ing a public street, road, or highway, other than 
a local or county street, road, or highway; and 
‘‘(B) every fifth year thereafter, or as spec-
ified by the Secretary, for a crossing involving 
a public local or county street, road, or highway 
or involving a publicly owned pathway dedicated 
for the use of non-vehicular traffic, including 
pedestrians, bicyclists, and others, that is not 
associated with a public highway, road, or 
street, or a private roadway. 
‘‘(3) RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.—The Secretary 
shall prescribe the regulations necessary to imple-
ment this subsection. This rulemaking shall consider 
the expected benefits to the inventory of, and costs 
of, alternative information-collection requirements 
(including the distribution of benefits and costs) and 
shall consider the collection of information for cat-
egories of crossings that pose lower risks that is less 
extensive or less frequent, or both, than that pro-
vided for in paragraph (2) of this subsection. The 
Secretary may enforce each provision of the Depart-
ment of Transportation’s statement of the national 
highway-rail crossing inventory policy, procedures, 
and instructions for States and railroads that is in 
effect on the date of enactment of this subsection, 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
22:03 Mar 15, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00011
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1516.IH
H1516
ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
until such provision is superseded by a regulation 
issued under this subsection. 
‘‘(4) DEFINITION.—In this subsection— 
‘‘(A) ‘public crossing’ means a location 
within a state, other than a location where one 
or more railroad tracks cross one or more rail-
road tracks either at grade or grade-separated, 
where— 
‘‘(i) a public highway, road, or street, 
including associated sidewalks and path-
ways, crosses one or more railroad tracks 
either at grade or grade-separated; or 
‘‘(ii) a publicly owned pathway dedi-
cated for the use of non-vehicular traffic, 
including pedestrians, bicyclists, and oth-
ers, that is not associated with a public 
highway, road, or street, or a private road-
way, crosses one or more railroad tracks 
either at grade or grade-separated; and 
‘‘(B) ‘State’ means a State of the United 
States, the District of Columbia, or Puerto 
Rico.’’. 
(d) CIVIL PENALTIES.—(1) Section 21301(a)(1) is 
amended— 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
22:03 Mar 15, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00012
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1516.IH
H1516
ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
(A) by striking the period at the end of the first 
sentence and substituting ‘‘or with section 20156 of 
this title.’’; and 
(B) in the second sentence, by inserting ‘‘or vio-
lating section 20156 of this title’’ between ‘‘chapter 
201’’ and ‘‘is liable’’. 
(2) Section 21301(a)(2) is amended by inserting after 
the first sentence the following: ‘‘The Secretary shall sub-
ject a person to a civil penalty for a violation of section 
20156 of this title.’’. 
SEC. 202. FOSTERING INTRODUCTION OF NEW TECH-
NOLOGY TO IMPROVE SAFETY AT HIGHWAY- 
RAIL GRADE CROSSINGS. 
(a) AMENDMENT.—Chapter 201 as amended by this 
Act is further amended by adding at the end a new section 
20157 to read as follows: 
‘‘§ 20157. Fostering introduction of new technology to 
improve safety at highway-rail grade 
crossings 
‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—(1) Collisions between highway 
users and trains at highway-rail grade crossings continue 
to cause an unacceptable loss of life and serious personal 
injury and also threaten the safety of rail transportation. 
‘‘(2) While elimination of at-grade crossings through 
consolidation of crossings and grade separations offers the 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
22:03 Mar 15, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00013
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1516.IH
H1516
ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
greatest long-term promise for optimizing the safety and 
efficiency of the two modes of transportation, over 
140,000 public grade crossings remain on the general rail 
system—approximately one for each route mile on the 
general rail system. 
‘‘(3) Conventional highway traffic control devices 
such as flashing lights and gates are effective in warning 
motorists of a train’s approach to an equipped crossing 
but require considerable expense to install and to main-
tain. 
‘‘(4) Since enactment of the Highway Safety Act of 
1973, over $4,200,000,000 of Federal funding has been 
invested in safety improvements at highway-rail grade 
crossings, yet a majority of public highway-rail grade 
crossings are not yet equipped with active warning sys-
tems. 
‘‘(5) The emergence of new technologies supporting 
Intelligent Transportation Systems presents opportunities 
for more effective and affordable warnings and safer pas-
sage of highway users and trains at remaining highway- 
rail grade crossings. 
‘‘(6) Implementation of new crossing safety tech-
nology will require extensive cooperation between highway 
authorities and railroad carriers. 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
22:03 Mar 15, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00014
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1516.IH
H1516
ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
‘‘(7) Uncertainty concerning potential liability in tort 
threatens to arrest development and implementation of 
lifesaving systems, discouraging suppliers, State and local 
authorities, and railroad carriers from moving forward 
with systems that have strong potential to save lives and 
prevent personal injuries. 
‘‘(8) Federal Railroad Administration regulations es-
tablishing performance standards for processor-based sig-
nal and train control systems provide a suitable framework 
for qualification of new or novel technology at highway- 
rail grade crossings, and the Federal Highway Adminis-
tration’s Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices pro-
vides an appropriate means of determining highway user 
interface with such new technology. 
‘‘(b) POLICY.—It is the policy of the United States 
to encourage the development of new technology that can 
prevent loss of life and injuries at highway-rail grade 
crossings. The Secretary of Transportation is designated 
to carry out this policy in consultation with States and 
necessary public and private entities. 
‘‘(c) PREEMPTIVE EFFECT OF FEDERAL ACTION.— 
If the Secretary approves new technology to provide warn-
ing to highway users at a highway-rail grade crossing and 
such technology is installed at a highway-rail grade cross-
ing in accordance with the conditions of the approval, this 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
22:03 Mar 15, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00015
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1516.IH
H1516
ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS