of advance or reimburse-
ment, as the Secretary may determine to be necessary or 
appropriate to carry out functions at the Administration. 
The authority of the Secretary granted by this subsection 
shall be carried out by the Administrator. Notwith-
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standing any other provision of this chapter, no authority 
to enter into contracts or to make payments under this 
subsection shall be effective, except as provided for in ap-
propriations Acts.’’. 
(b) 
REFERENCES
AND
CONFORMING
AMEND-
MENTS.—(1) All references in Federal law to the Federal 
Railroad Administration shall be deemed to be references 
to the Federal Railroad Safety Administration. 
(2) The item relating to section 103 in the table of 
sections of chapter 1 of title 49, United States Code, is 
amended to read as follows: 
‘‘103. Federal Railroad Safety Administration.’’. 
SEC. 102. RAILROAD SAFETY STRATEGY. 
(a) SAFETY GOALS.—In conjunction with existing 
federally required strategic planning efforts, the Secretary 
of Transportation shall develop a long-term strategy for 
improving railroad safety. The strategy shall include an 
annual plan and schedule for achieving, at a minimum, 
the following goals: 
(1) Reducing the number and rates of acci-
dents, injuries, and fatalities involving railroads. 
(2) Improving the consistency and effectiveness 
of enforcement and compliance programs. 
(3) Identifying and targeting enforcement at, 
and safety improvements to, high-risk highway-rail 
grade crossings. 
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(4) Improving research efforts to enhance and 
promote railroad safety and performance. 
(b) RESOURCE NEEDS.—The strategy and annual 
plans shall include estimates of the funds and staff re-
sources needed to accomplish each activity. Such estimates 
shall also include the staff skills and training needed for 
timely and effective accomplishment of each goal. 
(c) SUBMISSION WITH
THE PRESIDENT’S BUDG-
ET.—The Secretary of Transportation shall submit to the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee on Com-
merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate the 
strategy and annual plan at the same time as the Presi-
dent’s budget submission. 
(d) ACHIEVEMENT OF GOALS.— 
(1) PROGRESS
ASSESSMENT.—No less fre-
quently than semiannually, the Secretary of Trans-
portation and the Administrator of the Federal Rail-
road Safety Administration shall assess the progress 
of the Administration toward achieving the strategic 
goals described in subsection (a). The Secretary and 
the Administrator shall convey their assessment to 
the employees of the Federal Railroad Safety Ad-
ministration and shall identify any deficiencies that 
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should be remediated before the next progress as-
sessment. 
(2) REPORT
TO
CONGRESS.—The Secretary 
shall transmit a report annually to the Committee 
on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House 
of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation of the Senate on the 
performance of the Federal Railroad Safety Admin-
istration relative to the goals of the railroad safety 
strategy and annual plans under subsection (a). 
SEC. 103. REPORTS. 
(a) REPORTS BY THE INSPECTOR GENERAL.—Not 
later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Inspector General of the Department of Transpor-
tation shall submit to the Secretary of Transportation and 
the Administrator of the Federal Railroad Safety Admin-
istration a report containing the following: 
(1) A list of each statutory mandate regarding 
railroad safety that has not been implemented. 
(2) A list of each open safety recommendation 
made by the National Transportation Safety Board 
or the Inspector General regarding railroad safety. 
(b) REPORTS BY THE SECRETARY.— 
(1) STATUTORY MANDATES.—Not later than 90 
days after the date of enactment of this Act, and 
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every 180 days thereafter until each of the mandates 
referred to in subsection (a)(1) has been imple-
mented, the Secretary of Transportation shall trans-
mit to the Committee on Transportation and Infra-
structure of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor-
tation of the Senate a report on the specific actions 
taken to implement such mandates. 
(2) NTSB AND
INSPECTOR
GENERAL
REC-
OMMENDATIONS.—Not later than January 1st of 
each year, the Secretary of Transportation shall 
transmit to the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and 
the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans-
portation of the Senate a report containing each rec-
ommendation referred to in subsection (a)(2), a copy 
of the Department of Transportation response to 
each such recommendation, and a progress report on 
implementing each such recommendation. 
SEC. 104. RULEMAKING PROCESS. 
(a) AMENDMENT.—Subchapter I of chapter 201 of 
title 49, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 
section 20115 the following new section: 
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‘‘§ 20116. Rulemaking process 
‘‘No rule or order issued by the Secretary under this 
part shall be effective if it incorporates by reference a 
code, rule, standard, requirement, or practice issued by an 
association or other entity that is not an agency of the 
Federal Government, unless that reference is to a par-
ticular code, rule, standard, requirement, or practice 
adopted before the date on which the rule is issued by 
the Secretary, and unless the date on which the code, rule, 
standard, requirement, or practice was adopted is specifi-
cally cited in the rule.’’. 
(b) TABLE OF SECTIONS AMENDMENT.—The table of 
sections of subchapter I of chapter 201 of title 49, United 
States Code, is amended by adding after the item relating 
to section 20115 the following new item: 
‘‘20116. Rulemaking process.’’. 
SEC. 105. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
Section 20117(a) of title 49, United States Code, is 
amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—(1) There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary of Transportation to carry 
out this part and to carry out responsibilities under chap-
ter 51 as delegated or authorized by the Secretary— 
‘‘(A) $230,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; 
‘‘(B) $260,000,000 for fiscal year 2009; 
‘‘(C) $295,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; and 
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‘‘(D) $335,000,000 for fiscal year 2011. 
‘‘(2) With amounts appropriated pursuant to para-
graph (1), the Secretary shall purchase 6 Gage Restraint 
Measurement System vehicles and 5 track geometry vehi-
cles to enable the deployment of 1 Gage Restraint Meas-
urement System vehicle and 1 track geometry vehicle in 
each region. 
‘‘(3) There are authorized to be appropriated to the 
Secretary $18,000,000 for the period encompassing fiscal 
years 2008 through 2011 to design, develop, and construct 
the Facility for Underground Rail Station and Tunnel at 
the Transportation Technology Center in Pueblo, Colo-
rado. The facility shall be used to test and evaluate the 
vulnerabilities of above-ground and underground rail tun-
nels to prevent accidents and incidents in such tunnels, 
to mitigate and remediate the consequences of any such 
accidents or incidents, and to provide a realistic scenario 
for training emergency responders.’’. 
TITLE II—EMPLOYEE FATIGUE 
SEC. 201. HOURS OF SERVICE REFORM. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 21101(4) of title 49, 
United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘employed by 
a railroad carrier’’. 
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(b) LIMITATION ON DUTY HOURS OF SIGNAL EM-
PLOYEES.—Section 21104 of title 49, United States Code, 
is amended— 
(1) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(a) GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection (c) 
of this section, a railroad carrier and its officers and 
agents may not require or allow a signal employee to re-
main or go on duty— 
‘‘(1) unless that employee has had at least 10 
consecutive hours off duty during the prior 24 
hours; 
‘‘(2) for a period in excess of 12 consecutive 
hours; or 
‘‘(3) unless that employee has had at least one 
period of at least 24 consecutive hours off duty in 
the past 7 consecutive days.’’; 
(2) in subsection (b)(3) by striking ‘‘, except 
that up to one hour of that time spent returning 
from the final trouble call of a period of continuous 
or broken service is time off duty’’; 
(3) in subsection (c)— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘for not more than 3 days 
during a period of 7 consecutive days’’ after 
‘‘24 consecutive hours’’; and 
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