H.R. 971 — RAIL Act

This section establishes the short title of the Act as the “Reducing Accidents In Locomotives Act” or the “RAIL Act” and sets forth the table of contents.

This section directs the Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with the Federal Railroad Administration Administrator and not later than one year after the National Transportation Safety Board issues its report on the East Palestine, Ohio crash, to issue regulations establishing safety requirements for rail carriers operating trains transporting hazardous materials not subject to high-hazard flammable train rules (49 CFR 174.310), covering train operations and specification tank car maintenance. The regulations must require rail carriers (1) to provide advance notification of such shipments, including a written gas discharge plan, to state and tribal emergency response commissions; and (2) to reduce or eliminate blocked crossings from train delays. In addition, the regulations must address train length and weight; train consist; route analysis and selection; speed restrictions; track standards; track, bridge, and rail car maintenance; signaling and train control; and response plans.

This section prohibits railroads from limiting the time available for employees to inspect railcars, locomotives, and brake systems to ensure compliance with safety laws and regulations and requires employees to perform inspections promptly except for safety-related reasons. (Adds new section 20172 to subchapter II of chapter 201 of title 49, U.S. Code.) This section directs the Secretary of Transportation to amend, within 120 days of enactment, pre-departure inspection requirements for Class I railroads under 49 CFR part 215 to (1) require designation of inspection locations with qualified inspectors available after consultation with the Federal Railroad Administration; (2) ensure all freight cars are inspected at such a location in the direction of travel as soon as practicable; and (3) require designation of qualified inspectors subject to collective bargaining agreements. This section further directs the Secretary to review and amend, as necessary and within one year of enactment, regulations under 49 CFR chapters 229 and 243 to (1) ensure appropriate training for locomotive inspectors and (2) require an additional daily inspection of Class I locomotives by a qualified mechanical inspector between existing intervals under 49 CFR 229.23(b)(2). This section requires the Secretary to initiate, within 60 days of enactment, audits of railroads' compliance with railcar, locomotive, and brake inspection requirements under 49 CFR chapter II, subtitle B, assessing procedures, training, interference with inspections, defect reporting, coercion, and other practices; schedule Class I audits at least every five years and a limited number of Class II and Class III railroads (excluding tourist operations more frequently than every five years) annually in accordance with the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 and 49 CFR part 209, appendix C; require railroads to remedy identified deficiencies; and mandate consultation and full cooperation from railroads and employees.

This section directs the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations not later than one year after enactment establishing requirements for the installation, repair, testing, maintenance, and operation of wayside defect detectors (i.e., trackside devices that monitor for train defects such as overheated wheel bearings) for rail carriers operating trains carrying hazardous materials. The regulations must address (1) detector placement frequency, including requiring all Class I railroads to install hotbox detectors along every 10-mile segment of track used by such trains; (2) performance standards; (3) maintenance and repair; (4) data and record reporting; (5) rail carrier responses to defect alerts; and (6) hotbox detector use to prevent wheel bearing failure derailments, including Secretary-specified alert temperatures and required carrier actions. The regulations must also require wayside defect detectors to identify specified categories of defects and failures, including axles, wheel bearings, brakes, signals, wheel impacts, and others designated by the Secretary; and require hazardous materials safety placards to withstand heat in excess of 180 degrees, with potential increases based on National Transportation Safety Board recommendations.

This section increases maximum civil penalties for rail safety violations from fixed amounts to the greater of a specified percentage of the violator's annual income or annual operating income or a higher fixed amount, as follows: (1) for hazardous materials transportation violations under 49 U.S.C. §5123(a), to the greater of 0.5% or $750,000 (from $75,000) in paragraph (1) and the greater of 1% or $1,750,000 (from $175,000) in paragraph (2); (2) for general violations of rail safety regulations under chapter 201 (§21301(a)(2)), to the greater of 0.5% or $250,000 (from $25,000) and the greater of 1% or $1,000,000 (from $100,000); (3) for accident/incident violations of chapter 201 and violations of chapters 203 through 209 (§21302(a)(2)), to the greater of 0.5% or $250,000 (from $25,000) and the greater of 1% or $1,000,000 (from $100,000); and (4) for violations of hours-of-service requirements under chapter 211 (§21303(a)(2)), to the greater of 0.5% or $250,000 (from $25,000) and the greater of 1% or $1,000,000 (from $100,000).

This section prohibits rail carriers from using DOT-111 specification railroad tank cars not compliant with DOT-117, DOT-117P, or DOT-117R specifications—as in effect on enactment—to transport Class 3 flammable liquids beginning May 1, 2030, regardless of train consist. (DOT-111 tank cars are a legacy design used to transport hazardous materials including flammable liquids such as crude oil and ethanol; the DOT-117 series incorporates enhanced safety features including improved puncture resistance and pressure relief capabilities.) The section further directs the Secretary of Transportation to conform existing regulations by immediately removing or revising inconsistent date-specific deadlines and prohibits enforcement of such deadlines.

This section (1) establishes an additional annual fee of $1 million on each Class I rail carrier (i.e., largest freight railroads) under 49 U.S.C. 5108(g); (2) revises the local emergency response training grant program under 49 U.S.C. 5116(j) to cover all hazardous materials (from hazardous liquids only) and authorizes its funding from the new rail fees and grant recoveries; and (3) doubles supplemental training grant funding to $4 million (from $2 million) under 49 U.S.C. 5128(b)(4).

This section establishes freight train crew size safety standards (codified at 49 U.S.C. §20154, previously repealed), requiring Class I railroad carriers to operate freight trains with a minimum 2-person crew—one appropriately qualified and certified conductor and one appropriately qualified and certified locomotive engineer—except as provided in specified circumstances. The crew size requirement does not apply to (1) train operations on track that is not main line track (i.e., segments with 5 million or more gross tons of annual traffic and maximum freight speeds exceeding 25 miles per hour, or certain passenger routes used by high-hazard trains); (2) locomotives providing assistance due to mechanical failure or insufficient power; (3) locomotives not attached to equipment (or attached only to a caboose) traveling no farther than 50 miles from origin; or (4) train operations staffed with fewer than 2 crew members for at least one year before enactment, unless the Secretary of Transportation determines they do not achieve equivalent safety. These exceptions do not apply to high-hazard trains (i.e., those transporting throughout the consist at least 20 tank cars of flammable liquid, 1 car of material poisonous by inhalation, 1 car with certain nuclear packages, 10 cars of specified explosives, 5 tank cars of flammable gas, or 20 cars combining such materials) or trains at least 7,500 feet long. Railroad carriers may seek waivers under existing authority (49 U.S.C. §20103), and the provision preserves the Secretary's authority under other laws.