[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 155 (Saturday, September 27, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2035-E2036]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




PROVIDING FOR AGREEMENT BY HOUSE WITH AMENDMENT TO SENATE AMENDMENT TO 
             H.R. 2095, RAIL SAFETY IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2008

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. GRACE F. NAPOLITANO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 24, 2008

  Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 
2095, the Federal Railroad Safety Improvement Act and Amtrak 
Reauthorization bill. I congratulate Chairman Oberstar, Chairwoman 
Brown, Ranking Member Mica, and Ranking Member Shuster for their 
bipartisan work on this bill.
  H.R. 2095 is vital legislation for my district which has 160 trains 
traveling through it every day, 90 on the Union Pacific line and 70 on 
the Burlington Northern Santa Fe line. These trains carry approximately 
14,000 containers every day, with many of them holding hazardous 
materials. This train traffic is expected to triple by 2020, which will 
mean a train every 10 minutes.
  From October 2004 to May 2005, five derailments occurred in or near 
my district. These derailments damaged homes and businesses, threatened 
public safety and caused anxiety for those who lived and worked along 
the railroad.

[[Page E2036]]

  H.R. 2095 will take major steps to prevent derailments by improving 
track safety and grade crossing safety, increasing whistleblower 
protections, setting hours of service requirements, and strongly 
enforcing rail safety violations.
  The rail safety section of the bill includes 3 provisions that I 
offered through amendments in Committee and on the House floor.
  The first provision would create strict training standards for all 
railroad employee inspectors. Railroad inspectors have expressed 
frustration over their lack of training curriculum. They claim that 
most training is on the job and from coworkers. This provision creates 
strong training, testing, and skills evaluation measures to ensure that 
inspectors are able to address critical safety defects that contribute 
to derailments and accidents.
  The second provision would fund Operation Lifesaver for $7 million 
over the next 4 years. Operation Lifesaver is a rail safety awareness 
program that provides public service announcements, school 
presentations, brochures and materials, and support for public 
awareness campaigns. The goal of this public education program is to 
end collisions, deaths, and injuries at highway-rail grade crossings 
and on railroad rights-of-way. The program is supported by a wide range 
of partners including Federal, State and local government agencies, 
highway safety organizations, law enforcement, and the Nation's 
railroads. The provision will also create a pilot program for sustained 
outreach in high risk areas, as defined by number of accidents and 
population density near the tracks.
  The third provision would prohibit the Federal Government from 
allowing train safety inspections in Mexico from satisfying U.S. safety 
requirements. Railroad companies have tried multiple times to receive 
waivers from the Federal Government from having to perform safety 
inspections of trains that cross the border. Safety inspections in 
Mexico are much different than those performed on our side of the 
border and we must make sure U.S. rail safety laws are being followed.
  H.R. 2095 also includes a major provision regarding the 
implementation of Positive Train Control (PTC) systems that is vital to 
ensuring that accidents such as the recent Metrolink tragedy never 
happen again. The bill requires all major railroads and passenger 
railroads to implement PTC by December 31, 2015. PTC systems have the 
ability to stop trains automatically before accidents occur by using 
switch position indicators, track integrity technology, GPS systems, 
and other technology. The bill also includes a grant program to assist 
the railroads in deploying PTC systems.
  I am concerned that an important provision regarding State regulation 
was not included in this final bill. The State regulation provision 
would have ensured the original intent of Congress to give States 
regulatory authority to address local safety hazards.
  The provision is necessary because Federal Appellate Courts have 
preempted every attempt by the States to implement rail safety 
provisions where the FRA has not acted. This was not the original 
intent of Congress. The Federal Railroad Safety Act as passed in 1970 
says, ``The States will retain the authority to regulate individual 
local problems where necessary to eliminate or reduce essentially local 
railroad safety hazards.''
  States and local communities cannot rely on the limited FRA resources 
to address their safety concerns. States must be allowed to regulate 
the railroad in order to protect their property and their citizens. I 
hope this important safety issue will be addressed in the next 
Congress.
  I also support the Amtrak and passenger rail section of H.R. 2095 
which makes a dramatic investment in our passenger rail system that 
will provide jobs, strengthen the economy, and improve the environment.
  The bill creates a new State Grant Program that provides $380 million 
per year for intercity passenger rail. This is desperately needed in 
California as it has 3 of the top 5 busiest rail corridors in the U.S. 
These corridors include Pacific Surfliner from San Diego through Los 
Angeles to San Luis Obispo, the Capitol Corridor from San Francisco 
through Sacramento to Auburn, and the San Joaquin Corridors from 
Bakersfield to Oakland and Sacramento.
  The bill will greatly assist the Sunset Limited, which travels 
through my district, by alleviating ``choke points'' with congestion 
grants and a new process for mediating disputes with freight railroads 
at the Surface Transportation Board (STB). It also provides funding for 
a High Speed Rail System which California has been working on.
  The passenger rail section includes a provision I authored regarding 
compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the 
raising of station platforms. L.A. Metrolink and many other commuter 
railroads have fully complied with ADA rules by putting ramps and lifts 
in all of their stations so the disabled community can safely and 
easily board the trains. DOT has proposed making a rule that would 
require all railroad stations to fully raise their platforms to the 
floor level of the trains entering the station. The problem is that 
most passenger rail stations are serviced by multiple railroad 
companies with different train sets. Raising the platform could create 
major vertical and horizontal gaps between the trains and the platform. 
This would make it harder for the disabled community to safely and 
efficiently enter and exit trains. The provision I authored requires 
Amtrak to study how raising station platforms will affect the safe and 
efficient boarding of trains for all passengers.
  Madam Speaker, I strongly support passage of H.R. 2095, this very 
important railroad safety and passenger rail bill. I thank the Chairman 
for shepherding this bill through the legislative process.

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