[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 5587]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        INTRODUCTION OF H.R. 906

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JACK QUINN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 6, 2003

  Mr. QUINN. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the gentleman from West 
Virginia, Mr. Rahall, I would like to describe legislation we recently 
introduced, H.R. 906, the ``Surface Transportation Safety Act of 
2003.''
  Each year more than 42,000 people are killed and over three million 
people are injured on our nation's highways. Not only is the loss of 
human life tragic, but the $230 billion annual cost to our economy is 
staggering. Our bill expedites the use of proven solutions to reduce 
the likelihood of crashes, injuries, and fatalities on our roads and 
bridges.
  H.R. 906 accomplishes these goals without requiring additional 
federal funding. It is designed to utilize funds already set aside for 
the Section 130 Rail-Highway Grade Crossing Program and the Section 152 
Hazard Elimination Program. Since their inception, these programs have 
allocated money to the States to reduce accidents. This legislation is 
designed to reallocate precious tax dollars within the current programs 
to make them more effective. The bill clarifies and expands project 
eligibility and provides funding for improved State data collection, 
analysis and reporting.
  In 1996, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation issued a report to 
Congress stating that the Section 130 Rail-Highway Grade Crossing 
Program prevented over 8,500 fatalities and close to 39,000 injuries 
since 1974. This report also stated that as a result of the Section 130 
program, fatal accident rates have been reduced by 87 percent. Our 
legislation makes two major changes to existing law that will enhance 
the effectiveness of this program. It changes the funding for 
protective devices at rail-highway grade crossings to a fixed $150 
million per year and it provides for the maintenance of protective 
devices at grade crossings.
  H.R. 906 also makes several improvements to the Section 152 Hazard 
Elimination Program. First, it clarifies that these programmatic funds 
are to be used to produce real safety benefits by requiring that 
projects reduce the likelihood of crashes resulting from road 
departures, intersections, pedestrians, bicycles, older drivers, and 
construction work zones. In addition, our legislation makes fluorescent 
yellow-green signs in school zones, pedestrian walkways and bicycle 
paths eligible for funding as a safety improvement. Also added to the 
eligible funding list are police assistance for traffic and speed 
management in construction work zones and the installation of barriers 
between construction work zones and traffic lanes for the safety of 
motorists and workers.
  Mr. Speaker, roadway construction, maintenance and repair are readily 
apparent on our highways and in our neighborhoods. Construction work 
zone crashes killed 1,079 people in 2001. This is a 20 percent increase 
since 1995, not to mention the thousands of injuries that occur each 
year. These deaths and injuries will continue to escalate if we do not 
address this problem now. In this regard, H.R. 906 directs the 
Secretary of Transportation to issue a rule requiring workers whose 
duties place them on or in close proximity to a Federal-aid highway to 
wear high visibility garments.
  To judge the effectiveness of these two safety programs, our bill 
requires a new biennial report to Congress without creating an unfunded 
mandate. States can use these funds to fulfill all data compilation, 
analysis, and reporting requirements. Finally, this bill maintains the 
flexibility States currently have to transfer funds from the two safety 
set-aside programs to the Interstate Maintenance, Congestion Mitigation 
and Air Quality, National Highway System, Bridge Replacement and 
Rehabilitation and Recreational Trails programs.
  I urge my colleagues to cosponsor and support this important safety 
legislation.

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