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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 
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of Transportation shall develop a long-term strategy for 
improving railroad safety. The strategy shall include an 
annual plan and schedule for achieving, at a minimum, 
the following goals: 
(1) Reducing the number and rates of acci-
dents, injuries, and fatalities involving railroads. 
(2) Improving the consistency and effectiveness 
of enforcement and compliance programs. 
(3) Identifying and targeting enforcement at, 
and safety improvements to, high-risk highway-rail 
grade crossings. 
(4) Improving research efforts to enhance and 
promote railroad safety and performance. 
(b) RESOURCE NEEDS.—The strategy and annual 
plans shall include estimates of the funds and staff re-
sources needed to accomplish each activity. Such estimates 
shall also include the staff skills and training needed for 
timely and effective accomplishment of each goal. 
(c) SUBMISSION WITH
THE PRESIDENT’S BUDG-
ET.—The Secretary of Transportation shall submit to the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee on Com-
merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate the 
strategy and annual plan at the same time as the Presi-
dent’s budget submission. 
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(d) ACHIEVEMENT OF GOALS.— 
(1) PROGRESS
ASSESSMENT.—No less fre-
quently than semiannually, the Secretary of Trans-
portation and the Administrator of the Federal Rail-
road Safety Administration shall assess the progress 
of the Administration toward achieving the strategic 
goals described in subsection (a). The Secretary and 
the Administrator shall convey their assessment to 
the employees of the Federal Railroad Safety Ad-
ministration and shall identify any deficiencies that 
should be remediated before the next progress as-
sessment. 
(2) REPORT
TO
CONGRESS.—The Secretary 
shall transmit a report annually to the Committee 
on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House 
of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation of the Senate on the 
performance of the Federal Railroad Safety Admin-
istration relative to the goals of the railroad safety 
strategy and annual plans under subsection (a). 
SEC. 103. REPORTS. 
(a) REPORTS BY THE INSPECTOR GENERAL.—Not 
later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Inspector General of the Department of Transpor-
tation shall submit to the Secretary of Transportation and 
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the Administrator of the Federal Railroad Safety Admin-
istration a report containing the following: 
(1) A list of each statutory mandate regarding 
railroad safety that has not been implemented. 
(2) A list of each open safety recommendation 
made by the National Transportation Safety Board 
or the Inspector General regarding railroad safety. 
(b) REPORTS BY THE SECRETARY.— 
(1) STATUTORY MANDATES.—Not later than 90 
days after the date of enactment of this Act, and 
every 180 days thereafter until each of the mandates 
referred to in subsection (a)(1) has been imple-
mented, the Secretary of Transportation shall trans-
mit to the Committee on Transportation and Infra-
structure of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor-
tation of the Senate a report on the specific actions 
taken to implement such mandates. 
(2) NTSB AND
INSPECTOR
GENERAL
REC-
OMMENDATIONS.—Not later than January 1st of 
each year, the Secretary of Transportation shall 
transmit to the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and 
the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans-
portation of the Senate a report containing each rec-
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ommendation referred to in subsection (a)(2), a copy 
of the Department of Transportation response to 
each such recommendation, and a progress report on 
implementing each such recommendation. 
SEC. 104. 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 
‘‘No rule or order issued by the Secretary under this 
part shall be effective if it incorporates by reference a 
code, rule, standard, requirement, or practice issued by an 
association or other entity that is not an agency of the 
Federal Government, unless that reference is to a par-
ticular code, rule, standard, requirement, or practice 
adopted before the date on which the rule is issued by 
the Secretary, and unless the date on which the code, rule, 
standard, requirement, or practice was adopted is specifi-
cally cited in the rule.’’. 
(b) TABLE OF SECTIONS AMENDMENT.—The table of 
sections of 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.’’. 
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SEC. 105. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
Section 20117(a) of title 49, United States Code, is 
amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—(1) There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary of Transportation to carry 
out this part and to carry out responsibilities under chap-
ter 51 as delegated or authorized by the Secretary— 
‘‘(A) $230,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; 
‘‘(B) $260,000,000 for fiscal year 2009; 
‘‘(C) $295,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; and 
‘‘(D) $335,000,000 for fiscal year 2011. 
‘‘(2) With amounts appropriated pursuant to para-
graph (1), the Secretary shall purchase 6 Gage Restraint 
Measurement System vehicles and 5 track geometry vehi-
cles to enable the deployment of 1 Gage Restraint Meas-
urement System vehicle and 1 track geometry vehicle in 
each region. 
‘‘(3) There are authorized to be appropriated to the 
Secretary $18,000,000 for the period encompassing fiscal 
years 2008 through 2011 to design, develop, and construct 
the Facility for Underground Rail Station and Tunnel at 
the Transportation Technology Center in Pueblo, Colo-
rado. The facility shall be used to test and evaluate the 
vulnerabilities of above-ground and underground rail tun-
nels to prevent accidents and incidents in such tunnels, 
to mitigate and remediate the consequences of any such 
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accidents or incidents, and to provide a realistic scenario 
for training emergency responders. 
‘‘(4) Such sums as may be necessary from the 
amount appropriated pursuant to paragraph (1) for each 
of the fiscal years 2008 through 2011 shall be made avail-
able to the Secretary for personnel in regional offices and 
in Washington, D.C., whose duties primarily involve rail 
security. 
‘‘(5) There are authorized to be appropriated to the 
Secretary for each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2011 
such sums as may be necessary to design and develop a 
pilot electric cargo conveyor system for the transportation 
of containers from ports to depots outside of urban 
areas.’’. 
TITLE II—EMPLOYEE FATIGUE 
SEC. 201. HOURS OF SERVICE REFORM. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 21101(4) of title 49, 
United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘employed by 
a railroad carrier’’. 
(b) LIMITATION ON DUTY HOURS OF SIGNAL EM-
PLOYEES.—Section 21104 of title 49, United States Code, 
is amended— 
(1) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol-
lows: 
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‘‘(a) GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection (c) 
of this section, a railroad carrier and its officers and 
agents may not require or allow a signal employee, and 
a railroad contractor and its officers and agents may not 
require or allow a signal employee, to remain or go on 
duty— 
‘‘(1) unless that employee has had at least 10 
consecutive hours off duty during the prior 24 
hours; 
‘‘(2) for a period in excess of 12 consecutive 
hours; or 
‘‘(3) unless that employee has had at least one 
period of at least 24 consecutive hours off duty in 
the past 7 consecutive days. 
The Secretary may waive paragraph (3) if a collective bar-
gaining agreement provides a different arrangement and 
such arrangement provides an equivalent level of safety.’’; 
(2) in subsection (b)(3) by striking ‘‘, except 
that up to one hour of that time spent returning 
from the final trouble call of a period of continuous 
or broken service is time off duty’’; 
(3) in subsection (c)— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘for not more than 3 days 
during a period of 7 consecutive days’’ after 
‘‘24 consecutive hours’’; and 
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(B) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘A 
signal employee may not be allowed to remain 
or go on duty under the emergency authority 
provided under this subsection to conduct rou-
tine repairs, routine maintenance, or routine in-
spection of signal systems.’’; 
(4) by adding at the end the following new sub-
sections: 
‘‘(d) COMMUNICATION DURING TIME OFF DUTY.— 
During a signal employee’s minimum off-duty period of 
10 consecutive hours, as provided under subsection (a), 
a railroad carrier, and its managers, supervisors, officers, 
and agents, shall not communicate with the signal em-
ployee by telephone, by pager, or in any other manner that 
could disrupt the employee’s rest. Nothing in this sub-
section shall prohibit communication necessary to notify 
an employee of an emergency situation posing potential 
risks to the employee’s safety or health. 
‘‘(e) EXCLUSIVITY.—The hours of service, duty 
hours, and rest periods of signal employees shall be gov-
erned exclusively by this chapter. Signal employees oper-
ating motor vehicles shall not be subject to any hours of 
service rules, duty hours, or rest period rules promulgated 
by any Federal authority, including the Federal Motor 
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Carrier Safety Administration, other than the Federal 
Railroad Safety Administration.’’. 
(c) LIMITATION ON DUTY HOURS OF TRAIN EM-
PLOYEES.—Section 21103 of title 49, United States Code, 
is amended— 
(1) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(a) GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection (c) 
of this section, a railroad carrier and its officers and 
agents may not require or allow a train employee to re-
main or go on duty— 
‘‘(1) unless that employee has had at least 10 
consecutive hours off duty during the prior 24 
hours; 
‘‘(2) for a period in excess of 12 consecutive 
hours; or 
‘‘(3) unless that employee has had at least one 
period of at least 24 consecutive hours off duty in 
the past 7 consecutive days. 
The Secretary may waive paragraph (3) if a collective bar-
gaining agreement provides a different arrangement and 
such arrangement provides an equivalent level of safety.’’; 
(2) by amending subsection (b)(4) to read as 
follows: 
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‘‘(4)(A)(i) Except as provided in clauses (ii) 
and (iii), time spent in deadhead transportation to 
a duty assignment, time spent waiting for deadhead 
transportation, and time spent in deadhead trans-
portation from a duty assignment to a place of final 
release is time on duty. 
‘‘(ii) Time spent waiting for deadhead transpor-
tation and time spent in deadhead transportation 
from a duty assignment to a place of final release 
is neither time on duty nor time off duty in situa-
tions involving delays in the operations of the rail-
road carrier, when the delays were caused by any of 
the following: 
‘‘(I) A casualty. 
‘‘(II) An accident. 
‘‘(III) A track obstruction. 
‘‘(IV) An act of God. 
‘‘(V) A weather event causing a delay. 
‘‘(VI) A snowstorm. 
‘‘(VII) A landslide. 
‘‘(VIII) A track or bridge washout. 
‘‘(IX) A derailment. 
‘‘(X) A major equipment failure which pre-
vents a train from advancing. 
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‘‘(XI) Other delay from a cause unknown 
or unforeseeable to a railroad carrier and its of-
ficers and agents in charge of the employee 
when the employee left a designated terminal. 
‘‘(iii) In addition to any time qualifying as nei-
ther on duty nor off duty under clause (ii), at the 
election of the railroad carrier, time spent waiting 
for deadhead transportation and time spent in 
deadhead transportation to the place of final release 
may be treated as neither time on duty nor time off 
duty, subject to the following limitations: 
‘‘(I) Not more than 40 hours a month may 
be elected by the railroad carrier, for an em-
ployee, during the period from the date of en-
actment of the Federal Railroad Safety Im-
provement Act of 2007 to one year after such 
date of enactment. 
‘‘(II) Not more than 30 hours a month 
may be elected by the railroad carrier, for an 
employee, during the period beginning one year 
after the date of enactment of the Federal Rail-
road Safety Improvement Act of 2007 and end-
ing two years after such date of enactment. 
‘‘(III) Not more than 10 hours a month 
may be elected by the railroad carrier, for an 
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