Rail safety bill nearing passage
MONDAY, SEPT. 29, 1 p.m. UPDATE:

WASHINGTON -- The Senate has voted to suspend debate on a rail safety bill that incorporates Amtrak improvements, and a vote passing it is expected by day's end.

The bill is the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008.

The Senate voted 69-17 to invoke cloture, which is a parliamentary maneuver to halt debate and move a legislative measure to the Senate floor. It was bi-partisan support, with Republicans joining Democrats to choke-off conservative opposition to the safety bill. At least 60 votes were needed to invoke cloture.

The safety bill is the most comprehensive and labor friendly rail safety bill since 1974, providing for certification of conductors, better training, a prohibition against employers interfering with medical treatment of injured employees, a mandate to install positive train control, incentives to install ECP brakes and switch position indicators, and guaranteed time off.

The House previously voted to pass the bill, and President Bush indicated he would sign it into law.

The safety bill also includes a reduction in limbo time, and changes the hours of service law by requiring minimum uninterrupted rest periods, including at least two days off following each six-day work week.

The bill also creates a new high-level position within the agency of chief safety officer, adds 200 additional rail safety inspectors, and instructs DOT to develop a long-term strategy for improving rail safety, which must include an annual plan for reducing the number and rates of rail accidents, injuries and fatalities.

Following are the major provisions of the rail safety bill:

Training: Establishes minimum training standards for railroad workers; requires certification of conductors; and a study on certification of other classes and crafts of employees, including carmen and signal employees.

With regard to conductor certification, the FRA is instructed that within 18 months of enactment of this legislation, it is to establish a program requiring certification of conductors with a requirement for minimum training standards.

Positive Train Control: Requires all Class I railroads and intercity passenger and commuter railroads to implement a positive train control system by Dec. 31, 2015, on all main-line track where intercity passenger railroads and commuter railroads operate and where toxic-by-inhalation hazardous materials are transported. It also includes a grant program for the deployment of various positive train control technologies, electronically controlled pneumatic brakes, rail integrity inspection and warning systems, switch position indicators, remote control power switch technologies, track integrity circuit technology, and other technologies.

Hours of Service Reform: Provides signal and train crews with additional rest; prohibits them from working in excess of 12 hours; extends hours-of-service standards to railroad contractors; limits limbo time; and requires railroads to develop fatigue management plans through a mandatory risk reduction program.

Specifically, the hours of service law is amended to require at least 10 consecutive uninterrupted hours off duty following 12 hours on duty. (There is a three-year exception for passenger train employees, during which time their hours of service limitations will be studied by the FRA.)

Also, no freight railroad employee covered by the hours of service law may be called to work unless they have had at least 10 uninterrupted hours off during the prior 24 hour period. And following each six days of work, a covered employee must be given 48 hours of uninterrupted time off at their home terminal. If the carrier requires that employee to work a 7th day even if it is to return them to their home terminal then the uninterrupted time off at the home terminal must be at least 72 hours.

As to limbo time, no employee covered by the hours-of-service law may be placed in limbo time after they have been on duty, waited for deadhead transportation or been in any other mandatory service for more than a total of 276 hours in any month. And total limbo time per month is restricted to no more than 40 hours reduced to 30 hours on the first anniversary of the bills becoming law. During the third year following enactment of the law, the FRA may reduce limbo time further.

The bill also contains a provision permitting general chairpersons to sit down with carrier labor relations officers and negotiate a better balance between time off and earnings, while preserving guaranteed time off.

Locomotive Cab Safety: Requires the FRA to complete a study on the safety impact of the use of personal electronic devices by safety-related railroad employees during the performance of their duties. The study will also look at other elements of the locomotive cab environment that could harm the employees health and safety. Based upon the results of the study, DOT may establish regulations on the use of personal electronic devices in the locomotive cab. (Sources told the UTU that an FRA study already is underway, and an emergency order banning electronic devices except for company business, and only when two crewmembers are in the cab -- could be issued as soon as next week.)

Medical Attention: Prohibits railroads from denying, delaying, or interfering with the medical or first aid treatment of injured workers, and from disciplining those workers that request treatment. Also requires railroads to arrange for immediate transport of injured workers to the nearest appropriate hospital.

Emergency Escape Breathing Apparatus: Requires emergency breathing apparatus for all crewmembers on freight trains carrying hazardous materials that would pose an inhalation hazard in the event of unintentional release.

Track Inspection Time: Requires the FRA to study track inspection procedures, including time intervals between inspection, repair priorities and methods, the speed of track inspection vehicles, and the territories inspectors must cover.

Toll-Free Number to Report Grade Crossing Problems: Requires railroads to establish and maintain a toll-free telephone number for reporting malfunctions of grade crossing signals, gates, and other devices and disabled vehicles blocking railroad tracks.

Sight Distance: Requires the FRA to develop model legislation to encourage states to adopt and enforce laws regarding overgrown vegetation, standing railroad equipment, and other obstructions at grade crossings, which can obstruct the view of approaching pedestrians and vehicles.

Accident and Incident Reporting: Requires the FRA to conduct periodic audits of railroads to ensure they are reporting all accidents and incidents to the National Accident Database.

National Crossing Inventory: Requires railroads to report information, including information about warning devices and signage, on grade crossings to enable the FRA to maintain an accurate inventory of such crossings.

State Action Plan: Requires DOT to identify, on an annual basis, the top 10 states that have had the most grade crossing collisions, and to work with them to develop a state grade-crossing action plan that identifies specific solutions for improving safety at grade crossings.

Emergency Grade Crossing Improvements: Establishes a grant program to provide emergency grade-crossing safety improvements at locations where there has been a grade crossing collision involving a school bus or multiple injuries or fatalities.

Penalties for violations: Increases civil penalties for certain rail safety violations from $10,000 to $25,000. The minimum civil penalty remains $500. For grossly negligent violations or a pattern of repeated violations, the maximum civil penalty is increased from $20,000 under current law to not more than $100,000. The bill also increases the maximum penalty for failing to file an accident or incident report from $500 to $2,500.

Enforcement Transparency: Requires the FRA to provide an annual summary to the public of all railroad enforcement actions taken by DOT.

Railroad Radio Monitoring: Authorizes the FRA to monitor certain railroad radio communications for the purpose of correcting safety problems and mitigating the likelihood of accidents or incidents.

Inspector Staffing: Increases the number of federal rail safety inspectors and supporting staff by 200.

Bridge Safety: Requires the FRA to issue regulations requiring each track owner to develop and maintain an accurate inventory of its railroad bridges; determine, and update as appropriate, the safe capacity of each bridge; maintain the original design documents of each bridge, if available, and a documentation of all repairs, modifications, and inspections of each bridge; enforce a written procedure that will ensure that its bridges are not loaded beyond their capacities; conduct regular comprehensive inspections of each bridge; and designate qualified bridge inspectors or maintenance personnel to authorize the operation of trains on bridges following repairs, damage, or indication of potential structural problems.

Solid Waste Processing Rail Facilities: Requires state governments protect their citizens against environmental hazards, such as noxious fumes or leaks into groundwater, which could result from operation of a waste processing facility by a railroad.

Tunnel Information: Requires railroads to maintain certain information related to structural inspections and maintenance activities for tunnels, and requires railroads to provide periodic briefings to the government of the local jurisdictions in which the tunnels are located, including updates whenever a repair or rehabilitation projects alters the methods of ingress and egress into and out of the tunnels.

Click here to read the 315-page bill, which may take time to open due to its length; and probably will not open if you are using dial-up Internet service.

September 25, 2008