Surface Transportation Safety Reauthorization Act of 2003

Bill: 108-s-1978
Sponsor: Sen. McCain, John [R-AZ]
Introduced: 2003-11-25 in the Senate
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
Subjects: Agriculture and Food
Alcohol
American Samoa
Automobile drivers
Automobile parts
Automobile tires
Boats and boating
Canada
Commerce
Common carriers
Consumer education
Crime and Law Enforcement
Data banks
Department of Transportation
Diabetes
District of Columbia
Driver education
Driver licenses
Driver tests
Drunk driving
Economics and Public Finance
Education
Emergency medicine
Environmental Protection
Federal advisory bodies
Federal aid to transportation
Federal-state relations
Fines (Penalties)
Food safety
Freight forwarders
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Guam
Health
Highway finance
Highway planning
Household moving
Identification devices
Information networks
Infrastructure
Insulin
International Affairs
International cooperation
Labor and Employment
Law
Liability (Law)
Liability for environmental damages
Marine safety
Medical wastes
Mexico
Motor vehicle safety
Motor vehicles
Northern Mariana Islands
Nuclear fuels
Occupational health and safety
Outdoor recreation
Postal service
Puerto Rico
Radioactive wastes
Railroad equipment
Railroad finance
Railroad safety
Railroads
School buses
Science, Technology, Communications
Seat belts
Sentences (Criminal procedure)
Traffic accidents and safety
Transportation of hazardous substances
Transportation safety
Transportation workers
Truck drivers
Trucking
Trucks
Virgin Islands
Water pollution control

Summary:
action_date: 2003-11-25
text: 
Surface Transportation Safety Reauthorization Act of 2003 - Highway Safety Grant Program Reauthorization Act of 2003 - Amends Federal highway law to reauthorize the highway safety grant program. Revises requirements for highway safety research and outreach programs and the impaired driving program. Directs the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) to make grants to States for: (1) enacting and enforcing specified occupant protection laws; and (2) traffic safety information system improvements. Directs the Secretary and the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a Federal Interagency Committee on Emergency Medical Services. Repeals authority for alcohol traffic safety programs.
 
Amends Federal transportation law with respect to specified vehicle safety-related matters.
 
Motor Carrier Safety Reauthorization Act of 2003 - Amends Federal transportation law to reauthorize specified programs of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Directs the Secretary to: (1) convene a commercial driver's license (CDL) program working group; and (2) establish a Medical Review Board. Revises specified requirements with respect to motor carrier safety.
 
Unified Carrier Registration Act of 2003 - Amends Federal transportation law to direct the Secretary to issue regulations to establish an on-line Federal Unified Carrier Registration System to replace specified current systems.
 
Household Goods Mover Oversight Enforcement and Reform Act of 2003 - Amends Federal transportation law to provide for enforcement of Federal laws and regulations with respect to the interstate transportation of household goods. Directs the Secretary to establish a consumer complaint system and database. Establishes civil and criminal penalties for failure of a mover to give up possession of household goods.
 
Hazardous Material Transportation Safety and Security Reauthorization Act of 2003 - Amends Federal transportation law to revise requirements for specified matters relating to hazardous material transportation safety and security. Reauthorizes the program through FY 2009.
 
Authorizes the Secretary to establish a program of random cargo inspections at U.S. points of entry to determine the extent to which undeclared hazardous material is being offered for transportation through them.
 
Sanitary Food Transportation Act of 2003 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services by regulation to require shippers, carriers by motor vehicle or rail vehicle, receivers, and other persons engaged in the transportation of food to use prescribed sanitary transportation practices.
 
 
Directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish procedures for transportation safety inspections to identify suspected incidents of contamination or adulteration of food, meat, or poultry products.
 
Sport Fishing and Recreational Boating Safety Act - Amends the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act to provide for distribution of FY 2004 through 2009 appropriations, including those for the multistate conservation grant program.
 
Amends the Clean Vessel Act, with respect to grants for State marine sanitation device pumpout station programs, to repeal the priority consideration to grant applications that, in coastal States, propose constructing and renovating pumpout stations and waste reception facilities in accordance with a coastal State's approved plan.
 
Amends Federal shipping law to increase from one-half to 75 percent the maximum percentage of a State's total cost for its recreational boating safety program represented by the Federal allocation the State receives. Extends the availability of such allocation from two years to three years. Requires a reduction of such allocation if the State's expenditures for the program for the previous fiscal year is below the average expenditures for the three preceding fiscal years (failure of maintenance of effort).
 
Amends Federal transportation law to authorize appropriations for FY 2004 through 2009 for Amtrak operating expenses.
 
Establishes the Rail Infrastructure Finance Corporation (not a Federal agency or establishment) to support rail transportation capital projects through the issuance of rail capital infrastructure bonds.
 
Railroad Track Modernization Act of 2003 - Amends Federal transportation law to: (1) repeal the Light Density Rail Line Pilot Projects program; and (2) replace it with a program of capital grants for the rehabilitation, preservation, or improvement of railroad track (including roadbed, bridges, and related track structures) of class II and class III railroads.
 
Amends Federal transportation law to direct the Secretary to carry out a grant program to provide financial assistance for local rail line relocation projects involving a lateral or vertical relocation of any portion of the rail line within a municipality to avoid closing a grade crossing or constructing a road underpass or overpass in order to mitigate the adverse effects of rail traffic on safety, motor vehicle traffic flow, or economic development.
 
Declares that the proceeds from the sale of any Federal bonds available to fund passenger rail projects may be used to fund a more cost-effective alternative qualified transportation infrastructure project proposed by a State, including a highway project, a transit system project, a railroad project, an airport project, a port project, and an inland waterways project.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2003-11-25
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 421.
action_date: 2003-11-25
text: Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Original measure reported to Senate by Senator McCain. With written report No. 108-215.
action_date: 2003-11-25
text: Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Original measure reported to Senate by Senator McCain. With written report No. 108-215.
action_date: 2003-11-25
text: Introduced in Senate