Emergency Directed Rail Service Act

        [Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2712 Introduced in House (IH)]

108th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2712

To authorize the Surface Transportation Board to direct the continued
operation of certain commuter rail passenger transportation operations
in emergency situations, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

July 10, 2003

Mr. Young of Alaska (for himself and Mr. Quinn) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation
and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To authorize the Surface Transportation Board to direct the continued
operation of certain commuter rail passenger transportation operations
in emergency situations, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Emergency Directed Rail Service
Act''.

SEC. 2. FAILURE OF COMMUTER OPERATIONS.

Section 11123 of title 49, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) by inserting ``failure of existing commuter
rail passenger transportation operations caused by a
cessation of service by the National Railroad Passenger
Corporation,'' after ``cessation of operations,'';
(B) by striking ``or'' at the end of paragraph (3);
(C) by striking the period at the end of paragraph
(4)(C) and inserting ``; or''; and
(D) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
``(5) in the case of a failure of existing freight or
commuter rail passenger transportation operations caused by a
cessation of service by the National Railroad Passenger
Corporation, direct the continuation of the operations and
dispatching, maintenance, and other necessary infrastructure
functions related to the operations.'';
(2) in subsection (b)(3)--
(A) by striking ``When'' and inserting ``(A) Except
as provided in subparagraph (B), when''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following new
subparagraph:
``(B) In the case of a failure of existing freight or commuter rail
passenger transportation operations caused by a cessation of service by
the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, the Board shall provide
funding to fully reimburse the directed service provider for its costs
associated with the activities directed under subsection (a), including
the payment of increased insurance premiums. The Board shall order
complete indemnification against any and all claims associated with the
provision of service to which the directed rail carrier may be
exposed.'';
(3) by adding the following new paragraph at the end of
subsection (c):
``(4) In the case of a failure of existing freight or commuter rail
passenger transportation operations caused by cessation of service by
the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, the Board may not direct a
rail carrier to undertake activities under subsection (a) to continue
such operations unless--
``(A) the Board first affirmatively finds that the rail
carrier is operationally capable of conducting the directed
service in a safe and efficient manner; and
``(B) the funding for such directed service required by
subparagraph (B) of subsection (b)(3) is provided in advance in
appropriations Acts.''; and
(4) by adding at the end the following new subsections:
``(e) For purposes of this section, the National Railroad Passenger
Corporation and any entity providing commuter rail passenger
transportation shall be considered rail carriers subject to the Board's
jurisdiction.
``(f) For purposes of this section, the term ``commuter rail
passenger transportation'' has the meaning given that term in section
24102(4).''.

SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENT.

Section 24301(c) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by
inserting ``11123,'' after ``except for sections''.
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