Public Law 100-342

PL 100-342, June 22, 1988, 102 Stat 624

(Publication page references are not available for this document.)

UNITED STATES PUBLIC LAWS

100th Congress - Second Session

Convening January 25, 1988

Copr. © West Group 1998. No Claim to Orig. U.S. Govt. Works

DATA SUPPLIED BY THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. (SEE SCOPE)

Additions and Deletions are not identified in this document.

PL 100-342 (S 1539)

June 22, 1988

An Act to amend the Federal Railroad Safety Act of 1970 and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States

of America in Congress assembled,

SEC. 17. AMENDMENTS TO SIGNAL INSPECTION ACT.

Section 25 of the Act of February 4, 1887 (49 App. U.S.C. 26) is amended --

(1) by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) The term 'railroad' as used in this section shall have the same meaning as when used in the Federal Railroad Safety Act of 1970 (45 U.S.C. 431 et seq.).";

(2) in subsection (b), by striking "carrier" wherever it appears and inserting in lieu thereof "railroad", and by striking "carriers" and inserting in lieu thereof "railroads";

(3) in subsection (c) --

(A) by striking "carrier by"; and

(B) by striking "carrier" wherever it appears and inserting in lieu thereof "railroad";

(4) in subsection (d), by striking "carrier" wherever it appears and inserting in lieu thereof "railroad";

(5) in subsection (e), by striking "carrier" and inserting in lieu thereof "railroad";

(6) in subsection (f), by striking "carrier" wherever it appears and inserting in lieu thereof "railroad";

(7) in subsection (h) --

(A) by amending the first sentence to read as follows: "Any person (including a railroad and any manager, supervisor, official, or other employee or agent of a railroad) violating any provision of this section, or failing to comply with any of the rules, regulations, orders, standards, or instructions made, prescribed, or approved hereunder shall be liable to a penalty in such amount, not less than $250 nor more than $10,000 per violation (with each day of a violation constituting a separate violation), or where a grossly negligent violation or a pattern of repeated violations has created an imminent hazard of death in injury to persons, or has caused death or injury, not to exceed $20,000, as the Secretary of Transportation deems reasonable, except that a penalty may be assessed against an individual only for a willful violation. Such penalty shall be assessed by the Secretary of Transportation and, where compromise is not reached by the Secretary under the Federal Claims Collection Act of 1966, recovered in a suit or suits to be brought by the United States attorney for the judicial district in which the violation occurred, in which the individual defendant resides, or in which the defendant has its principal executive office."; and

(B) by adding at the end the following: "For purposes of this section, an act by an individual that causes a railroad to be in violation of any of the provisions of this section, or to fail to comply with any of the rules, regulations, orders, standards, or instructions made, prescribed, or approved under this section, shall be deemed a violation, and an individual shall be deemed not to have committed a willful violation where such individual has acted pursuant to the direct order of a railroad official or supervisor under protest communicated to the supervisor. Such individual shall have the right to document such protest."; and

(8) by striking "Commission" wherever it appears, except as it appears in subsection (f) in the title of the Act of May 6, 1910, and inserting in lieu thereof "Secretary of Transportation".

SEC. 9. AUTOMATIC TRAIN CONTROL AND RELATED SYSTEMS.

Section 202 of the Federal Railroad Safety Act of 1970 is amended by adding at the end the following new subsections:

"(j) Within 90 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall issue such rules, regulations, orders, and standards as may be necessary to require that –

"(1) whoever performs any test required by the Secretary of an automatic train stop, train control, or cab signal apparatus prior to entering territory where such apparatus will be used shall certify in writing that such test was properly performed; and

"(2) that such certification shall be kept and maintained in the same manner and place as the daily inspection report for that locomotive.

"(k)(1) All trains operating after April 1, 1990, on the main line of the Northeast Corridor between Washington, D.C., and Boston, Massachusetts, or on the feeder line referred to in section 704(a)(1)(B) of the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976, shall be equipped with automatic train control systems designed to slow or stop a train in response to external signals.

"(2) If the Secretary finds that it is impractical to equip all trains as required under paragraph (1) before April 1, 1990, the Secretary may extend the deadline for compliance with such requirement, but in no event shall such deadline be extended past July 1, 1990.

"(l) The Secretary, in consultation with the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, freight carriers, commuter agencies, employee representatives, railroad passengers, and rail equipment manufacturers, shall undertake a study of the advisability and feasibility of requiring automatic train control systems, including systems using advanced technology, such as transponder and satellite relay systems, on each rail corridor on which passengers or hazardous materials are carried. Such study shall include --

"(1) a specific assessment of the dangers of not requiring automatic train control systems on each such corridor, based on analysis of the number of passenger trains, persons, and freight trains traveling on such corridor daily, the frequency of train movements, mileage traveled, and the incident and accident history on such corridor;

"(2) an analysis of the cost of requiring such systems to be installed on each specific corridor; and

"(3) an investigation of alternative means of accomplishing the same safety objectives as would be achieved by requiring automatic train control systems to be installed.

The Secretary shall transmit to the Congress by April 1, 1990, a report detailing the results of such study.".