Summary of
HR 2095, The Federal Railroad Safety Improvement
Act of 2007
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Section 101. Establishment of Federal Railroad Safety
Administration. Reorganizes the Federal
Railroad Administration as the Federal Railroad Safety Administration (FRSA),
which shall consider the assignment and maintenance of safety as the highest
priority. This section also creates a
new position at the FRA, entitled Chief Safety Officer who is appointed in the
competitive service by the Secretary.
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Section 102. Railroad Safety Strategy. This section
requires the Secretary to develop a long-term strategy for improving
railroad safety, which must include a plan and schedule for reducing the number
and rates of accidents, injuries, and fatalities involving railroads; improving
the consistency and effectiveness of enforcement and compliance programs;
identifying and targeting enforcement at, and safety improvements to, high-risk
grade crossings; and improving research efforts to enhance and promote railroad
safety and performance.
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Section 103. Reports.
This
section requires the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation
(DOT) to submit a report to the Secretary and the FRSA within 30 days of the
date of enactment, which lists each statutory mandate regarding railroad safety
that has not been implemented and each open safety recommendation made by the
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) or the Inspector General regarding
railroad safety. This section also
requires the Secretary to transmit a report to Congress within 30 days of the
date of enactment and every 180 days thereafter on the specific actions taken
to implement each statutory mandate. The
Secretary is required to also submit an annual report to Congress containing
each NTSB and Inspector General recommendation, a copy of the Department’s
response to each recommendation, and a progress report on implementing each
recommendation.
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Section 104. Rulemaking Process. This section
states that when a regulation references a
standard of an association that any subsequent changes to those standards must
be considered in a new rulemaking.
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Section
105. Authorization of
Appropriations. This section authorizes appropriations over a
period of four years for the Secretary of Transportation to carry out its safety
responsibilities. Of the amounts
appropriated, the Secretary is required to purchase six Gage Restraint
Measurement System vehicles and five track geometry vehicles to enable the
deployment of 1 Gage Restraint Measurement System vehicle and 1 track geometry
vehicle in each region. This funding
will help increase inspection of railroad track for defects. Funding is also authorized for the design,
development, and construction of a Facility for Underground Rail Station and Tunnel at the
Title
II – Employee Fatigue
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Section
201. Hours of Service Reform. This section strengthens
hours-of-service for signalmen and train crews.
For the signalmen, this section:
(1) ensures that all signalmen are provided with at least 10 consecutive
hours of rest (right now it’s 8 hours of rest for less than 12 hours of work
and 10 hours of rest for 12 hours of work); (2) ensures that all signalmen will
be provided with at least 24 consecutive hours of rest in a seven-day
consecutive work period; (4) ensures that all independent contractors and
subcontractors that perform signal work are governed under the hours-of-service
law; (5) limits the number of days signalmen can exceed their hours-of-service
in emergency time to no more than three days in a seven consecutive day work
period (this is consistent with the dispatcher limits); (6) prevents railroads
from forcing signalmen into emergency time for routine repairs, maintenance,
and inspection of signal systems; and (7) prohibits railroads from
communicating with signalmen during their off duty time to enable them to
obtain adequate rest.
For train crews, this section: (1) ensures that all train crews (locomotive
engineers and conductors) are provided with at least 10 consecutive hours of
rest (right now it’s 8 hours of rest for less than 12 hours of work and 10
hours of rest for 12 hours of work); (2) ensures that all train crews will be
provided with at least 24 consecutive hours of rest in a seven-day consecutive
work period; (3) eliminates limbo time; and (4) prohibits railroads from
communicating with train crews during their off duty time to enable them to
obtain adequate rest.
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Section
202. Employee Sleeping Quarters. This section prohibits railroads from
providing sleeping quarters, such as camp cars or trailers, in an area or in
the immediate vicinity of an area in which railroad switching or humping
operations are performed. Such sleeping
quarters prevent railroad workers from obtaining adequate rest.
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Section
203. Fatigue Management Plans. This section requires all railroads to submit to the Secretary for review and
approval a fatigue management plan that is designed to reduce the fatigue
experienced by railroad employees and to reduce the likelihood of accidents and
injuries caused by fatigue. Each plan
must address the safety effects of fatigue on all employees, including
employees not covered by this chapter, such as maintenance-of-way workers.
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Section
204. Regulatory Authority. This section authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to reduce the maximum
hours an employee may be required or allowed to go or remain on duty to a level
more restrictive than the level established under chapter 201 of title 49,
United States Code, and to increase the minimum hours an employee may be
required or allowed to rest to a level greater than the level established such
chapter.
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Section
205. Conforming Amendment. This section deals with civil
penalties for hours-of-service violations.
Current law states that “a railroad carrier is deemed to know the acts
of its officers and agents.” This
section ensures that the railroad carrier is deemed to also know the acts of
its managers and supervisors.
Title III – Protection of Employees and Witnesses
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Section 301. Expansion of Employee Protections. This section strengthens whistleblower protections
for railroad workers. The process for
filing a petition for relief is modeled after the rail security bill in that it
is filed with the Secretary of Labor, which is consistent with the
whistleblower process for other transportation workers. Under current law, the petition must go
through the National Mediation Board.
Title IV – Grade Crossings
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Section 401. Toll-Free Number to Report Grade Crossing
Problems. This section requires
railroads to establish, maintain, and post a toll-free number at all grade
crossings to receive calls reporting malfunctions of signals, crossing gates,
and other devices, or disabled vehicles blocking such crossings. Upon receiving a call, the railroad is
required to immediately contact trains operating near the grade crossing to
warn them of the malfunction or disabled vehicle, and contact the appropriate
public safety officials having jurisdiction over the grade crossing to provide them
with the information necessary for them to direct traffic, assist in the
removal of a disabled vehicle, or carry out other activities appropriate to
responding to the hazardous condition.
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Section 402. Roadway User Sight Distance at Highway-Rail
Grade Crossings. This section requires
railroads to remove and maintain clear from its right-of-way at all grade
crossings all vegetation that may obstruct the view of pedestrians and motor
vehicle operators for a reasonable distance in either direction. The section prevents such regulations from
preempting a state from enforcing or enacting stricter laws and regulations
covering responsibility for the removal of vegetation from the railroad
right-of-way.
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Section 403. Grade Crossing Signal Violations. This section requires the Secretary to conduct a
review of current local, State, and Federal laws regarding grade crossing
signal violations and develop model legislation for State and local governments
providing for civil or criminal penalties, or both, for violations of grade
crossings.
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Section 404. National Crossing Inventory. This section requires all railroads and States to
report information on grade crossings to the Secretary to enable the Secretary
to update the DOT’s grade crossing inventory. This will help states determine where best to
dedicate their resources to crossing improvements.
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Section 405. Accident and Incident Reporting. This section requires the FRSA to conduct an audit
of each Class I railroad at least once every two years and conduct an audit of
each non-Class I railroad at least once every five years to ensure that all
grade crossing collisions and fatalities are reported to the national accident
database, as recommended by the DOT’s Inspector
General.
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Section 406. Authority to Buy Promotional Items to Improve
Railroad Crossing Safety and Prevent Railroad Trespassing. This section authorizes the Secretary to purchase
promotional items of nominal value to distribute to the public without charge
to educate or raise awareness of the dangers of highway-rail crossings and
improve safety.
Title V – Enforcement
Ø Section 501. Enforcement. This section clarifies that the Attorney General may bring a civil action in a district court of the United States to: (1) enjoin a violation of, or to enforce, this part or a railroad safety regulation prescribed or order issued by the Secretary; (2) collect a civil penalty imposed or an amount agreed on in compromise under section 21301 (general railroad safety violations), 21302 (accidents and incident violations), or 21303 (hours-of-service violations) of this title; and (3) to enforce a subpoena, request for admissions, request for production of documents or other tangible things, or request for testimony by deposition.
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Section 502. Civil Penalties. This section increases the ceiling for civil
penalties for general railroad safety violations, accidents and incident
violations, and hours-of-service violations from $10,000 to $100,000, and
allows for adjustment for inflation. The
floor is still $500.
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Section 503. Criminal Penalties. This section increases the maximum penalty
for failing to file an accident or incident report on time from $500 to $2,500,
and the maximum penalty for each day after the due date from $500 to $2,500.
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Section 504. Expansion of Emergency Order Authority. This section allows the Secretary to issue
emergency rules or restrictions in the event of significant harm to the
environment. Current law allows the
Secretary to issue emergency rules or restrictions in the event of death or
personal injury.
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Section 505. Enforcement Transparency. This section requires increased transparency
of all enforcement actions taken by the FRSA.
Each month, the FRSA must release to the public a report summarizing all
enforcement action taken by the FRSA.
This section is modeled after the pipeline bill that was enacted at the
end of the 109th Congress.
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Section 506. Interfering With or Hampering Safety
Investigations. This section makes it
unlawful to knowingly interfere, obstruct, or hamper an investigation by the
Secretary of Transportation or the NTSB.
This also includes attempts to harass, intimidate, mislead, or coerce
another person with the intent to hinder, mislead, or prevent that person from
cooperating with any investigation by the Secretary or the NTSB. Any person found violating this section may
be fined or imprisoned for up to one year or both.
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Section 507. Railroad Radio Monitoring Authority. This section allows the Secretary to
authorize his or her subordinates and agents, such as Federal railroad safety
inspectors, to monitor and record railroad radio communications and, with
certain exceptions, to use those communications and the information they
contain, for the purpose of accident prevention, including, but not limited to,
accident investigation. Information
obtained through such monitoring and recording would not be admissible into
evidence in any administrative or judicial proceeding, with two exceptions. First the provision would not bar admission in
evidence of the intercepted communication in a judicial proceeding for the
prosecution of a felony under Federal or State law. Second, the provision would not bar admission
of the intercepted communication for impeachment purposes in seven enumerated
types of railroad safety proceedings. In
addition, information is not subject to publication or disclosure, or search or
review in connection therewith, under section 552 of title 5.
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Section 508. Safety Inspectors. This section requires the Secretary to
increase the number of Federal rail safety inspectors by about 100 inspectors
per year for a total of at least 800 Federal rail safety inspectors by the end
of fiscal year 2011. There are currently
421 Federal rail safety inspectors and 160 State inspectors.
Title VI – Miscellaneous Provisions
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Section 601. Positive Train Control Systems. This section requires Class I railroads,
within 12 months after the date of enactment of this Act, to develop and submit to the Secretary for
review and approval a plan for implementing a positive train control system by
December 31, 2014. The Secretary must
submit a report to Congress no later than December 31, 2011, on the progress of
the railroads in implementing the systems.
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Section 602. Warning in
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Section 603. Track Safety. This section requires the Secretary to issue
a regulation requiring railroads to manage the rail in their tracks to minimize
accidents due to internal rail flaws. At
a minimum the regulations must require the railroads to conduct ultrasonic or
other appropriate inspections to ensure that rail used to replace defective
segments of existing rail is free from internal defects, as recommended by the
NTSB; require railroads to perform integrity inspections to manage a service
failure rate of less than .1 per track mile; and encourage railroad use of
advanced rail defect inspection equipment and similar technologies as part of a
comprehensive rail inspection program.
The section also requires the Secretary to develop and implement regulations
for all classes of track for concrete ties, as recommended by the NTSB.
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Section 604. Certification of Conductors. This section requires the Secretary to prescribe
regulations to establish a program requiring the certification of train
conductors. The section ensures that conductors
on passenger trains are trained in security, first aid, and emergency
preparedness. Locomotive engineers are
currently certified in accordance with Federal law.
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Section 605. Minimum Training Standards. This section requires the Secretary to establish minimum
training standards for each craft of railroad employees. It also requires the railroad carriers to
submit their training and qualification programs to the Federal Railroad Safety
Administration for approval.
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Section 606. Prompt Medical Attention. This section requires a rail carrier to provide
rail workers with immediate medical attention when the workers are injured on
the job.
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Section 607. Emergency Escape Breathing Apparatus. This section requires railroads to provide
emergency breathing apparatus for all crewmembers on freight trains carrying
hazardous materials that would pose an inhalation hazard in the event of
unintentional release and provide such crewmembers with appropriate training
for use of the breathing apparatus, as recommended by the NTSB.
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Section 608. Locomotive Cab Environment. This section requires the Secretary to transmit a
report to Congress on the effects of the locomotive cab environment on the
safety, health, and performance of train crews.
Title VII – Rail Passenger Disaster Family Assistance
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Section 701.
Rail Passenger Disaster Family Assistance. This
section contains a bill that was
passed by the Committee and subsequently the House in the 108th
Congress, H.R. 874. The bill requires
the Chairman of the NTSB, as soon as practicable after being notified of a rail
passenger accident involving a major loss of life, to: (1) designate and
publicize the name and phone number of an NTSB employee who shall be a director
of family support services responsible for acting as a point of contact within
the Federal Government for the families of passengers involved in a rail
passenger accident, and a liaison between the rail passenger carrier and the
families; and (2) designate an independent nonprofit organization (with
experience in disasters and post-trauma communication with families) which
shall have primary responsibility for coordinating the emotional care and
support of the families of passengers involved in such accidents.