Title 49 — TransportationRelease 119-73not60
§20119 Study on Use of Certain Reports and Surveys
Title 49 › Subtitle SUBTITLE V— RAIL PROGRAMS › Part A— SAFETY › Chapter 201— GENERAL › Subchapter I— GENERAL › § 20119
Summary
FRA must study whether keeping safety reports and other records out of court is in the public interest, including safety and injured people’s rights. The study must cover carriers’ risk analyses and plans to reduce risks and get input from railroads, labor groups, accident victims and families, and the public. After the study, the Secretary may issue a rule after notice and comment; any rule cannot take effect until 1 year after adoption.
Full Legal Text
Title 49, §20119
Transportation — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)The Federal Railroad Administration shall complete a study to evaluate whether it is in the public interest, including public safety and the legal rights of persons injured in railroad accidents, to withhold from discovery or admission into evidence in a Federal or State court proceeding for damages involving personal injury or wrongful death against a carrier any report, survey, schedule, list, or data compiled or collected for the purpose of evaluating, planning, or implementing a railroad safety risk reduction program required under this chapter, including a railroad carrier’s analysis of its safety risks and its statement of the mitigation measures with which it will address those risks. In conducting this study, the Secretary shall solicit input from the railroads, railroad non-profit employee labor organizations, railroad accident victims and their families, and the general public.
(b)Following completion of the study required under subsection (a), the Secretary, if in the public interest, including public safety and the legal rights of persons injured in railroad accidents, may prescribe a rule subject to notice and comment to address the results of the study. Any such rule prescribed pursuant to this subsection shall not become effective until 1 year after its adoption.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
49 U.S.C. § 20119
Title 49 — Transportation
Last Updated
Apr 5, 2026
Release point: 119-73not60