[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5020 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5020

 To authorize the Surface Transportation Board to direct the continued 
operation of certain commuter rail passenger transportation operations 
            in emergency situations, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 26, 2002

Mr. Young of Alaska (for himself, Mr. Quinn, Mr. Ferguson, Mr. Kennedy 
  of Minnesota, and Mr. Frelinghuysen) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 
                             Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize the Surface Transportation Board to direct the continued 
operation of certain commuter rail passenger transportation operations 
            in emergency situations, 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 ``Emergency Directed Rail Service 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FAILURE OF COMMUTER OPERATIONS.

    Section 11123 of title 49, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) by inserting ``failure of existing commuter 
                rail passenger transportation operations caused by a 
                cessation of service by the National Railroad Passenger 
                Corporation,'' after ``cessation of operations,'';
                    (B) by striking ``or'' at the end of paragraph (3);
                    (C) by striking the period at the end of paragraph 
                (4)(C) and inserting ``; or''; and
                    (D) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
            ``(5) in the case of a failure of existing freight or 
        commuter rail passenger transportation operations caused by a 
        cessation of service by the National Railroad Passenger 
        Corporation, direct the continuation of the operations and 
        dispatching, maintenance, and other necessary infrastructure 
        functions related to the operations.'';
            (2) in subsection (b)(3)--
                    (A) by striking ``When'' and inserting ``(A) Except 
                as provided in subparagraph (B), when''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new 
                subparagraph:
    ``(B) In the case of a failure of existing freight or commuter rail 
passenger transportation operations caused by a cessation of service by 
the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, the Board may provide 
funding, to the extent provided in advance in appropriations acts, to 
support activities directed under subsection (a), including the payment 
of increased insurance premiums. The Board may order complete 
indemnification against any and all claims associated with the 
provision of service to which the directed rail carrier may be 
exposed.''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new subsections:
    ``(e) For purposes of this section, the National Railroad Passenger 
Corporation and any entity providing commuter rail passenger 
transportation shall be considered rail carriers subject to the Board's 
jurisdiction.
    ``(f) For purposes of this section, the term ``commuter rail 
passenger transportation'' has the meaning given that term in section 
24102(4).''.

SEC. 2. CONFORMING AMENDMENT.

    Section 24301(c) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting ``11123,'' after ``except for sections''.
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