§20160 — Title 49 Transportation | U.S. Code

Summary

Railroads must tell the Secretary of Transportation up-to-date details about every railroad crossing they use. For crossings not reported before, they must report within 1 year after the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 became law or within 6 months after a new crossing starts being used, whichever is later. After that, they must update the Secretary on a regular schedule starting within 2 years of that law and then each year on or before September 30 (or on a date the Secretary sets). If one railroad sold a crossing after the law, it must report the ownership change within 18 months after the law or 3 months after the sale, whichever is later. Railroads may have another railroad that also uses the crossing submit the report for them. The Secretary of Transportation will make the rules to carry out these duties and may keep enforcing the currentDOT inventory policy until new rules are issued. Crossing — a place where a public or private road or an approved walking/biking path crosses railroad tracks. State — a U.S. State, the District of Columbia, or Puerto Rico.

Title 49, §20160

Transportation — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 or 6 months after a new crossing becomes operational, whichever occurs later, each railroad carrier shall—

(1)report to the Secretary of Transportation current information, including information about warning devices and signage, as specified by the Secretary, concerning each previously unreported crossing through which it operates with respect to the trackage over which it operates; or

(2)ensure that the information has been reported to the Secretary by another railroad carrier that operates through the crossing.

(b)(1)On a periodic basis beginning not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 and on or before September 30 of every year thereafter, or as otherwise specified by the Secretary, each railroad carrier shall—

(A)report to the Secretary current information, including information about warning devices and signage, as specified by the Secretary, concerning each crossing through which it operates with respect to the trackage over which it operates; or

(B)ensure that the information has been reported to the Secretary by another railroad carrier that operates through the crossing.

(2)A railroad carrier that sells a crossing or any part of a crossing on or after the date of enactment of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 shall, not later than the date that is 18 months after the date of enactment of that Act or 3 months after the sale, whichever occurs later, or as otherwise specified by the Secretary, report to the Secretary current information, as specified by the Secretary, concerning the change in ownership of the crossing or part of the crossing.

(c)The Secretary shall prescribe the regulations necessary to implement this section. The Secretary may enforce each provision of the Department of Transportation’s statement of the national highway-rail crossing inventory policy, procedures, and instruction for States and railroads that is in effect on the date of enactment of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008, until such provision is superseded by a regulation issued under this section.

(d)In this section:

(1)The term “crossing” means a location within a State, other than a location where one or more railroad tracks cross one or more railroad tracks either at grade or grade-separated, where—

(A)a public highway, road, or street, or a private roadway, including associated sidewalks and pathways, crosses one or more railroad tracks either at grade or grade-separated; or

(B)a pathway explicitly authorized by a public authority or a railroad carrier that is dedicated for the use of nonvehicular traffic, including pedestrians, bicyclists, and others, that is not associated with a public highway, road, or street, or a private roadway, crosses one or more railroad tracks either at grade or grade-separated.

(2)The term “State” means a State of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The date of enactment of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008, referred to in subsecs. (a) to (c), is the date of enactment of div. A of Pub. L. 110–432, which was approved Oct. 16, 2008.

Amendments

2015—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 114–94, § 11316(g)(1), substituted “concerning each previously unreported crossing through which it operates with respect to the trackage over which it operates” for “concerning each previously unreported crossing through which it operates or with respect to the trackage over which it operates”. Subsec. (b)(1)(A). Pub. L. 114–94, § 11316(g)(2), substituted “concerning each crossing through which it operates with respect to the trackage over which it operates” for “concerning each crossing through which it operates or with respect to the trackage over which it operates”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2015 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 114–94 effective Oct. 1, 2015, see section 1003 of Pub. L. 114–94, set out as a note under section 5313 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.

§20160 National crossing inventory