AN ACT relating to transportation; prohibiting trains of a certain length from being run on certain railroads; requiring certain railroads to install certain safety equipment; requiring certain railroad companies to take or refrain from taking certain actions relating to railroad safety; establishing requirements for lighting equipment installed in certain railroad yards; requiring certain reports; providing for the monitoring and inspection of railroads by certain union representatives; prescribing certain requirements relating to the transportation of railroad employees by railroad contract carriers; limiting the hours drivers employed by railroad contract carriers may work; providing for the maintenance and inspection of certain records; providing penalties; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.
Sponsored By: Max E. Carter II (Democratic)
Failed
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
11 provisions identified: 5 benefits, 4 costs, 2 mixed.
Railroad unions gain safety inspection rights
Nevada railroads must let designated representatives of elected employee unions monitor safety practices and operations. Representatives may safely inspect property, take photos, conduct examinations, and interview people about compliance or hazards affecting represented workers. For covered incidents outside normal operations, railroads must immediately notify designated union representatives and local union leaders and allow investigations. Railroads must report those incidents to Nevada's Public Utilities Commission within 30 days, even without property damage. Reports must include the railroad's investigation when applicable.
Rest limits for railroad transport drivers
Drivers transporting railroad employees cannot drive over 10 hours in 24 hours after 8 consecutive hours off duty. They cannot work over 15 on-duty hours since that rest or over 70 on-duty hours in 7 consecutive days. An emergency may allow up to 2 extra driving hours only to finish the assignment or reach safety. The assignment must otherwise have fit within the remaining driving time, and the emergency must prevent safe completion within 10 hours. Drivers must record daily start, release, driving, and on-duty times; carriers must keep these records for at least 1 year.
Railroad transport drivers face substance testing
Railroad contract carriers must follow federal pre-employment, random, reasonable-suspicion, post-accident, and return-to-duty testing rules. Drivers must have zero-alcohol and negative drug results; refusal and specified altered or dilute-positive samples bar driving. Surviving drivers must be tested after a fatal crash, or a cited driver's crash causing injury needing immediate medical attention or disabling a vehicle. Testing must happen as soon as practical; delayed alcohol testing must occur within 8 hours and drug testing within 32 hours. Carriers must send required results to the Nevada Transportation Authority and securely keep testing records for at least 5 years.
Stricter hiring checks for railroad transport drivers
Railroad contract carriers cannot employ drivers with suspended or revoked driving privileges based on convictions for at least two listed offenses within 3 years. Offenses committed in any state or U.S. territory count. Listed offenses include impaired or reckless driving, excessive speeding, hit-and-run, insurance and seat-belt violations, and traffic-control or railroad-crossing violations. Carriers must keep driver qualification files, annual driving-record checks, employment applications, prior-employer safety information, and hotline feedback. Medical examiner certificates must be issued within the last 2 years.
New limits and safeguards for trains
Class I and II railroads cannot run freight or work trains longer than 7,500 feet on Nevada main or branch lines. Each train that breaks the limit counts as a separate violation. These railroads must maintain heat detectors at least every 20 miles on main lines and inspect them every 30 days. When an authorized emergency vehicle approaches a crossing blocked by stopped equipment, the railroad must move or separate it. The crossing rule does not apply when mechanical failure makes movement or separation impossible.
Safer vehicles for railroad employee rides
Carriers transporting railroad employees must have qualified inspectors check each vehicle every 12 months and inspect parts and accessories weekly. Drivers must complete written inspection reports each workday before vehicles are released. Vehicles need adequate tires, an inflated spare, secured baggage, working seatbelts, heating and air conditioning, weather traction gear when needed, and compliant windshield equipment. Required emergency equipment includes tire-inflation equipment, flares or reflective triangles, jumper cables, a standards-compliant first-aid kit, and an amber light or strobe. Carriers cannot operate probably hazardous vehicles and must keep identification and maintenance records for at least 1 year, or 6 months after compilation when they no longer control the vehicle.
Safer tracks and lighting for railroad workers
Class I and II railroads cannot knowingly leave employee hazards within 14 feet above rails or 8 feet from track center. Listed hazards include debris, vegetation over 4 inches tall, and sharply uneven ground. Covered yards must keep lights working and repair or replace them within 48 hours after receiving a problem report. Industry lighting standards apply where placarded hazardous materials are frequently switched, repaired, or inspected at night, or trains with more than 25 tanker cars carrying them are frequently assembled or taken apart at night. Railroads must report yard lighting, maintenance, standards compliance, and energy and environmental goals by January 15 each year, with a compliance plan, declaration, or yard-specific explanation; union designees may also submit lighting reports.
Railroads face bonds and safety fines
Each covered Class I or II railroad must provide a bond of at least $5 million to Nevada's Public Utilities Commission. The bond guarantees compliance with specified railroad safety requirements. Violations of those requirements carry civil penalties of $500 to $25,000 each. After notice and a chance for a hearing, the Commission may impose up to $100,000 per violation. That higher penalty requires a finding of gross negligence or a pattern of repeated violations.
Transport carriers face tougher safety enforcement
State motor vehicle, public safety, and transportation officials may inspect required railroad contract carrier safety records. Beginning January 1, 2026, the Transportation Authority may investigate complaints or suspected violations and order violators to stop. The Authority or Department may seek court orders or other civil remedies to enforce compliance. Covered offenses carry $100 to $1,000 fines, up to 6 months in county jail, or both; fines are mandatory and cannot be reduced. Also beginning January 1, 2026, contract motor carrier permit applicants must be fit, willing, and able to provide service and comply; applicants failing the criteria must be denied.
Carrier rules expand with vehicle exemptions
Common and contract motor carriers and brokers are subject to the new rules to the extent Nevada's motor-carrier chapter applies. Vehicles owned by or leased to federal, state, or local governments are exempt from the listed motor-carrier requirements. Covered vehicles must display the operator's name as the Transportation Authority directs. Name-display exemptions cover employer vehicles carrying their own employees and private-carrier vehicles weighing 10,000 pounds or less when not combined with another vehicle. Beginning January 1, 2026, carriers and tow operators filing schedules and tariffs must include their adopted compliance rules.
Railroad ride coverage grows with carrier obligations
Railroad contract carriers and drivers must have approved insurance from a Nevada-licensed insurer while operating transport vehicles in Nevada. Minimum injury or death coverage is $2 million per person and $5 million per crash involving two or more people. Property-damage coverage must be at least $1 million per crash, and uninsured or underinsured coverage must match bodily-injury limits. Each carrier must also provide the Nevada Transportation Authority a bond of at least $5 million guaranteeing compliance. The carrier and a qualified corporate surety must execute the bond.
Sponsors & Cosponsors
Sponsor
Max E. Carter II
Democratic • House
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
Actions Timeline
(No further action taken.)
6/3/2025HouseFrom printer. To engrossment. Engrossed. First reprint. To committee.
4/22/2025HouseTo printer.
4/18/2025HouseRereferred to Committee on Ways and Means. Exemption effective.
4/18/2025HouseTaken from General File.
4/18/2025HouseRead second time. Amended. (Amend. No. 320.)
4/18/2025HousePlaced on Second Reading File.
4/18/2025HouseFrom committee: Amend, and do pass as amended.
4/18/2025HouseNotice of eligibility for exemption.
3/27/2025HouseFrom printer. To committee.
3/18/2025HouseRead first time. Referred to Committee on Growth and Infrastructure. To printer.
3/17/2025House
Bill Text
As Introduced
Reprint 1
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