[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9074 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9074
To amend title 49, United States Code, to require Class I railroad
carriers to operate certain freight trains with 2-person crews, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 18, 2024
Mrs. Sykes (for herself and Mr. Rulli) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 49, United States Code, to require Class I railroad
carriers to operate certain freight trains with 2-person crews, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Safe Freight Act of 2024''.
SEC. 2. FREIGHT TRAIN CREW SIZE SAFETY STANDARDS.
(a) Freight Train Crew Size.--Subchapter II of chapter 201 of title
49, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 20153 the
following:
``Sec. 20154. Freight train crew size safety standards
``(a) Minimum Crew Size.--Except as provided in subsection (b), no
Class I railroad carrier may operate a freight train without a 2-person
crew consisting of at least 1 appropriately qualified and certified
conductor and 1 appropriately qualified and certified locomotive
engineer.
``(b) Exceptions.--
``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the
requirement under subsection (a) shall not apply with respect
to--
``(A) train operations on track that is not main
line track;
``(B) locomotives performing assistance to a train
that has incurred mechanical failure or lacks the power
to traverse difficult terrain, including traveling to
or from the location where assistance is provided;
``(C) locomotives that--
``(i) are not attached to any equipment or
are attached only to a caboose; and
``(ii) travel not farther than 50 miles
from the point of origin of such locomotive;
and
``(D) train operations staffed with fewer than a 2-
person crew at least 1 year before the date of the
enactment of the Safe Freight Act of 2024, except if
the Secretary determines that such operations do not
achieve an equivalent level of safety as would result
from compliance with the requirement under subsection
(a).
``(2) Trains ineligible for exception.--The exceptions
under paragraph (2) shall not apply with respect to--
``(A) a high-hazard train; or
``(B) a train with a total length of at least 7,500
feet.
``(c) Waiver.--A railroad carrier may seek a waiver of the
requirements under subsection (a) in accordance with section 20103(d).
``(d) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) High-hazard train.--The term `high-hazard train'
means a single train transporting, throughout the train
consist--
``(A) not fewer than 20 tank cars loaded with a
flammable liquid (Class 3) (as such term is defined in
section 173.120 of title 49, Code of Federal
Regulations, or successor regulations);
``(B) not fewer than 1 tank car or intermodal
portable tank load with a material poisonous by
inhalation or a material toxic by inhalation (as such
term is defined in section 171.8 of title 49, Code of
Federal Regulations, or successor regulations);
``(C) not fewer than 1 car loaded with a type B
package or a fissile material package (as such terms
are defined in section 173.403 of title 49, Code of
Federal Regulations, or successor regulations);
``(D) not fewer than 10 cars loaded with Class 1
explosives categorized under section 173.50 of title
49, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor
regulations) as being in division 1.1, 1.2, or 1.3;
``(E) not fewer than 5 tank cars loaded with a
flammable gas (as such term is defined in section
173.115(a) of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, or
successor regulations); or
``(F) not fewer than 20 cars loaded with any
combination of flammable liquids, flammable gases, or
explosives.
``(2) Main line track.--The term `main line track' means--
``(A) a segment or route of railroad tracks--
``(i) over which 5,000,000 or more gross
tons of railroad traffic is transported
annually; and
``(ii) that has a maximum authorized speed
for freight trains in excess of 25 miles per
hours; and
``(B) intercity rail passenger transportation or
commuter rail passenger transportation routes or
segments over which high-hazard trains operate.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The analysis for subchapter II of chapter
201 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the
item relating to section 20153 the following:
``20154. Freight train crew size safety standards.''.
(c) Preservation of Authority of Secretary.--Nothing in section
20154 of title 49, United States Code, as added by this section, shall
be construed to limit the authority of the Secretary of Transportation
under any other provision of law.
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