H. R. 1—172 
SEC. 1515. FIRE AND LIFE SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS. 
(a) LIFE-SAFETY NEEDS.—There are authorized to be appro-
priated to the Secretary of Transportation for making grants to 
Amtrak for the purpose of carrying out projects to make fire and 
life safety improvements to Amtrak tunnels on the Northeast Cor-
ridor the following amounts: 
(1) For the 6 New York and New Jersey tunnels to provide 
ventilation, electrical, and fire safety technology improvements, 
emergency communication and lighting systems, and emergency 
access and egress for passengers— 
(A) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; 
(B) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2009; 
(C) $45,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; and 
(D) $60,000,000 for fiscal year 2011. 
(2) For the Baltimore Potomac Tunnel and the Union 
Tunnel, together, to provide adequate drainage and ventilation, 
communication, lighting, standpipe, and passenger egress 
improvements— 
(A) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; 
(B) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2009; 
(C) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; and 
(D) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2011. 
(3) For the Union Station tunnels in the District of 
Columbia to improve ventilation, communication, lighting, and 
passenger egress improvements— 
(A) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; 
(B) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2009; 
(C) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; and 
(D) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2011. 
(b) INFRASTRUCTURE UPGRADES.—Out of funds appropriated 
pursuant to section 1503(b), there shall be made available to the 
Secretary of Transportation for fiscal year 2008, $3,000,000 for 
the preliminary design of options for a new tunnel on a different 
alignment to augment the capacity of the existing Baltimore tun-
nels. 
(c) AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS.—Amounts appropriated pursu-
ant to this section shall remain available until expended. 
(d) PLANS REQUIRED.—The Secretary of Transportation may 
not make amounts available to Amtrak for obligation or expenditure 
under subsection (a)— 
(1) until Amtrak has submitted to the Secretary of 
Transportation, and the Secretary of Transportation has 
approved, an engineering and financial plan for such projects; 
and 
(2) unless, for each project funded pursuant to this section, 
the Secretary of Transportation has approved a project manage-
ment plan prepared by Amtrak. 
(e) REVIEW OF PLANS.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation shall 
complete the review of a plan required under subsection (d) 
and approve or disapprove the plan within 45 days after the 
date on which each such plan is submitted by Amtrak. 
(2) INCOMPLETE OR DEFICIENT PLAN.—If the Secretary of 
Transportation determines that a plan is incomplete or defi-
cient, the Secretary of Transportation shall notify Amtrak of 
the incomplete items or deficiencies and Amtrak shall, within 
30 days after receiving the Secretary of Transportation’s
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notification, submit a modified plan for the Secretary of 
Transportation’s review. 
(3) APPROVAL OF PLAN.—Within 15 days after receiving 
additional information on items previously included in the plan, 
and within 45 days after receiving items newly included in 
a modified plan, the Secretary of Transportation shall either 
approve the modified plan, or if the Secretary of Transportation 
finds the plan is still incomplete or deficient, the Secretary 
of Transportation shall— 
(A) identify in writing to the appropriate congressional 
committees the portions of the plan the Secretary finds 
incomplete or deficient; 
(B) approve all other portions of the plan; 
(C) obligate the funds associated with those portions; 
and 
(D) execute an agreement with Amtrak within 15 days 
thereafter on a process for resolving the remaining portions 
of the plan. 
(f) FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION FROM OTHER TUNNEL USERS.— 
The Secretary of Transportation, taking into account the need for 
the timely completion of all portions of the tunnel projects described 
in subsection (a), shall— 
(1) consider the extent to which railroad carriers other 
than Amtrak use or plan to use the tunnels; 
(2) consider the feasibility of seeking a financial contribu-
tion from those other railroad carriers toward the costs of 
the projects; and 
(3) obtain financial contributions or commitments from such 
other railroad carriers at levels reflecting the extent of their 
use or planned use of the tunnels, if feasible. 
SEC. 1516. RAILROAD CARRIER EXERCISES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a program for 
conducting security exercises for railroad carriers for the purpose 
of assessing and improving the capabilities of entities described 
in subsection (b) to prevent, prepare for, mitigate, respond to, 
and recover from acts of terrorism. 
(b) COVERED ENTITIES.—Entities to be assessed under the pro-
gram shall include— 
(1) Federal, State, and local agencies and tribal govern-
ments; 
(2) railroad carriers; 
(3) 
governmental 
and 
nongovernmental 
emergency 
response providers, law enforcement agencies, and railroad and 
transit police, as appropriate; and 
(4) any other organization or entity that the Secretary 
determines appropriate. 
(c) REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall ensure that the pro-
gram— 
(1) consolidates existing security exercises for railroad car-
riers administered by the Department and the Department 
of Transportation, as jointly determined by the Secretary and 
the Secretary of Transportation, unless the Secretary waives 
this consolidation requirement as appropriate; 
(2) consists of exercises that are—
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(A) scaled and tailored to the needs of the carrier, 
including addressing the needs of the elderly and individ-
uals with disabilities; 
(B) live, in the case of the most at-risk facilities to 
a terrorist attack; 
(C) coordinated with appropriate officials; 
(D) as realistic as practicable and based on current 
risk 
assessments, 
including 
credible 
threats, 
vulnerabilities, and consequences; 
(E) inclusive, as appropriate, of railroad frontline 
employees; and 
(F) consistent with the National Incident Management 
System, the National Response Plan, the National Infra-
structure Protection Plan, the National Preparedness Guid-
ance, the National Preparedness Goal, and other such 
national initiatives; 
(3) provides that exercises described in paragraph (2) will 
be— 
(A) evaluated by the Secretary against clear and con-
sistent performance measures; 
(B) assessed by the Secretary to identify best practices, 
which shall be shared, as appropriate, with railroad car-
riers, nonprofit employee organizations that represent rail-
road carrier employees, Federal, State, local, and tribal 
officials, governmental and nongovernmental emergency 
response providers, law enforcement personnel, including 
railroad carrier and transit police, and other stakeholders; 
and 
(C) used to develop recommendations, as appropriate, 
from the Secretary to railroad carriers on remedial action 
to be taken in response to lessons learned; 
(4) allows for proper advanced notification of communities 
and local governments in which exercises are held, as appro-
priate; and 
(5) assists State, local, and tribal governments and railroad 
carriers in designing, implementing, and evaluating additional 
exercises that conform to the requirements of paragraph (1). 
(d) NATIONAL EXERCISE PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall ensure 
that the exercise program developed under subsection (c) is a compo-
nent of the National Exercise Program established under section 
648 of the Post Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act (Public 
Law 109–295; 6 U.S.C. 748). 
SEC. 1517. RAILROAD SECURITY TRAINING PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall develop and issue regula-
tions for a training program to prepare railroad frontline employees 
for potential security threats and conditions. The regulations shall 
take into consideration any current security training requirements 
or best practices. 
(b) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall develop the regulations 
under subsection (a) in consultation with— 
(1) appropriate law enforcement, fire service, emergency 
response, security, and terrorism experts; 
(2) railroad carriers; 
(3) railroad shippers; and
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(4) nonprofit employee labor organizations representing 
railroad employees or emergency response personnel. 
(c) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.—The regulations developed under sub-
section (a) shall require security training programs described in 
subsection (a) to include, at a minimum, elements to address the 
following, as applicable: 
(1) Determination of the seriousness of any occurrence or 
threat. 
(2) Crew and passenger communication and coordination. 
(3) Appropriate responses to defend or protect oneself. 
(4) Use of personal and other protective equipment. 
(5) Evacuation procedures for passengers and railroad 
employees, including individuals with disabilities and the 
elderly. 
(6) Psychology, behavior, and methods of terrorists, 
including observation and analysis. 
(7) Training related to psychological responses to terrorist 
incidents, including the ability to cope with hijacker behavior 
and passenger responses. 
(8) Live situational training exercises regarding various 
threat conditions, including tunnel evacuation procedures. 
(9) Recognition and reporting of dangerous substances, sus-
picious packages, and situations. 
(10) Understanding security incident procedures, including 
procedures for communicating with governmental and non-
governmental emergency response providers and for on-scene 
interaction with such emergency response providers. 
(11) Operation and maintenance of security equipment and 
systems. 
(12) Other security training activities that the Secretary 
considers appropriate. 
(d) REQUIRED PROGRAMS.— 
(1) DEVELOPMENT
AND
SUBMISSION
TO
SECRETARY.—Not 
later than 90 days after the Secretary issues regulations under 
subsection (a), each railroad carrier shall develop a security 
training program in accordance with this section and submit 
the program to the Secretary for approval. 
(2) APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL.—Not later than 60 days 
after receiving a security training program proposal under this 
subsection, the Secretary shall approve the program or require 
the railroad carrier that developed the program to make any 
revisions to the program that the Secretary considers necessary 
for the program to meet the requirements of this section. A 
railroad carrier shall respond to the Secretary’s comments 
within 30 days after receiving them. 
(3) TRAINING.—Not later than 1 year after the Secretary 
approves a security training program in accordance with this 
subsection, the railroad carrier that developed the program 
shall complete the training of all railroad frontline employees 
who were hired by a carrier more than 30 days preceding 
such date. For such employees employed less than 30 days 
by a carrier preceding such date, training shall be completed 
within the first 60 days of employment. 
(4) UPDATES OF REGULATIONS AND PROGRAM REVISIONS.— 
The Secretary shall periodically review and update as appro-
priate the training regulations issued under subsection (a) to 
reflect new or changing security threats. Each railroad carrier