I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2681
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
AUGUST 3, 1999
Mr. SHUSTER (for himself, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. PETRI, and Mr. RAHALL) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure
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 1999’’.
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:
‘‘§ 1137. 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.
‘‘(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
providing—
‘‘(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’
includes—
‘‘(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.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec-
tions for such chapter is amended by inserting after the
item relating to section 1136 the following:
‘‘1137. 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 1137(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
1137(a)(1) of this title, and to the organization des-
ignated for the accident under section 1137(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
passenger carrier will be retained by the rail pas-
senger carrier for at least 18 months.
‘‘(8) An assurance that the family of each pas-
senger or other person killed in the accident will be
consulted about construction by the rail passenger
carrier of any monument to the passengers, includ-
ing any inscription on the monument.
‘‘(9) An assurance that the treatment of the
families of nonrevenue passengers will be the same
as the treatment of the families of revenue pas-
sengers.
‘‘(10) An assurance that the rail passenger car-
rier will work with any organization designated
under section 1137(a)(2) of this title on an ongoing
basis to ensure that families of passengers receive an
appropriate level of services and assistance following
each accident.
‘‘(11) An assurance that the rail passenger car-
rier will provide reasonable compensation to any or-