Should the Federal Railroad Administration Disclose When It’s Conducting Safety Assessments? (H.R. 543)

What is H.R. 543?

(Updated March 4, 2019)

This bill would require the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to provide members of Congress with notice of when a comprehensive safety assessment is being conducted on an intercity or commuter rail transit agency that serves their district. This notice would be required to come within 10 days of the FRA initiating a safety assessment and be sent to members of Congress, senators, and the relevant congressional committees. Once the safety assessment is completed, FRA would have 90 days to inform those parties of the assessment’s findings, including specific defects and any recommendations to address them. 

Argument in favor

Rail passengers and members of Congress need to be informed when their rail systems are being audited for safety issues. This is a matter of public safety, and there’s no reason for the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to keep its investigations confidential.

Argument opposed

Keeping FRA investigations confidential until their results are available helps prevent unnecessary panic and the politicization of such investigations. Forcing the FRA to go public with its investigations before they conclude invites unnecessary additional pressure on investigators.

Impact

Rail systems; commuter rail systems; Congress; FRA; and relevant Congressional committees.

Cost of H.R. 543

When this bill was introduced in 2017, the CBO estimated that this bill would cost $2 million over the 2018-2022 period, due to the need for the FRA to hire additional personnel to complete the reporting requirements required in the bill.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Rep. Albio Sires (D-NJ) reintroduced this bill from the 115th Congress to ensure that members of Congress and their constituents know when their railroad services are under safety audits:

“I am pleased to introduce this bill to ensure that our constituents know when the railroad services they rely on are under audit for safety reasons. Members of Congress and Senators must know when and why these safety assessments are underway so that we may inform our constituents and work on ways to provide assistance. My constituents and I never want to be caught off-guard by an unsafe rail transit agency – particularly when the federal government has been investigating it. This bill has previously been approved by the House and I look forward to making the case to my colleagues in the 116th Congress that we are all better served by a transparent and responsive rail safety oversight.”

There’s one cosponsor of this bill, Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ). In the 115th Congress, this bill passed the House without objection with the support of two cosponsors, both of whom were Democrats.

Of Note: This bill was prompted by the 2016 Hoboken train crash, which killed a young mother and injured 110 passengers and crewmembers. In the wake of that crash, it was revealed that the FRA had been conducting a “deep audit” on NJ Transit, prompted by an increase in safety violations, but it hadn’t revealed this safety review to relevant members of Congress or the public.

Media:

• Sponsoring Rep. Albio Sires (D-NJ) Press Release (116th Congress)

• CBO Cost Estimate (115th Congress)