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‘‘(e) 
CONTINUING
RESPONSIBILITIES
OF
THE 
BOARD.—In the course of its investigation of an accident 
described in subsection (a), the Board shall, to the max-
imum extent practicable, ensure that the families of pas-
sengers involved in the accident— 
‘‘(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 
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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 
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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 pro-
viding— 
‘‘(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. 
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‘‘(3) PASSENGER.—The term ‘passenger’ in-
cludes— 
‘‘(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. 
‘‘(j) RELINQUISHMENT
OF
INVESTIGATIVE
PRI-
ORITY.— 
‘‘(1) GENERAL RULE.—This section (other than 
subsection (g)) shall not apply to a railroad accident 
if the Board has relinquished investigative priority 
under section 1131(a)(2)(B) and the Federal agency 
to which the Board relinquished investigative pri-
ority is willing and able to provide assistance to the 
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victims and families of the passengers involved in 
the accident. 
‘‘(2) BOARD ASSISTANCE.—If this section does 
not apply to a railroad accident because the Board 
has relinquished investigative priority with respect to 
the accident, the Board shall assist, to the maximum 
extent possible, the agency to which the Board has 
relinquished investigative priority in assisting fami-
lies with respect to the accident.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec-
tions for such chapter is amended by inserting after the 
item relating to section 1138 the following: 
‘‘1139. Assistance to families of passengers involved in rail passenger acci-
dents.’’. 
SEC. 703. 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. 
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‘‘§ 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 1139(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 
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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 
1139(a)(1) of this title, and to the organization des-
ignated for the accident under section 1139(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 
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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 1139(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-
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ganization designated under section 1139(a)(2) of 
this title for services provided by the organization. 
‘‘(12) An assurance that the rail passenger car-
rier will assist the family of a passenger in traveling 
to the location of the accident and provide for the 
physical care of the family while the family is stay-
ing at such location. 
‘‘(13) An assurance that the rail passenger car-
rier will commit sufficient resources to carry out the 
plan. 
‘‘(14) An assurance that the rail passenger car-
rier will provide adequate training to the employees 
and agents of the carrier to meet the needs of sur-
vivors and family members following an accident. 
‘‘(15) An assurance that, upon request of the 
family of a passenger, the rail passenger carrier will 
inform the family of whether the passenger’s name 
appeared on any preliminary passenger manifest for 
the train involved in the accident. 
‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON LIABILITY.—A rail passenger 
carrier shall not be liable for damages in any action 
brought in a Federal or State court arising out of the per-
formance of the rail passenger carrier in preparing or pro-
viding a passenger list, or in providing information con-
cerning a train reservation, pursuant to a plan submitted 
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by the rail passenger carrier under subsection (b), unless 
such liability was caused by conduct of the rail passenger 
carrier which was grossly negligent or which constituted 
intentional misconduct. 
‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
‘‘(1) the terms ‘rail passenger accident’ and 
‘rail passenger carrier’ have the meanings such 
terms have in section 1139 of this title; and 
‘‘(2) the term ‘passenger’ means a person 
aboard a rail passenger carrier’s train that is in-
volved in a rail passenger accident. 
‘‘(e) 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 chap-
ters for subtitle V of title 49, United States Code, is 
amended by adding after the item relating to chapter 249 
the following new item: 
‘‘251. FAMILY ASSISTANCE ................................................................ 25101’’. 
SEC. 704. ESTABLISHMENT OF TASK FORCE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Transpor-
tation, in cooperation with the National Transportation 
Safety Board, organizations potentially designated under 
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section 1139(a)(2) of title 49, United States Code, rail 
passenger carriers, and families which have been involved 
in rail accidents, shall establish a task force consisting of 
representatives of such entities and families, representa-
tives of passenger rail carrier employees, and representa-
tives of such other entities as the Secretary considers ap-
propriate. 
(b) MODEL PLAN AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—The 
task force established pursuant to subsection (a) shall de-
velop— 
(1) a model plan to assist passenger rail car-
riers in responding to passenger rail accidents; 
(2) recommendations on methods to improve 
the timeliness of the notification provided by pas-
senger rail carriers to the families of passengers in-
volved in a passenger rail accident; 
(3) recommendations on methods to ensure that 
the families of passengers involved in a passenger 
rail accident who are not citizens of the United 
States receive appropriate assistance; and 
(4) recommendations on methods to ensure that 
emergency services personnel have as immediate and 
accurate a count of the number of passengers on-
board the train as possible. 
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(c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall transmit 
to Congress a report containing the model plan and rec-
ommendations developed by the task force under sub-
section (b). 
Passed the House of Representatives October 17, 
2007. 
Attest: 
LORRAINE C. MILLER, 
Clerk. 
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