110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2095 
AN ACT 
To amend title 49, United States Code, to prevent railroad 
fatalities, injuries, and hazardous materials releases, to 
authorize the Federal Railroad Safety Administration, 
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 
‘‘Federal Railroad Safety Improvement Act of 2007’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Definitions. 
TITLE I—FEDERAL RAILROAD SAFETY ADMINISTRATION 
Sec. 101. Establishment of Federal Railroad Safety Administration. 
Sec. 102. Railroad safety strategy. 
Sec. 103. Reports. 
Sec. 104. Rulemaking process. 
Sec. 105. Authorization of appropriations. 
TITLE II—EMPLOYEE FATIGUE 
Sec. 201. Hours of service reform. 
Sec. 202. Employee sleeping quarters. 
Sec. 203. Fatigue management plans. 
Sec. 204. Regulatory authority. 
Sec. 205. Conforming amendment. 
TITLE III—BRIDGE SAFETY 
Sec. 301. Railroad bridge safety assurance. 
TITLE IV—GRADE CROSSINGS 
Sec. 401. Toll-free number to report grade crossing problems. 
Sec. 402. Roadway user sight distance at highway-rail grade crossings. 
Sec. 403. Grade crossing signal violations. 
Sec. 404. National crossing inventory. 
Sec. 405. Accident and incident reporting. 
Sec. 406. Authority to buy promotional items to improve railroad crossing safe-
ty and prevent railroad trespass. 
Sec. 407. Operation Lifesaver. 
Sec. 408. State action plan. 
Sec. 409. Fostering introduction of new technology to improve safety at high-
way-rail grade crossings. 
TITLE V—ENFORCEMENT 
Sec. 501. Enforcement. 
Sec. 502. Civil penalties. 
Sec. 503. Criminal penalties. 
Sec. 504. Expansion of emergency order authority. 
Sec. 505. Enforcement transparency. 
Sec. 506. Interfering with or hampering safety investigations. 
Sec. 507. Railroad radio monitoring authority. 
Sec. 508. Inspector staffing.
TITLE VI—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 
Sec. 601. Positive train control systems. 
Sec. 602. Warning in nonsignaled territory. 
Sec. 603. Track safety. 
Sec. 604. Certification of conductors. 
Sec. 605. Minimum training standards. 
Sec. 606. Prompt medical attention. 
Sec. 607. Emergency escape breathing apparatus. 
Sec. 608. Locomotive cab environment. 
Sec. 609. Tunnel information. 
Sec. 610. Museum locomotive study. 
Sec. 611. Certification of Carmen. 
Sec. 612. Train control systems deployment grants. 
Sec. 613. Infrastructure safety investment reports. 
Sec. 614. Emergency grade crossing safety improvements. 
Sec. 615. Locomotive horn requirement waiver. 
Sec. 616. Safety inspections in Mexico. 
Sec. 617. Surface Transportation Board jurisdiction over solid waste facilities. 
TITLE VII—RAIL PASSENGER DISASTER FAMILY ASSISTANCE 
Sec. 701. Short title. 
Sec. 702. Assistance by National Transportation Safety Board to families of 
passengers involved in rail passenger accidents. 
Sec. 703. Rail passenger carrier plans to address needs of families of pas-
sengers involved in rail passenger accidents. 
Sec. 704. Establishment of task force. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this Act, the terms ‘‘railroad’’ and 
‘‘railroad carrier’’ have the meaning given those terms in 
section 20102 of title 49, United States Code. 
TITLE I—FEDERAL RAILROAD 
SAFETY ADMINISTRATION 
SEC. 101. ESTABLISHMENT OF FEDERAL RAILROAD SAFETY 
ADMINISTRATION. 
(a) AMENDMENT.—Section 103 of title 49, United 
States Code, is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘§ 103. Federal Railroad Safety Administration 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Railroad Safety Ad-
ministration (in this section referred to as the ‘Adminis-
tration’) shall be an administration in the Department of 
Transportation. To carry out all railroad safety laws of 
the United States, the Administration shall be divided on 
a geographical basis into at least 8 safety offices. The Sec-
retary of Transportation shall be responsible for enforcing 
those laws and for ensuring that those laws are uniformly 
administered and enforced among the safety offices. 
‘‘(b) SAFETY AS HIGHEST PRIORITY.—In carrying 
out its duties, the Administration shall consider the as-
signment and maintenance of safety as the highest pri-
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 
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-
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