[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2132 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2132

 To authorize appropriations to carry out the Federal Railroad Safety 
                  Act of 1970, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                 May 18 (legislative day, May 16), 1994

   Mr. Exon introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize appropriations to carry out 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,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Railroad Safety 
Authorization Act of 1994''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    Section 214(a) of the Federal Railroad Safety Act of 1970 (45 
U.S.C. 444(a)) is amended by striking the first sentence and inserting 
in lieu thereof the following: ``There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this Act not to exceed $68,289,000 for fiscal 
year 1995 and such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 1996, 
1997, and 1998.''.

SEC. 3. HOURS OF SERVICE PILOT PROJECT.

    (a) In General.--The Hours of Service Act (45 U.S.C. 61 et seq.) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 7. HOURS OF SERVICE PILOT PROJECT.

    ``(a) A railroad or railroads, and all labor organizations 
representing any directly affected covered service employees of the 
railroad or railroads, may jointly petition the Secretary of 
Transportation for approval of one or more pilot projects to 
demonstrate the possible benefits of implementing alternatives to the 
requirements of this Act, including, but not limited to, those 
concerning maximum on-duty and minimum off-duty periods. Based on such 
a joint petition, the Secretary, after notice and opportunity for 
comment, may waive, in whole or in part, compliance with this Act for a 
period of no more than 2 years, if the Secretary determines that such 
waiver of compliance is in the public interest and is consistent with 
railroad safety. Any such waiver may, based on a new petition, be 
extended for additional periods of up to 2 years, after notice and 
opportunity for comment. An explanation of any waiver granted under 
this section shall be published in the Federal Register.
    ``(b) The Secretary shall submit to Congress no later than June 1, 
1996, a report that explains and analyzes the effectiveness of any 
pilot projects approved under this section.''.
    (b) Civil Penalty.--The first sentence of section 5(a)(1) of the 
Hours of Service Act (45 U.S.C. 64a(a)(1)) is amended by inserting 
immediately before ``shall be liable'' the following: ``or that 
violates any provision of a waiver applicable to that person that has 
been granted under section 7 of this Act,''.

SEC. 4. TECHNICAL AMENDMENT TO FEDERAL RAILROAD SAFETY ACT OF 1970.

    The first sentence of section 209(f) of the Federal Railroad Safety 
Act of 1970 (45 U.S.C. 438(f)) is amended by inserting ``any of the 
Federal railroad safety laws, as defined in section 212(e) of this 
title (except for the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act), or'' 
immediately after ``individual's violation of''.

SEC. 5. BIENNIAL REPORTING ON IMPLEMENTATION OF FEDERAL RAILROAD SAFETY 
              ACT OF 1970.

    (a) In General.--Section 211(a) of the Federal Railroad Safety Act 
of 1970 (45 U.S.C. 440(a)) is amended--
            (1) in the first sentence, by striking ``on or before July 
        1 of each year a comprehensive report on the administration of 
        this title for the preceding calendar year'' and inserting in 
        lieu thereof ``every 2 years, on or before July 1 of the year 
        due, a comprehensive report on the administration of this title 
        for the preceding 2 calendar years'';
            (2) in paragraph (1), by striking ``occurring in such 
        year'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``occurring during each of 
        the 2 preceding calendar years, by calendar year'';
            (3) in paragraphs (2), (3), and (6), respectively, by 
        striking ``year'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``years''; and
            (4) in paragraphs (9) and (10), by striking ``during the 
        preceding calendar year'' each place it appears and inserting 
        in lieu thereof ``during the preceding 2 calendar years''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--The section heading for section 211 of 
the Federal Railroad Safety Act of 1970 (45 U.S.C. 440) is amended by 
striking ``annual report'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``biennial 
report''.

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