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104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3578
To reform the safety practices of the railroad industry, to prevent railroad
fatalities, injuries, and hazardous materials releases, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 5, 1996
Mr. OBERSTAR (for himself, Mr. WISE, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr.
CLEMENT, Mr. NADLER, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHN-
SON of Texas, Mr. MASCARA, and Mr. CUMMINGS) introduced the follow-
ing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and In-
frastructure
A BILL
To reform the safety practices of the railroad industry, to
prevent railroad fatalities, injuries, and hazardous mate-
rials releases, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Railroad Safety Reform Act of 1996’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
TITLE I—SAFETY RULEMAKING AND ENFORCEMENT
Sec. 101. Purpose.
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Sec. 102. Railroad safety conference.
Sec. 103. Rulemaking status reports.
Sec. 104. Power brake safety rulemaking.
Sec. 105. Track safety standards rulemaking.
Sec. 106. Rulemaking process.
Sec. 107. Safety inspectors.
Sec. 108. Employee reports.
Sec. 109. Accident and injury reporting.
TITLE II—GRADE CROSSING SAFETY
Sec. 201. Toll-free number to report grade crossing problems.
Sec. 202. Grade crossing signal violations.
TITLE III—HOURS OF SERVICE
Sec. 301. Limitations on duty hours of train employees.
Sec. 302. Split shifts.
Sec. 303. Limitations on duty hours of signal employees.
Sec. 304. Employee sleeping quarters.
Sec. 305. Rotating shifts.
Sec. 306. Train dispatchers.
Sec. 307. Recommendations on hours of service changes.
TITLE IV—PASSENGER SERVICE SAFETY STANDARDS
Sec. 401. Emergency windows and doors.
Sec. 402. Passenger railroad signal systems.
Sec. 403. Passenger locomotive fuel tanks.
Sec. 404. Passenger car crashworthiness.
Sec. 405. Positive train control.
TITLE V—EMPLOYEE AUTHORITY, CERTIFICATION, AND
EQUIPMENT
Sec. 501. Employee response to hazardous conditions.
Sec. 502. Certification of locomotive engineers and other safety-related railroad
personnel.
Sec. 503. Communications devices.
TITLE I—SAFETY RULEMAKING
AND ENFORCEMENT
SEC. 101. PURPOSE.
Section 20101 of title 49, United States Code, is
amended to read as follows:
‘‘§ 20101. Purpose
‘‘The purpose of this part is to assign and maintain
safety as the highest priority in every area of railroad op-
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erations and to reduce railroad-related accidents and inci-
dents.’’.
SEC. 102. RAILROAD SAFETY CONFERENCE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation
shall convene, within 6 months after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act and annually thereafter, a conference to
determine what are the most important actions needed to
improve the safety of railroad operations. Each such con-
ference shall provide an opportunity for the participants
to present their views, respond to the views of other par-
ticipants, and discuss railroad safety issues with other
participants so that a consensus can be reached.
(b) PARTICIPANTS.—Each conference convened pur-
suant to subsection (a) shall include as participants, at
a minimum, appropriate representatives of the Depart-
ment of Transportation, railroad management, railroad
labor, railroad passengers, railroad equipment suppliers,
and railroad shippers, as well as individuals representing
community interests.
(c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary of Trans-
portation shall, within 3 months after the completion of
a conference convened pursuant to subsection (a), trans-
mit to the Congress a report summarizing the results of
the conference.
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SEC. 103. RULEMAKING STATUS REPORTS.
(a) REQUIREMENT.—The Administrator of the Fed-
eral Railroad Administration shall report once each month
to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
of the House of Representatives and to the Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate on
the status of the Federal Railroad Administration’s safety-
related—
(1) rulemakings, whether specifically required
by statute or initiated by the Secretary or the Fed-
eral Railroad Administrator under general statutory
authority; and
(2) reports, including reports required by stat-
ute and any other reports intended for publication.
(b) CONTENTS.—A report required by subsection (a)
shall discuss the progress of the Federal Railroad Admin-
istration in completing those rulemakings and reports, in-
cluding achieved and expected dates of completing various
phases of the rulemakings and reports. In the case of
rulemakings and reports required by law, these dates shall
be compared with the dates required by law, and the re-
port required by subsection (a) shall explain the failure
to meet any rulemaking or reporting deadlines established
by law. The report shall also discuss the extent to which
any review or approval of the rulemaking or report, that
is required by law or otherwise to be performed by a Fed-
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eral official, has been completed. The report may also dis-
cuss any other topics that the Administrator considers rel-
evant to the Federal Railroad Administration’s railroad
safety program.
SEC. 104. POWER BRAKE SAFETY RULEMAKING.
If the Secretary of Transportation has not, before the
date which is one year after the date of the enactment
of this Act, issued all final regulations relating to the safe-
ty of railroad power brakes required under section 20141
of title 49, United States Code, then on the date which
is one year after the date of the enactment of this Act
the proposed rules published on September 16, 1994 (59
Fed. Reg. 47676–47753) that relate to any subject on
which the Secretary has not issued final regulations shall
take effect as final rules.
SEC. 105. TRACK SAFETY STANDARDS RULEMAKING.
(a) CONTINGENT STANDARDS.—Section 20142 of
title 49, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘Not later
than September 3, 1995’’ and inserting in lieu there-
of ‘‘Before the date which is one year after the date
of the enactment of the Railroad Safety Reform Act
of 1996’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
sections:
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does not require replacement, the rail shall be inspected
not less often than once every 6 months, and shall be in-
spected for internal defects not less often than once every
12 months.
‘‘(4)(A) Rail referred to in paragraphs (2) and (3)
is rail in class 3 track or higher, or in class 2 track on
which passenger trains operate, which evidences shelly
spots, head checks, engine burn, flaking, mill defects, sliv-
ering, corrugation, corrosion, or other similar defects.
‘‘(B) For purposes of this paragraph, the class of
track shall be determined in accordance with regulations
in effect as of the date of the enactment of the Railroad
Safety Reform Act of 1996.
‘‘(f) CONTINUOUS WELDED RAIL.—All continuous
welded rail shall be installed at a rail temperature that,
given the effects of expected changes in ambient air tem-
peratures, will not result in compressive or tensile forces
that will produce lateral displacement of the track or pull-
ing apart of rail ends or welds, respectively. After initial
installation, the track shall subsequently be adjusted for
reductions in its neutral temperature.
‘‘(g) LIMITATIONS ON EXCEPTIONS.—No segment of
track shall be excepted from track safety standards estab-
lished by the Secretary if—
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‘‘(1) any freight train operating on the track in-
cludes any cars required to be placarded pursuant to
the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act;
‘‘(2) the track segment is located within 100
feet of—
‘‘(A) an adjacent track which is not ex-
cepted;
‘‘(B) a public street or highway; or
‘‘(C) any structure, facility, or installation
where persons are likely to be endangered by a
derailment;
‘‘(3) the track segment is elevated more than
10 feet above the adjacent terrain; or
‘‘(4) the designation of the track segment as ex-
cepted has not been filed with the Federal Railroad
Administration’s main office in Washington, D.C.
and the regional office for the region in which the
track segment is located.
‘‘(h) MAINTENANCE-OF-WAY EQUIPMENT.—(1) All
track motor vehicles, self-propelled maintenance-of-way
equipment, and other equipment which is designed with
a wheeled carriage allowing the equipment to move along
a railroad track shall be designed and maintained so as
to conduct electrical current from one rail of the track to
the other, enabling the activation of signal systems de-
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signed to detect the presence of locomotives, cars, trains,
and other rolling equipment on the track.
‘‘(2) All roadway work groups and lone roadway
workers, as such terms are defined in section 20154(c),
when working in a classification yard, shall be equipped
with portable equipment permitting the motion of freely
rolling railroad cars to be automatically arrested.
‘‘(3) This subsection shall take effect on January 1,
1997.’’.
(b) EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS.—Section 20142(a)
of title 49, United States Code, is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph
(2);
(2) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (3) and inserting in lieu thereof a semicolon;
and
(3) by adding at the end the following new
paragraphs:
‘‘(4) minimum equipment and materials needed
by track inspectors and other maintenance-of-way
and bridge and building employees to perform their
work properly; and
‘‘(5) safety equipment needed for all track
motor vehicles, self-propelled maintenance-of-way
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equipment, and similar equipment to operate safe-
ly.’’.
SEC. 106. 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:
‘‘§ 20116. Rulemaking process
‘‘(a) RULES PROPOSED BY RAILROAD SAFETY ADVI-
SORY COMMITTEE.—A rule that has been proposed unani-
mously by the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee shall
be issued as a proposed rule by the Secretary without
preparation of a regulatory analysis, regulatory evalua-
tion, or any other assessment of the costs or benefits of
the proposed rule, and without soliciting the approval or
comment of any person outside the Department of Trans-
portation.
‘‘(b) INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE.—No rule or
order issued by the Secretary under this part shall be ef-
fective if it incorporates by reference a code, rule, stand-
ard, requirement, or practice issued by an association or
other entity that is not an agency of the Federal Govern-
ment, unless that reference is to a particular code, rule,
standard, requirement, or practice adopted before the date
on which the rule is issued by the Secretary, and unless
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the date on which the code, rule, standard, requirement,
or practice was adopted is specifically cited in the rule.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec-
tions for 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. 107. SAFETY INSPECTORS.
Section 20115 of title 49, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘subject to
this chapter’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘subject
to this part’’;
(2) by amending subsection (a)(1) to read as
follows:
‘‘(1) shall cover the costs of providing 400 rail-
road safety inspectors in addition to those already
employed by the Federal Railroad Administration as
of October 1, 1995;’’;
(3) in subsection (c)(2), by striking ‘‘only to
carry out this chapter’’ and inserting in lieu thereof
‘‘only for the purposes described in subsection
(a)(1)’’;
(4) in subsection (c)(3), by striking ‘‘of activi-
ties under’’ and all that follows through ‘‘financed
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by the fees’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘described
in subsection (a)(1)’’;
(5) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘90 days
after the end of each fiscal year in which fees are
collected under this section’’ and inserting in lieu
thereof ‘‘180 days after the end of fiscal year 1999,
and every 3 years thereafter’’;
(6) in subsection (d)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘that
fiscal year’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘the 3 pre-
vious fiscal years’’;
(7) in subsection (d)(2), by striking ‘‘for a fis-
cal year’’; and
(8) by striking subsection (e).
SEC. 108. EMPLOYEE REPORTS.
Section 20901(a) of title 49, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘the carrier’s operations’’ and
inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘the operations of the car-
rier or of any contractor to the carrier working on
the carrier’s property or operating the carrier’s
equipment’’; and
(2) by inserting ‘‘The report shall also include
copies of any written safety-related complaint or re-
port filed with the carrier by an employee or con-
tractor during the month, whether or not the com-