§20135 Licensing or Certification of Locomotive Operators

Summary

The Secretary of Transportation must write rules to set up a program that requires locomotive operators to have a license or certification beginning one year after the program starts. The program will review and approve each railroad’s operator qualification rules, set minimum training steps, and require thorough knowledge of the railroad’s operating rules and practices. The program must, when the information is available, look at an applicant’s motor vehicle driving record from the past 5 years, including any denial, cancellation, revocation, or suspension of a driver’s license for cause and any conviction in the past 5 years of the offense listed in section 30304(a)(3)(A) or (B). The Secretary may disqualify someone or give a license with conditions based on that record. Applicants must ask each State where they had a driver’s license in the past 5 years to send their driving record to their employer, a prospective employer, or the Secretary and must make the request described in section 30305(b)(4). The Secretary can make rules to waive the driving-record check for people or groups who are judged not currently unfit. A waiver after a conviction or license action is allowed only if the person completes a railroad or Secretary-approved rehabilitation program. If someone completes that program after a conviction or license action for operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance, they may not be denied a license for that reason. Anyone denied a license or given a conditioned license because of driving-record issues is entitled to a hearing under section 20103(e). The Secretary, employer, or prospective employer must give the person any driving-record information they get, let the person submit a written comment, and keep that comment with the related records.