The U.S. House advanced Wednesday H.R. 543, legislation that would require the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to provide congressional notice of comprehensive safety assessments it conducts regarding intercity or commuter rail passenger transportation.
If the bill becomes law, the FRA would have no more than 10 business days after it begins a safety assessment to notify Congress of the assessment. After the study concludes, the FRA would have no more than 90 days to submit to Congress the results of the study and any recommendations.
The bill defines a “comprehensive safety assessment” as a focused review of the overall safety culture, compliance with safety regulations and requirements, and safety-related processes and procedures, of an agency providing regularly scheduled rail passenger transportation.
“This bill is an important step toward rail transparency because it brings cohesion to the federal government’s oversight role,” Rep. Albio Sires (D-NJ), who introduced the bill, said. “As a Member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I take my responsibility to keep my district’s rail commuters safe seriously. We must live up to our role of preventing and mitigating rail accidents around the country.”
The bill was cosponsored by Reps. Rouda Harley (D-CA) and Donald Payne (D-NJ).