[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 763 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 763
To direct the Federal Railroad Administration to make welded rail and
tank car improvements.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 12, 2005
Mr. Dorgan (for himself and Mrs. Hutchison) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Federal Railroad Administration to make welded rail and
tank car improvements.
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 ``Welded Rail and Tank Car Safety
Improvement Act''.
SEC. 2. WELDED RAIL AND TANK CAR SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS.
(a) Track Standards.--
(1) In general.--Within 90 days after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Federal Railroad Administration shall--
(A) require each track owner using continuous
welded rail track to include procedures (in its
procedures filed with the Administration pursuant to
section 213.119 of title 49, Code of Federal
Regulations) to improve the identification of cracks in
rail joint bars;
(B) instruct Administration track inspectors to
obtain copies of the most recent continuous welded rail
programs of each railroad within the inspectors' areas
of responsibility and require that inspectors use those
programs when conducting track inspections; and
(C) establish a program to review continuous welded
rail joint bar inspection data from railroads and
Administration track inspectors periodically.
(2) Whenever the Administration determines that it is
necessary or appropriate the Administration may require
railroads to increase the frequency of inspection, or improve
the methods of inspection, of joint bars in continuous welded
rail.
(b) Tank Car Standards.--The Federal Railroad Administration
shall--
(1) validate a predictive model to quantify the relevant
dynamic forces acting on railroad tank cars under accident
conditions within 1 year after the date of enactment of this
Act; and
(2) initiate a rulemaking to develop and implement
appropriate design standards for pressurized tank cars within
18 months after the date of enactment of this Act.
(c) Older Tank Car Impact Resistance Analysis and Report.--Within 1
year after the date of enactment of this Act the Federal Railroad
Administration shall conduct a comprehensive analysis to determine the
impact resistance of the steels in the shells of pressure tank cars
constructed before 1989. Within 6 months after completing that analysis
the Administration shall--
(1) establish a program to rank those cars according to
their risk of catastrophic fracture and separation;
(2) implement measures to eliminate or mitigate this risk;
and
(3) transmit a report to the Senate Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation and the House of Representatives
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure setting forth
the measures implemented.
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Federal Railroad
Administration $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2006 to carry out this
section, such sums to remain available until expended.
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