An Act to Prohibit the Public Release of Information Regarding a
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 1824
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: RAFFERTY, LYMAN
Amends: 1 MRSA §402

Legislative Document
No. 1824
S.P. 711
In Senate, April 29, 2025
An Act to Prohibit the Public Release of Information Regarding a 
Railroad Fatality
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator RAFFERTY of York.
Cosponsored by Representative LYMAN of Livermore Falls and
Senators: BALDACCI of Penobscot, TIMBERLAKE of Androscoggin.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  1 MRSA §402, sub-§3, ¶U, as amended by PL 2023, c. 618, §1, is further 
amended to read:
U.  Records provided by a railroad company pursuant to Title 23, section 7311, 
subsection 5 and records describing hazardous materials transported by the railroad 
company in this State, the routes of hazardous materials shipments and the frequency 
of hazardous materials operations on those routes that are in the possession of a state 
or local emergency management entity or law enforcement agency, fire department or 
other first responder, except that records related to a train carrying hazardous materials 
that has derailed at any point from a main line train track or related to a discharge of 
hazardous materials transported by a railroad company that poses a threat to public 
health, safety and welfare are subject to public disclosure after that discharge.  For the 
purposes of this paragraph, "hazardous material" has the same meaning as set forth in 
Code of Federal Regulations, Section 105.5; and
Sec. 2.  1 MRSA §402, sub-§3, ¶V, as enacted by PL 2017, c. 118, §3, is amended 
to read:
V.  Participant application materials and other personal information obtained or 
maintained by a municipality or other public entity in administering a community well-
being check program, except that a participant's personal information, including health 
information, may be made available to first responders only as necessary to implement 
the program. For the purposes of this paragraph, "community well-being check 
program" means a voluntary program that involves daily, or regular, contact with a 
participant and, when contact cannot be established, sends first responders to the 
participant's residence to check on the participant's well-being.; and
Sec. 3.  1 MRSA §402, sub-§3, ¶W is enacted to read:
W.  Notwithstanding any provision of Title 23, section 7311 to the contrary, during the 
course of an investigation of an accident resulting in a fatality involving a railroad or 
railroad line, reports of a law enforcement agency regarding that accident and all 
records of communication between the law enforcement agency and a railroad 
company employee involved in that accident.  A law enforcement agency that responds 
to the accident shall maintain such reports and records in a manner that ensures 
confidentiality of the reports and records, except that the reports and records may be 
accessible at all reasonable times, upon written request, to:
(1)  A railroad company responsible for the railroad or railroad line on which the 
accident occurred;
(2)  A railroad company whose employee is identified in a report or record; and
(3)  Any other person authorized by judicial order to obtain the reports or records 
under this paragraph if access to the report or record is necessary in the 
performance of the person's duties.
The reports and records under this paragraph must be accessible at all reasonable times, 
upon written or e-mail request to law enforcement agencies, district attorneys and 
assistant district attorneys.
For the purposes of this paragraph, "railroad" has the same meaning as in Title 23, 
section 5001, subsection 1; "railroad company" has the same meaning as in Title 23, 
section 5001, subsection 2; and "railroad line" has the same meaning as in Title 23, 
section 7152, subsection 3.
SUMMARY
This bill excludes from the definition of "public record" reports of a law enforcement 
agency regarding an accident resulting in a fatality involving a railroad or railroad line and 
all records of communication between the law enforcement agency and a railroad company 
employee involved in that accident. The exclusion applies only during the course of an 
investigation of such an accident. The bill provides certain exceptions to the confidentiality 
of the reports and records.