Rail Audit Transparency Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 158 To require the Federal Railroad Administration to provide appropriate con- gressional notice of comprehensive safety assessments conducted with respect to intercity or commuter rail passenger transportation. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 4, 2021 Mr. SIRES introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To require the Federal Railroad Administration to provide appropriate congressional notice of comprehensive safety assessments conducted with respect to intercity or com- muter rail passenger transportation. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rail Audit Trans- 4 parency Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Jan 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H158.IH H158 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 158 IH SEC. 2. NOTICE OF COMPREHENSIVE SAFETY ASSESS- 1 MENTS. 2 (a) INITIAL NOTICE.—Not later than 10 business 3 days after the Federal Railroad Administration initiates 4 a comprehensive safety assessment of an entity providing 5 regularly scheduled intercity or commuter rail passenger 6 transportation, the Federal Railroad Administration shall 7 notify in electronic format the Committee on Transpor- 8 tation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives 9 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor- 10 tation of the Senate, and each member of Congress rep- 11 resenting a State in which the service that is the subject 12 of the assessment being conducted is located, of the initi- 13 ation of that assessment. 14 (b) FINDINGS.—Not later than 90 days after comple- 15 tion of a comprehensive safety assessment described in 16 subsection (a), the Federal Railroad Administration shall 17 transmit in electronic format to the Committee on Trans- 18 portation and Infrastructure of the House of Representa- 19 tives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 20 Transportation of the Senate, and to each member of Con- 21 gress representing a State in which the service that is the 22 subject of the assessment being conducted is located, its 23 findings of that assessment, including identified defects 24 and any recommendations. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Jan 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H158.IH H158 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 158 IH (c) DEFINITION.—For purpose of this section, the 1 term ‘‘comprehensive safety assessment’’ means a focused 2 review of the safety-related processes and procedures, 3 compliance with safety regulations and requirements, and 4 overall safety culture of an entity providing regularly 5 scheduled intercity or commuter rail passenger transpor- 6 tation. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Jan 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H158.IH H158 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS