Right Track Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4913 To require the Federal Railroad Administration and the Federal Highway Administration to provide recommendations for reducing the number of very rural highway-rail grade crossing collisions, to authorize a public outreach and educational program to reduce such collisions, and to au- thorize grants to improve grade crossing safety. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 18, 2020 Mr. TESTER (for himself and Mrs. FISCHER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To require the Federal Railroad Administration and the Fed- eral Highway Administration to provide recommendations for reducing the number of very rural highway-rail grade crossing collisions, to authorize a public outreach and educational program to reduce such collisions, and to authorize grants to improve grade crossing safety. 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 ‘‘Right Track Act’’. 4 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4913.IS S4913 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4913 IS SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress finds the following: 2 (1) Collisions at nonsignalized highway-rail 3 grade crossings continue to lead to fatalities in very 4 rural areas. 5 (2) In States with extensive rail infrastructure, 6 additional information for protecting grade crossings 7 would be valuable to the general public, State and 8 local governments, and rail operators. 9 SEC. 3. RECOMMENDATIONS. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Federal 11 Railroad Administration and the Administrator of the 12 Federal Highway Administration, after consultation with 13 railroads, technology developers, manufacturers, relevant 14 State and local agencies, institutions of higher education, 15 and law enforcement agencies, shall jointly provide rec- 16 ommendations for reducing the number of collisions at 17 highway-rail grade crossings in counties with 10 or fewer 18 residents per square mile (according to the most recent 19 decennial census) to— 20 (1) the Committee on Appropriations of the 21 Senate; 22 (2) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 23 Transportation of the Senate; 24 (3) the Committee on Appropriations of the 25 House of Representatives; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4913.IS S4913 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4913 IS (4) the Committee on Transportation and In- 1 frastructure of the House of Representatives; 2 (5) stakeholders involved in consultations under 3 this subsection; and 4 (6) the general public. 5 (b) USE OF RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Administra- 6 tors shall use the recommendations referred to in sub- 7 section (a) to provide technical assistance to States seek- 8 ing to make rail safety infrastructure improvements. 9 SEC. 4. PUBLIC OUTREACH AND EDUCATION. 10 The Administrator of the Federal Railroad Adminis- 11 tration and the Administrator of the Federal Highway Ad- 12 ministration shall jointly conduct a public outreach and 13 educational initiative, in cooperation with Operation Life- 14 saver, to reduce collisions at public highway-rail grade 15 crossings in counties with 10 or fewer residents per square 16 mile that includes multimedia resources, including re- 17 sources that are not available online. 18 SEC. 5. GRADE CROSSING SAFETY IMPROVEMENT GRANTS. 19 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Transpor- 20 tation shall use amounts set aside pursuant to subsection 21 (c) for grants to eligible recipients (as described in section 22 22907(b) of title 49, United States Code) to improve 23 grade crossing safety in counties with 10 or fewer resi- 24 dents per square mile. The Secretary shall prioritize the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4913.IS S4913 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4913 IS projects receiving grants under this subsection in accord- 1 ance with the criteria set forth in section 22907(e) of title 2 49, United States Code. 3 (b) PRIORITY.—In selecting grant recipients under 4 subsection (a), the Secretary shall prioritize projects based 5 on the application of the hazard indices and accident pre- 6 diction formulae described in the Federal Highway Admin- 7 istration’s Highway-Rail Crossing Handbook 8 (c) FUNDING.—During each of the fiscal years 2021 9 through 2025, $10,000,000 of the amounts appropriated 10 for grants under section 22907 of title 49, United States 11 Code, shall be set aside for grants authorized under sub- 12 section (a). The set aside required under this subsection 13 shall not overlap with the rural set aside required under 14 subsection (g) of such section 22907. 15 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the date 16 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transpor- 17 tation shall submit a report to the Committee on Com- 18 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 19 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the 20 House of Representatives that describes the implementa- 21 tion of this section. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Nov 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4913.IS S4913 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS