STA Amendments to be Considered by Rules Committee

The House Rules Committee will meet tomorrow to look at what amendments may be considered during the floor debate on a surface transportation authorization bill. The Committee web site lists 182 proposed amendments to HR 3763 and another 88 amendments to the ‘non-transportation provisions’ of HR 22 that have been submitted. The Committee will winnow that down to some manageable number (my guess is in the neighborhood of 20) that will actually be allowed to be offered in the floor debate.

Of those 270 amendments, only nine [corrected from 'seven' 11-05-15 7:19 pm CST] may be of specific interest to readers of this blog. Those amendments will fall in the general categories of HAZMAT, Train Safety, Pipeline Safety, and Cybersecurity.

HAZMAT Amendments

Amendment #13 would require the Secretary to consult with States about States specific safety hazards and concerns that should be taken into account in developing railroad comprehensive oil spill response plans.

Amendment #44 would require the Secretary to initiate a study on the levels and structure of insurance for a railroad carrier transporting hazardous materials. The study would be required to address the potential applicability of the liability regimes described in the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 and the Public Health Service Act. Requires the obligatory report to Congress.

Train Safety Amendments

Amendment #64 would require the Secretary to submit a report to Congress on using a system that measures Vertical Track Deflection (VTD) from a moving railcar to identify poor track support from fouled ballast, deteriorated cross ties, or other conditions.

Amendment #80 would authorize the use of $270 Million for grants to railroads for PTC implementation.

Amendment #107 would require the Secretary to revise the standard for DOT 117R cars to include protection for top fittings and pressure relief vavles.

Pipeline Safety Amendments

Amendment #159 provides for State or tribal governments to request additional DOT safety reviews of pipeline transportation infrastructure projects.

Cybersecurity Amendments

Amendment #38 would establish an Automated and Connected Vehicle Research Initiative to lay the foundation for the broad scale adoption of automated vehicle technology. There is one very brief mention of cybersecurity in the lengthy amendment. Section XX(d)(2)(H) would require that “cyber-physical security” would be one of the items considered in deployment guidance developed by the Initiative.

Amendment #140 would require the Secretary to report to Congress on the use of IOT to improve transportation services in rural, suburban, and urban areas, including systems that meet the needs of an aging population. It includes a requirement to report on current best practices to protect privacy and security.

Amendment #169 would require the Secretary to report to congress on the end-to-end cybersecurity of motor vehicles that integrate computer technology that is sourced by a supply chain not directly controlled by the manufacturer. It includes a specific requirement to consider the use of NIST standards for securing computer systems and with respect to failsafe systems.

Moving Forward

Bases upon past practices it is quite likely that none of these seven amendments will make their way into this bill (probably considered under the number HR 22). None of these amendments would face substantial opposition on the floor.

Rule Published this evening calls for 29 Amendments to be considered; 7 Republican, 9 Democrat, 13 Bipartisan. Which ones will be determined tomorrow. Added 11-02-15 23:05 CST.

FRA Sends Train Staffing NPRM to OMB

Yesterday the OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) announced that it had received a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) from DOT’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). The proposed rule would address minimum train crew size.

According to the Fall 2014 Unified Agenda:

“This rulemaking would add minimum requirements for the size of different train crew staffs depending on the type of operation.  The minimum crew staffing requirements would reflect for the safety risks posed to railroad employees, the general public, and the environment and would account for differences in costs.  This rulemaking would also establish minimum requirements for the roles and responsibilities of the second train crew member on a moving train, and promote safe and effective teamwork.  Additionally, this rulemaking would permit a railroad to submit information to FRA and seek approval if it wants to continue an existing operation with a one-person train crew or start up an operation with less than two crew members.”

This rulemaking is part of DOT’s on-going response to the problem of catastrophic accidents involving crude oil trains.

Committee Hearings – Week of 02-09-14

Again, the Senate and House are both in session and we are starting to see more congressional hearings being scheduled. This week we will be seeing four hearings that may be of specific interest to readers of this blog; a visit by the new DHS Secretary, rail transportation safety, a biosecurity hearing and a field hearing looking at the Freedom spill. I’m posting this a little earlier than normal because the field hearing is taking place on Monday.

Currently there are no bills scheduled for floor consideration in either house that would be of specific interest to readers of this blog. That could certainly change as the week progresses, particularly in the Senate where the schedule is not disclosed in advance for the ‘minor’ bills that will be considered.

Freedom Spill

The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure will be holding a field hearing on Monday in Charleston, WV looking at the Charleston, West Virginia Chemical Spill. The Committee web site has a pretty decent summary of the facts about the spill. There are nine witnesses scheduled including a number of local officials. Sen. Manchin (D,WV) is scheduled as is Dr. Moure-Eraso (CSB Chairman). The star witness (if he shows) will be Gary Southern, the President of Freedom Industries.

Bad news, no live web cast of this hearing. Nothing about a recorded web cast though.

Biosecurity

The Emergency Preparedness, Response and Communications Subcommittee of the House Homeland Security Committee will be holding a hearing looking at “Bioterrorism: Assessing the Threat”. Hopefully this will include a discussion about how bioterrorism preparedness programs will aid in preventing natural pandemics.

New DHS Secretary

Secretary Johnson will appear before a hearing of the House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday to discuss “the Secretary’s Vision for the Future – Challenges and Priorities”. Nothing major expected here, but it will be interesting to see what differences in focus we will see with the new Secretary.

Rail Safety

The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will be holding a hearing Thursday looking at “Enhancing our Rail Safety: Current Challenges for Passenger and Freight Rail”. No witness list is available yet but the Committee hearing page notes that the hearing will include “discussion of recent high-profile rail accidents [presumably including various crude oil train wrecks], positive train control implementation, and other key safety challenges”.