HOWIE Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3705 To require the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations requiring a rail carrier to report certain damage if such carrier has a reasonable suspicion that an action carried out by the carrier caused such damage. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 25, 2023 Mr. LAWLER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To require the Secretary of Transportation to issue regula- tions requiring a rail carrier to report certain damage if such carrier has a reasonable suspicion that an action carried out by the carrier caused such damage. 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 ‘‘Helping Oversee and 4 Ward off Infrastructure Emergencies Act’’ or the 5 ‘‘HOWIE Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3705.IH H3705 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3705 IH SEC. 2. STANDARD FOR REPORTING CERTAIN DAMAGE RE- 1 LATING TO RAILROAD OPERATIONS. 2 The Secretary of Transportation, acting through the 3 Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, 4 shall issue such regulations as are necessary to update sec- 5 tion 225.9 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, to re- 6 quire a railroad to report a train accident resulting in 7 damage described under such section, including any inci- 8 dent that causes a fire (including a brush fire) alongside 9 a railroad track, if such railroad has a reasonable sus- 10 picion that an action carried out by the railroad caused 11 such damage. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3705.IH H3705 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB