I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3698 
To amend title 49, United States Code, to limit railroad carriers from blocking 
railway-highway crossings, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 4, 2021 
Mr. COOPER (for himself and Mrs. NAPOLITANO) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To amend title 49, United States Code, to limit railroad 
carriers from blocking railway-highway crossings, and for 
other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Don’t BLock Our 
Communities Act’’ or the ‘‘D-BLOC Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF 10-MINUTE TIME LIMIT FOR 
BLOCKING PUBLIC HIGHWAY-RAIL GRADE 
CROSSINGS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 201 of 
title 49, United States Code, as amended by this division, 
is further amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘§ 20169. Time limit for blocking public highway-rail 
grade crossing 
‘‘(a) TIME LIMIT.—A railroad carrier may not cause 
a blocked crossing incident that is longer than 10 minutes 
in duration, unless the blocked crossing incident is caused 
by— 
‘‘(1) a casualty or serious injury; 
‘‘(2) an accident; 
‘‘(3) a track obstruction; 
‘‘(4) actions necessary to comply with Federal 
rail safety laws, regulations, or orders issued there-
under unless the action to comply could reasonably 
occur at a different time or location; 
‘‘(5) actions necessary to adhere to section 
24308; 
‘‘(6) a train fully contained within rail yard lim-
its or fully contained in a rail siding; 
‘‘(7) an act of God; or 
‘‘(8) a derailment or a safety appliance equip-
ment failure that prevents the train from advancing. 
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‘‘(b) INVESTIGATION
OF FREQUENTLY BLOCKED 
CROSSINGS.—For any public highway-rail grade crossing 
that has had 3 or more blocked crossing incidents that 
exceed the time limit set forth in subsection (a) and are 
reported to the blocked crossing database, and such inci-
dents have occurred on at least 3 calendar days within 
a 30-day period, the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(1) provide an electronic notice of the number 
of reported blocked crossing incidents to the railroad 
carrier that owns the public highway-rail grade 
crossing; 
‘‘(2) investigate the causes of the blocked cross-
ing incidents; and 
‘‘(3) investigate possible measures to reduce the 
frequency and duration of blocked crossing incidents 
at such grade crossing. 
‘‘(c) RECORDKEEPING.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—A railroad carrier shall, 
upon receiving a notice under subsection (b), main-
tain train location data records for the public high-
way-rail grade crossing that was the subject of the 
notice. 
‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF RECORDS.—The train loca-
tion data records required under paragraph (1) shall 
include— 
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‘‘(A) a list of all blocked crossing incidents 
at the public highway-rail grade crossing that is 
the subject of the report exceeding 10 minutes; 
‘‘(B) the cause of the blocked crossing inci-
dent (to the extent available); 
‘‘(C) train length; and 
‘‘(D) the estimated duration of each 
blocked crossing incident. 
‘‘(3) CONSULTATION.—Beginning on the date 
on which a railroad carrier receives a notice under 
subsection (b), the Secretary may consult with the 
carrier for a period of 60 days to address concerns 
with blocked crossing incidents at the public high-
way-rail grade crossing that is the subject of the no-
tice. 
‘‘(4) EXPIRATION OF DATA COLLECTION.—The 
requirement to maintain records under paragraph 
(1) shall cease with respect to a public highway-rail 
grade crossing noticed under subsection (b)(2) if 
there are no reports submitted to the blocked cross-
ing database for blocked crossing incidents reported 
to occur at such grade crossing during the previous 
365 consecutive calendar days. 
‘‘(d) CIVIL PENALTIES.— 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may issue 
civil penalties in accordance with section 21301 to 
railroad carriers for violations of subsection (a) oc-
curring 60 days after the date of submission of a no-
tice under subsection (b). 
‘‘(2) RELEASE OF RECORDS.—Upon the request 
of, and under requirements set by, the Secretary, 
railroad carriers shall provide the records main-
tained pursuant to subsection (c)(1) to the Adminis-
trator of the Federal Railroad Administration. 
‘‘(3) ALTERNATE
ROUTE
EXEMPTION.—Civil 
penalties may not be issued for violations of sub-
section (a) that occur at a public highway-rail grade 
crossing if no alternate route created by a public 
highway-rail grade separation exists within a half 
mile by road of such public highway-rail grade cross-
ing. 
‘‘(4) GRADE SEPARATION PROJECT.—Civil pen-
alties may not be issued for violations of subsection 
(a) if the violation occurs at a public highway-rail 
grade crossing for which there is a proposed grade 
separation project— 
‘‘(A) that has received written agreement 
from the relevant local authorities; and 
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‘‘(B) for which rail carrier and project 
funding from all parties has been budgeted. 
‘‘(5) CONSIDERATIONS.—In determining civil 
penalties under this section, the Secretary shall con-
sider increased penalties in a case in which a pattern 
of the blocked crossing incidents continue to cause 
delays to State or local emergency services. 
‘‘(e) APPLICATION
TO AMTRAK
AND COMMUTER 
RAILROADS.—This section shall not apply to Amtrak or 
commuter authorities, including Amtrak and commuter 
authorities’ operations run or dispatched by a Class I rail-
road. 
‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) BLOCKED
CROSSING
DATABASE.—The 
term ‘blocked crossing database’ means the national 
blocked crossing database established under section 
20170. 
‘‘(2) BLOCKED CROSSING INCIDENT.—The term 
‘blocked crossing incident’ means a circumstance in 
which a train, locomotive, rail car, or other rail 
equipment is stopped in a manner that obstructs 
travel at a public highway-rail grade crossing. 
‘‘(3) PUBLIC
HIGHWAY-RAIL
GRADE
CROSS-
ING.—The term ‘public highway-rail grade crossing’ 
means a location within a State in which a public 
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highway, road, or street, including associated side-
walks and pathways, crosses 1 or more railroad 
tracks at grade.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for sub-
chapter II of chapter 201 of title 49, United States Code, 
is further amended by adding at the end the following new 
item: 
‘‘20169. Time limit for blocking public highway-rail grade crossing.’’. 
SEC. 3. NATIONAL BLOCKED CROSSING DATABASE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 201 of 
title 49, United States Code, is further amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘§ 20170. National blocked crossing database 
‘‘(a) DATABASE.—Not later than 45 days after the 
date of enactment of the D-BLOC Act, the Secretary of 
Transportation shall establish a national blocked crossings 
database for the public to report blocked crossing inci-
dents. 
‘‘(b) PUBLIC AWARENESS.—Not later than 60 days 
after the date of enactment of the D-BLOC Act, the Sec-
retary shall require each railroad carrier to publish the 
active link to report blocked crossing incidents on the 
website of the national blocked crossings database de-
scribed in subsection (a) on the home page of the publicly- 
available website of the railroad carrier. 
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‘‘(c) BLOCKED CROSSING INCIDENT; PUBLIC HIGH-
WAY-RAIL GRADE CROSSING.—In this section, the terms 
‘blocked crossing incident’ and ‘public highway-rail grade 
crossing’ have the meanings given the terms in section 
20169.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for sub-
chapter II of chapter 201 of title 49, United States Code, 
is further amended by adding at the end the following new 
item: 
‘‘20170. National blocked crossing database.’’. 
SEC. 4. RAILROAD POINT OF CONTACT FOR BLOCKED 
CROSSING MATTERS. 
Section 20152 of title 49, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in paragraph (1)— 
(i) in subparagraph (C) by striking 
‘‘or’’ at the end; 
(ii) by redesignating subparagraph 
(D) as subparagraph (E); and 
(iii) by inserting the following after 
subparagraph (C): 
‘‘(D) blocked crossing incident, as defined 
in section 20169; or’’; 
(B) in paragraph (4)— 
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(i) by striking ‘‘paragraph (1)(C) or 
(D)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph (C), 
(D), or (E) of paragraph (1)’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 
(C) in paragraph (5) by striking the period 
at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 
(D) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(6) upon receiving a report of a blocked cross-
ing pursuant to paragraph (1)(D), the railroad car-
rier shall, within 14 days of receipt of the report— 
‘‘(A) verify that the public highway-rail 
grade crossing, as defined in section 20174, was 
blocked for a period of at least 10 minutes; and 
‘‘(B) upon positive verification of the re-
port, enter the report into the national blocked 
crossings database established in section 20174; 
and 
‘‘(7) promptly inform the Secretary of any up-
date to the number maintained under paragraph 
(1).’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(c) PUBLICATION OF TELEPHONE NUMBERS.—The 
Secretary shall make any telephone number established 
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under subsection (a) publicly available on the website of 
the Department of Transportation.’’. 
Æ 
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