Federal Railroad Safety Accountability and Improvement Act
Latest action · Mar 19, 2007 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMar 19, 2007
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Federal Railroad Safety Accountability and Improvement Act - Authorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2011 for the railroad safety program, including a safety risk reduction program to be implemented as part of such program. Eliminates the authority of the Secretary of Transportation (or state Secretary) to prescribe investigative and surveillance activities to enforce rail safety regulations and orders.
Prohibits public disclosure of railroad safety risk reduction program records.
Requires railroad carriers and states to report to the Secretary, and update periodically, unreported highway-rail (including non-vehicular pathway-rail) grade crossings and public highway-rail (including non-vehicular public pathway) grade crossings within the United States.
Urges the development of new technology to prevent loss of life and injuries at highway-rail grade crossings.
Sets forth requirements: (1) prohibiting the judicial review of railroad safety regulations or orders on the ground that they impact security; (2) authorizing the Secretary to waive compliance of such regulations and orders if there is an emergency event, it is in the public interest, and consistent with railroad safety; (3) authorizing the Secretary to monitor railroad radio communications to prevent rail accidents, or as part of an accident investigation; (4) authorizing the Secretary to prohibit individuals who have violated hazardous material transportation safety laws from performing safety-sensitive functions in the railroad industry until specified conditions are met; (5) repealing and reserving codified federal hours of service laws, requiring the conversion of such laws to regulations, and authorizing the Secretary to amend such regulations to prevent and mitigate fatigue in individuals performing safety-critical train related duties; (6) establishing maximum number of hours a train employee may be on duty; and (7) authorizing the Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration and designated employees access to criminal history records of railroad employees.
Cosponsors 1
Members who signed on, in the order they did. All signed on Mar 19, 2007.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-OR | Gordon H. Smith | Original | Mar 19, 2007 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| Senate | Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee | Referred Mar 19, 2007 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Mar 19, 2007Introduced in Senate
- Mar 19, 2007Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Printed hearings 2
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| S. Hrg. 110-1167 | RAILROAD SAFETY ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 200770 pages | Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee | Jul 26, 2007 |
| S. Hrg. 110-1120 | RAIL SAFETY REAUTHORIZATION114 pages | Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee | May 22, 2007 |
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 1516 | Federal Railroad Safety Accountability and Improvement Act | Identical bill | Mar 15, 2007 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- A bill to authorize appropriations for activities under the Federal railroad safety laws for fiscal years 2008 through 2011, and for other purposes.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Federal Railroad Safety Accountability and Improvement Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Transportation and Public Works.
- Administrative procedure
- Armed Forces and National Security
- Authorization
- Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
- Collective bargaining
- Crime and Law Enforcement
- Criminal justice information
- Department of Transportation
- Discovery (Law)
- Economics and Public Finance
- Electronic surveillance
- Employee selection
- Environmental Protection
- Evidence (Law)
- Federal aid to transportation
- Federal preemption
- Freedom of information
- Government Operations and Politics
- Government paperwork
- Government publicity
- Governmental investigations
- Health
- Hours of labor
- Identification of criminals
- Judicial review
- Labor and Employment
- Law
- Maintenance and repair
- Occupational health and safety
- Public meetings
- Radio
- Railroad employees
- Railroad equipment
- Railroad safety
- Right-of-way
- Science, Technology, Communications
- State laws
- Technological innovations
- Traffic accidents and safety
- Transportation and Public Works
- Transportation of hazardous substances
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Mar 19, 2007Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
