45 U.s.c. 23

LOCOMOTIVE INSPECTION ACT

(EXCERPTS FROM 45 U.S.C.)

(INCLUDING AMENDMENTS OF THE RAIL SAFETY IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 1988)

SECTION 22. INSPECTION OF LOCOMOTIVES AND APPURTENANCES;

DEFINITIONS

That the term "railroad," when used in this Act, shall have

the same meaning as when used in the Federal Railroad Safety Act

of 1970 (45 U.S.C. 431 et seq.).

SECTION 23. USE OF UNSAFE LOCOMOTIVES AND APPURTENANCES

UNLAWFUL; INSPECTION AND TESTS

It shall be unlawful for any railroad to use or permit to be

used on its line any locomotive unless said locomotive, its boiler,

tender, and all parts and appurtenances thereof are in proper

condition and safe to operate in the service to which the same are

put, that the same may be employed in the active service of such

railroad without unnecessary peril to life or limb, and unless said

locomotive, its boiler, tender, and all parts and appurtenances

thereof have been inspected from time to time in accordance with

the provisions of sections 28-30 and 32 of this title and are able

to withstand such test or tests as may be prescribed in the rules

and regulations as hereinafter provided for.

SECTION 28. RULES AND INSTRUCTIONS AS TO INSPECTION

Each railroad subject to this chapter shall file its rules

and instructions for the inspection of locomotive boilers with the

chief inspector within three months after February 17, 1911, and

after hearing and approval by the Interstate Commerce Commission,

such rules and instructions, with such modifications as the

commissioner requires, shall become obligatory upon such railroad:

Provided, however, That if any railroad subject to this chapter

shall fail to file its rules and instructions the director of

locomotive inspection shall prepare rules and instructions not

inconsistent herewith for the inspection of locomotive boilers, to

be observed by such railroad; which rules and instructions, being

approved by the Interstate Commerce Commission, and a copy thereof

being served upon the president, general manager, or general

superintendent of such railroad, shall be obligatory, and a

violation thereof punished as hereinafter provided: Provided also,

That such railroad may from time to time change the rules and

regulations herein provided for, but such change shall not take

effect and the new rules and regulations be in force until the same

shall have been filed with and approved by the Interstate Commerce

Commission. The director of locomotive inspection shall also make

all needful rules, regulations, and instructions not inconsistent

herewith for the conduct of his office and for the government of

the district inspectors: Provided, however, That all such rules

and instructions shall be approved by the Interstate Commerce

Commission before they take effect.

SECTION 29. DUTIES OF DISTRICT INSPECTORS; INSPECTION AND

REPAIRS BY CARRIERS; NOTICE TO CARRIER OF CONDITION

OF BOILER; APPEAL TO DIRECTOR AND REEXAMINATION;

FURTHER APPEAL TO SECRETARY

It shall be the duty of each inspector to become familiar, so

far as practicable, with the condition of each locomotive boiler

ordinarily housed or repaired in his district, and if any

locomotive is ordinarily housed or repaired in two or more

districts, then the director of locomotive inspection or an

assistant shall make such division between inspectors as will avoid

the necessity for duplication of work. Each inspector shall make

such personal inspection of the locomotive boilers under his care

from time to time as may be necessary to fully carry out the

provisions of sections 22-29 and 31-34 of this title, and as may

be consistent with his other duties, but he shall not be required

to make such inspections at stated times or at regular intervals.

His first duty shall be to see that the railroads make inspections

in accordance with the rules and regulations established or

approved by the Interstate Commerce Commission, and that railroads

repair the defects which such inspections disclose before the

boiler or boilers or appurtenances pertaining thereto are again put

in service. Each railroad subject to such sections shall keep on

file the report of each inspection required by such rules and

regulations and the report showing the repair of the defects

disclosed by the inspection. The rules and regulations referred

to in this section shall prescribe the manner in which such reports

shall be kept. Whenever any district inspector shall, in the

performance of his duty, find any locomotive boiler or apparatus

pertaining thereto not conforming to the requirements of the law

or the rules and regulations established and approved as

hereinbefore stated, he shall notify the railroad in writing that

the locomotive is not in serviceable condition, and thereafter such

boiler shall not be used until in serviceable condition: Provided,

however, That a railroad, when notified by an inspector in writing

that a locomotive boiler is not in serviceable condition, because

of defects set out and described in said notice, may within five

days after receiving said notice, appeal to the director of

locomotive inspection by telegraph or by letter to have said boiler

reexamined, and upon receipt of the appeal from the inspector's

decision, the director of locomotive inspection shall assign one

of the assistant directors of locomotive inspection or any district

inspector other than the one from whose decision the appeal is

taken to reexamine and inspect said boiler within fifteen days from

date of notice. If upon such reexamination the boiler is found in

serviceable condition, the director of locomotive inspection shall

immediately notify the railroad in writing, whereupon such boiler

may be put into service without further delay; but if the

reexamination of said boiler sustains the decision of the district

inspector, the director of locomotive inspection shall at once

notify the railroad owning or operating such locomotive that the

appeal from the decision of the inspector is dismissed, and upon

the receipt of such notice the railroad may, within thirty days,

appeal to the Interstate Commerce Commission, and upon such appeal,

and after hearing, said commission shall have the power to revise,

modify, or set aside such action of the director of locomotive

inspection and declare that said locomotive is in serviceable

condition and authorize the same to be operated: Provided further,

That pending either appeal the requirements of the inspector shall

be effective.

SECTION 30. POWERS AND DUTIES OF INSPECTORS, AND PROVISIONS OF

CERTAIN SECTIONS APPLICABLE TO ALL PARTS OF

LOCOMOTIVE AND TENDER; EXAMINATIONS OF INSPECTORS

The director of locomotive inspection and the two assistant

directors of locomotive inspection, together with all the district

inspectors, appointed as hereinbefore provided, shall inspect and

shall have the same powers and duties with respect to all the parts

and appurtenances of the locomotive and tender that they have with

respect to the boiler of a locomotive and the appurtenances

thereof, and the provisions of sections 22-29 and 31-34 of this

title as to the equipment of locomotives shall apply to and include

the entire locomotive and tender and all their parts with the same

force and effect as it applies to locomotive boilers and their

appurtenances. All inspectors and applicants for the position of

inspector shall be examined touching their qualifications and

fitness with respect to the additional duties imposed.

SECTION 31. ANNUAL REPORT OF DIRECTOR

The director of locomotive inspection shall make an annual

report to the Interstate Commerce Commission of the work done

during the year, and shall make such recommendations for the

betterment of the service as he may desire.

SECTION 32. REPORT BY RAILROAD TO DIRECTORS AS TO ACCIDENTS;

PRESERVATION OF DISABLED PARTS; INVESTIGATION AND

REPORT THEREUPON

In the case of accident resulting from failure from any cause

of a locomotive boiler or its appurtenances, resulting in serious

injury or death to one or more persons, a statement forthwith must

be made in writing of the fact of such accident, by the railroad

owning or operating said locomotive, to the director of locomotive

inspection. Whereupon the facts concerning such accident shall be

investigated by the director of locomotive inspection or one of his

assistants, or such inspector as the director of locomotive

inspection may designate for that purpose. And where the

locomotive is disabled to the extent that it cannot be run by its

own steam, the part or parts affected by the said accident shall

be preserved by said railroad intact, so far as possible, without

hindrance or interference to traffic until after said inspection.

The director of inspection or an assistant or the designated

inspector making the investigation shall examine or cause to be

examined thoroughly the boiler or part affected, making full and

detailed report of the cause of the accident to the director of

locomotive inspection.

SECTION 33. REPORT BY SECRETARY OF INVESTIGATIONS

The Interstate Commerce Commission may at any time call upon

the director of locomotive inspection for a report of any accident

embraced in section 32 of this title, and upon the receipt of said

report, if it deems it to the public interest, make reports of such

investigations, stating the cause of accident, together with such

recommendations as it deems proper. Neither said report nor any

report of said investigation nor any part thereof shall be admitted

as evidence or used for any purpose in any suit or action for

damages growing our of any matter mentioned in said report or

investigation.

SECTION 34. PENALTY FOR VIOLATIONS BY CARRIER; DUTY OF UNITED

STATES ATTORNEY TO SUE THEREFOR; DIRECTOR TO GIVE

INFORMATION

Any person (including a railroad and any manager, supervisor,

official, or other employee or agent of a railroad) violating this

Act, or any rule or regulation made under its provisions or any

lawful order of any inspector, 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 or 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 it shall be the

duty of such attorneys, subject to the direction of the Attorney

General, to bring such suits upon duly verified information being

lodged with them, respectively, of such violations having occurred;

and it shall be the duty of the director of locomotive inspection

to give information to the proper United States attorney of all

violations coming to his knowledge. 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 Act, or any rule or regulation

made under its provisions or any lawful order of any inspector,

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.

4