[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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