# 119-hr-928: Railway Safety Act of 2025 119-hr-928, Railway Safety Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Deluzio, Christopher R. [D-PA-17] (D-PA); status in_committee; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-04-21). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-928 - As of: 2026-04-21 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: 119-hr-928 - Congress: 119 - Title: Railway Safety Act of 2025 - Status: in_committee - Introduced: 2025-02-04 - Sponsor: Rep. Deluzio, Christopher R. [D-PA-17] (D-PA) - Cosponsors: 11 - Policy area: Transportation and Public Works - Touches household money: yes - Last recorded action: 2026-04-21 ## Summary This bill would **tighten safety for trains carrying hazardous materials** by creating new rules, stronger inspections, minimum crew staffing, higher penalties, and targeted funding to prevent derailments and releases. - Communities and emergency responders would get required advance notifications, a written gas-discharge plan, and expanded wayside defect detectors to reduce derailments and blocked crossings. - Rail workers and inspectors would face minimum inspection-time rules, routine audits of federal inspection programs, allowance for an abbreviated pre-departure check for hazmat cars, and a minimum freight crew of two with narrow exceptions. - Rail carriers would see older DOT-111 tank cars phased out, civil penalties raised and tied to carrier income, a $1.0 million annual fee on Class I carriers, and a $22.0 million appropriation to expand defect detectors. ## Cosponsors (11) - Rep. LaLota, Nick [R-NY-1] (R-NY), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Rulli, Michael A. [R-OH-6] (R-OH), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Garamendi, John [D-CA-8] (D-CA), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-1] (R-PA), 2025-03-14T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Elfreth, Sarah [D-MD-3] (D-MD), 2025-03-14T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Lawler, Michael [R-NY-17] (R-NY), 2025-08-01T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Suozzi, Thomas R. [D-NY-3] (D-NY), 2025-08-01T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Smith, Christopher H. [R-NJ-4] (R-NJ), 2025-11-19T00:00:00.000Z - Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (D-DC), 2025-11-19T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Bresnahan, Robert P. [R-PA-8] (R-PA), 2026-03-04T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Soto, Darren [D-FL-9] (D-FL), 2026-03-04T00:00:00.000Z ## Provisions PRIA read - Stronger tank cars and 2027 phase-out: benefit, high. Starting May 1, 2027, carriers would be barred from using non‑compliant DOT‑111 tank cars to move Class 3 flammable liquids. Cars would need to meet DOT‑117, 117P, or 117R specs. The Secretary would remove or revise any conflicting deadlines. PHMSA would also study stronger, safer tank car and valv… - Two-person crews on freight trains: benefit, high. Freight trains would need two crew members: a certified conductor and a certified engineer. Some exceptions would apply, like certain non‑mainline work, short helper moves, and small carriers meeting strict hour, revenue, speed, and grade limits. No exception would apply to trains with toxic‑by‑inh… - More track detectors for hazmat trains: benefit, medium. Within one year, the Secretary would set rules for installing and operating wayside defect detectors on routes used by hazardous-material trains. Class I railroads would need a hotbox detector every 10 miles on those lines. The rules would set performance, maintenance, data reporting, alert tempera… - New safety rules and local alerts: benefit, medium. Within one year, the Secretary would set safety rules for trains carrying hazardous materials that are not covered by the high-hazard rule. The rules would cover train length and weight, train makeup, route analysis and selection, speed limits, track standards, maintenance, signaling, and response… - Stronger inspections and federal oversight: benefit, medium. The Transportation Department would tighten rail inspections and oversight. Within one year, it would set minimum time that qualified inspectors must spend on each car or locomotive and set inspection intervals for trains carrying hazardous materials. Audits of rail car inspection programs would st… - More funds for hazmat responder training: benefit, low. The maximum supplemental amount for hazardous materials emergency response training grants would rise from $2 million to $4 million. The Secretary could also use new Class I carrier fee revenue and recovered grant funds to support these grants. These changes would take effect upon enactment. The pr… - Higher fines for rail safety violations: cost, medium. Fines for rail safety violations would rise. Penalties would be the greater of a percent of a company’s income or a higher fixed cap. For hazardous materials, the first tier would be 0.5% of income or $750,000. The higher tier would be 1% of income or $1,750,000. Similar 0.5%/$250,000 and 1%/$1,000… - New $1 million fee on big railroads: cost, medium. Each Class I rail carrier would pay a $1,000,000 annual registration fee. This fee would be in addition to existing fees. It would take effect upon enactment. - Shorter pre-departure checks for hazmat trains: mixed, low. The Secretary would immediately change rules to allow an abbreviated pre-departure inspection for rail cars in trains carrying hazardous materials. This could save carriers time before trains depart, but it may reduce the length of checks. The change would take effect upon enactment. ## Related bills - 119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026 - 119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025 - 119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act - 119-hr-979: AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act of 2025 - 119-hr-909: Crime Victims Fund Stabilization Act of 2025 - 119-hr-4206: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025 ## Sources - [119-hr-928 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/928) ## Related - [119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9877) - [119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3151) - [119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1262) - [119-hr-979: AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-979) - [119-hr-909: Crime Victims Fund Stabilization Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-909) - [119-hr-4206: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4206) - [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-928 (as of 2026-04-21).