[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 26 (Thursday, February 29, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E258-E259]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   HIGHWAY RAIL GRADE CROSSING SAFETY FORMULA ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 1996

                                 ______


                        HON. PETER J. VISCLOSKY

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 29, 1996

  Mr. VISCLOSKY. Mr. Speaker, because I am concerned about the number 
of railroad crossing accidents in northwest Indiana, today I am 
introducing legislation that will provide a more effective method of 
targeting available Federal funds to enhance safety at our most 
dangerous highway rail grade crossings. I am introducing this 
legislation with our colleague, Mr. Hostettler, and the entire Indiana 
congressional delegation, in a bipartisan effort to improve rail 
safety. This bill, the Highway Rail Grade Crossing Safety Formula 
Enhancement Act of 1996, which is the companion bill to legislation 
introduced in the Senate by Indiana's Senators, Richard Lugar and Dan 
Coats, is similar to legislation I introduced in the 103d Congress 
(H.R. 4855). This bill would improve the Federal funding formula to 
account for risk factors that identify which States have significant 
grade crossing safety problems. The factors considered in the bill 
include a State's share of the national total for public highway-rail 
grade crossings, its number of crossings with passive warning devices, 
and its total number of accidents and fatalities caused by vehicle-
train collisions at crossings.
  Under the proposed funding formula established by my bill, Indiana's 
share of rail crossing safety construction funds would increase by an 
estimated 33 percent annually, from $4.9 million to $6.6 million. In 
1994, Indiana ranked sixth in the Nation for number of grade 
crossings--6,788--third for grade crossing accidents--263--and fifth 
for fatalities, 27. For the current fiscal year, Indiana received 3.4 
percent of section 130 safety construction funding, while accounting 
for 6.1 percent of the Nation's accidents, 5.9 percent of fatalities, 
and 4 percent of crossings.
  Currently, in the United States, several hundred people are killed 
and thousands more injured every year as a result of vehicle-train 
collisions at highway rail grade crossings. A significant number of 
these accidents occur in rail-intensive States, such as Indiana, 
Illinois, Ohio, California, and Texas. One quarter of 

[[Page E259]]
the Nation's 168,000 public highway rail grade crossings are located in 
these five States. They accounted for 38 percent of deaths and 32 
percent of injuries caused by vehicle-train collisions nationwide 
during 1991-93. Overall, about 24 States would receive an increase in 
section 130 funds for grade crossing improvements under my legislation.
  Maximizing the return from Federal funds requires that they be 
targeted to areas with the greatest risk, like Indiana. In a 1995 
report to Congress on the status of efforts to improve railroad 
crossing safety, the General Accounting Office [GAO] found anomalies 
among the States in terms of the funds they received in proportion to 
three key factors: accidents, fatalities, and total crossings.
  Through this bill, we have a unique opportunity to maximize existing 
resources, improve safety at rail crossings, and save lives. The 
establishment of a new funding formula is an innovative step in that 
direction and will directly benefit northwest Indiana, which bears the 
lion's share of rail traffic in Indiana. By targeting funds to States 
based on accident rates and number of rail crossings, we can put scarce 
resources to work and use a common sense approach by allocating Federal 
dollars where the need is greatest.
  Given the limited resources available for railroad crossing safety, 
it is crucial that available funds be targeted to the most cost-
effective approaches. The first means to target our limited resources 
is to change the current method used to apportion section 130 dollars 
to the States. The legislation I am introducing today will accomplish 
that. I urge you and all of my House colleagues to support it.

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