PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

By December 31, 2009, and every year after, the Secretary of Transportation must put an annual report on the public website. The report summarizes the previous fiscal year’s railroad safety and hazardous‑materials inspections and audits, grouped by kinds of alleged violations (for example track, engines and equipment, signals, grade crossings, operating practices, accident and incident reporting, and hazardous materials). It also summarizes enforcement actions, showing counts and dollar amounts for civil penalties (how many were assessed, initial amounts, how many were settled, final amounts, and the difference), counts of hearings requested and completed for hazardous‑materials or individual enforcement actions, cases sent to the Attorney General, and the number and topics of compliance orders, emergency orders, or precursor agreements. The report analyzes how inspections and enforcement affected accident and incident counts and overall railroad safety. It gives the enforcement and inspection details for each Class I railroad and totals for Class II, Class III, hazardous‑materials shippers, and individuals. It lists how many locomotive engineer certification denials or revocations were appealed and the average time for decisions at the Locomotive Engineer Review Board, an administrative hearing officer or judge, and the FRA Administrator. It explains major changes in enforcement policies and includes any other information the Secretary thinks will make the program more open.

Title 49, §20120

Transportation, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In General.—

Beginning not later than December 31, 2009, the Secretary of Transportation shall make available to the public and publish on its public Web site an annual report that—

(1)provides a summary of railroad safety and hazardous materials compliance inspections and audits that Federal or State inspectors conducted in the prior fiscal year organized by type of alleged violation, including track, motive power and equipment, signal, grade crossing, operating practices, accident and incident reporting, and hazardous materials;

(2)provides a summary of all enforcement actions taken by the Secretary or the Federal Railroad Administration during the prior fiscal year, including—

(A)the number of civil penalties assessed;

(B)the initial amount of civil penalties assessed;

(C)the number of civil penalty cases settled;

(D)the final amount of civil penalties assessed;

(E)the difference between the initial and final amounts of civil penalties assessed;

(F)the number of administrative hearings requested and completed related to hazardous materials transportation law violations or enforcement actions against individuals;

(G)the number of cases referred to the Attorney General for civil or criminal prosecution; and

(H)the number and subject matter of all compliance orders, emergency orders, or precursor agreements;

(3)analyzes the effect of the number of inspections conducted and enforcement actions taken on the number and rate of reported accidents and incidents and railroad safety;

(4)provide the information required by paragraphs (2) and (3)—

(A)for each Class I railroad individually; and

(B)in the aggregate for—

(i)Class II railroads;

(ii)Class III railroads;

(iii)hazardous materials shippers; and

(iv)individuals;

(5)identifies the number of locomotive engineer certification denial or revocation cases appealed to and the average length of time it took to be decided by—

(A)the Locomotive Engineer Review Board;

(B)an administrative hearing officer or administrative law judge; or

(C)the Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration;

(6)provides an explanation regarding any changes in the Secretary’s or the Federal Railroad Administration’s enforcement programs or policies that may substantially affect the information reported; and

(7)includes any additional information that the Secretary determines is useful to improve the transparency of its enforcement program.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2015—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 114–94, § 11316(d)(1), substituted “Web site” for “website” in introductory provisions. Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 114–94, § 11316(d)(2), substituted “accident and incident reporting” for “accident and incidence reporting”. Subsec. (a)(2)(G). Pub. L. 114–94, § 11316(d)(3), inserted “and” at end. Subsec. (a)(5)(B). Pub. L. 114–94, § 11316(d)(4), substituted “administrative hearing officer or administrative law judge” for “Administrative Hearing Officer or Administrative Law Judge”.

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.

§20120 Enforcement Report