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Arkansas House Bill HB1768

Arkansas 2023 Regular Session

Arkansas House Bill HB1768 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.
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11 Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
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44 State of Arkansas 1
55 94th General Assembly A Bill 2
66 Regular Session, 2023 HOUSE BILL 1768 3
77 4
88 By: Representative D. Whitaker 5
99 By: Senator R. Murdock 6
1010 7
1111 For An Act To Be Entitled 8
1212 AN ACT TO CREATE STA NDARD REQUIREMENTS C ONCERNING 9
1313 RAILROAD TRAIN DEFEC T DETECTORS; AND FOR OTHER 10
1414 PURPOSES. 11
1515 12
1616 13
1717 Subtitle 14
1818 TO CREATE STANDARD REQUIREMENTS 15
1919 CONCERNING RAILROAD TRAIN DEFECT 16
2020 DETECTORS. 17
2121 18
2222 19
2323 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 20
2424 21
2525 SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 23, Chapter 12, is amended to add an 22
2626 additional subchapter to read as follows: 23
2727 Subchapter 11 — Defect Detector Safety 24
2828 25
2929 23-12-1011. Legislative intent. 26
3030 The General Assembly finds th at: 27
3131 (1) In light of the February 2023 railroad train derailment in 28
3232 East Palestine, Ohio, and the absence of any federal regulation of defect 29
3333 detectors, the continuance of railroad corporations with no oversight or 30
3434 regulation of hot box detectors operati ng within the state on a main line or 31
3535 branch line exposes the public to unnecessary dangers and disruptions of 32
3636 commerce; and 33
3737 (2) The intent of this act is to eliminate unnecessary dangers 34
3838 and disruptions of commerce imposed upon communities and resident s of 35
3939 Arkansas. 36 HB1768
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4444 1
4545 23-12-1102. Definitions. 2
4646 As used in this subchapter: 3
4747 (1) "Defect detector" means an electronic device: 4
4848 (A) That scans passing railroad trains or equipment for a 5
4949 defect, including without limitation a defect in the: 6
5050 (i) Hot wheel bearing; 7
5151 (ii) Hot wheel; 8
5252 (iii) Acoustic bearing detection; or 9
5353 (iv) Dragging equipment as a primary function; 10
5454 (B) That may be integrated to detect excessive height or 11
5555 excessive wide shipments and shifted lading; and 12
5656 (C) With wheel impact integration or that stands alone as 13
5757 a singular unit to detect a wheel defect; 14
5858 (2)(A) “Railroad” means a form of non -highway ground 15
5959 transportation that runs on rails or electromagnetic guideways within this 16
6060 state, including without limitation: 17
6161 (i) Commuter railroad service or other short -haul 18
6262 railroad passenger service in a metropolitan or suburban area; and 19
6363 (ii) High-speed ground transportation systems that 20
6464 connect metropolitan areas, without regard to whether those system s use new 21
6565 technologies not associated with traditional railroads. 22
6666 (B) "Railroad" does not include rapid transit operations 23
6767 in an urban area that are not connected to the general railroad system of 24
6868 transportation; 25
6969 (3) "Railroad corporation" means al l corporations, companies, or 26
7070 individuals owning or operating any railroad in this state whether as owner, 27
7171 contractor, lessee, mortgagee, trustee, assignee, or receiver; 28
7272 (4)(A) “Railroad train" means one (1) or more locomotives 29
7373 coupled with or without c ars, requiring an air brake test in accordance with 30
7474 49 C.F.R. § 232, as it existed on January 1, 2023, or 49 C.F.R. § 238, as it 31
7575 existed on January 1, 2023, including without limitation: 32
7676 (i) A single locomotive; 33
7777 (ii) Multiple locomotives coupled together; or 34
7878 (iii) One (1) or more locomotives coupled with one 35
7979 (1) or more cars. 36 HB1768
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8484 (B) "Railroad train" does not include a locomotive or car 1
8585 during switching operations or when the operation of the locomotive or car is 2
8686 that of classifying and ass embling cars within a railroad yard for the 3
8787 purpose of making or breaking up railroad trains; 4
8888 (5) "Restricted speed" means a speed that permits a railroad 5
8989 train to stop within one half (1/2) the range of vision but does not exceed 6
9090 twenty miles per hour (20 m.p.h.); and 7
9191 (6) "Trending defect detector technology" means an algorithm 8
9292 technology applied to a defect detector that allows for communication from 9
9393 one (1) defect detector to another to predict or detect a defect, including 10
9494 without limitation the communication of: 11
9595 (A) The changing temperature of wheel bearings on railroad 12
9696 equipment; 13
9797 (B) Acoustic information; or 14
9898 (C) Other data that would lead to the discovery of a 15
9999 failure of the rolling equipment. 16
100100 17
101101 23-12-1103. Defect detector mi nimum requirements. 18
102102 (a) A defect detector installed within the state shall be equipped 19
103103 with a: 20
104104 (1) Hot box detector; 21
105105 (2) Hot wheel detector; and 22
106106 (3) Dragging equipment detector technology. 23
107107 (b)(1) A defect detector shall be equipped with an audible alarm that 24
108108 is assigned to the Association of American Railroads frequency assigned to 25
109109 the specific territory in which the defect detector is located. 26
110110 (2) In the event of a defect, the: 27
111111 (A) Alarm shall sound over the assigned radio channel 28
112112 three (3) consecutive times for no longer than five (5) seconds and with five 29
113113 (5) seconds of silence in between the sounding of the alarm; 30
114114 (B) Defect detector shall repeat an audible message three 31
115115 (3) times with twenty (20) seconds of silence between me ssages stating the 32
116116 following information to the operating crew or person, the: 33
117117 (i) Detector location milepost and name; 34
118118 (ii) Track number in multiple track territory; 35
119119 (iii) Total number of axles in the railroad train, 36 HB1768
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124124 which shall include mo tive power; and 1
125125 (iv) Location of defects within the railroad train 2
126126 or equipment. 3
127127 (3) If no defects are found the defect detector shall provide an 4
128128 audible message to the operating crew or person stating the following: 5
129129 (A) The location of the defect detector milepost and name; 6
130130 (B) The track number in multiple track territory; 7
131131 (C) The total number of axles in the railroad train, which 8
132132 shall include motive power; 9
133133 (D) Railroad train speed; and 10
134134 (E) A no defects message, including a "repeat no defects, 11
135135 out" message. 12
136136 13
137137 23-12-1104. Trending defect detector technology. 14
138138 (a) A defect detector equipped with trending defect detector 15
139139 technology or similar technology shall not have a silent alarm and shall be 16
140140 listed to all railroad person nel operating equipment on the railroad tracks. 17
141141 (b) After a railroad train passes a defect detector with trending 18
142142 defect detector technology and a trending defect issue is detected, the 19
143143 following procedure is required: 20
144144 (1) The railroad train shall sto p in accordance with safe 21
145145 railroad train handling procedures issued by the railroad corporation; 22
146146 (2) An inspection of the railroad train shall be made by the 23
147147 operating crew from a position on the ground; 24
148148 (3) The railroad train inspection results shall be noted and 25
149149 presented to the appropriate officer of the railroad corporation, dispatcher, 26
150150 or qualified person; and 27
151151 (4) Based on the inspection results, the railroad train may 28
152152 proceed at a speed that does not exceed ten miles per hour (10 m.p.h. ) if 29
153153 carrying hazardous materials or thirty miles per hour (30 m.p.h.) if the 30
154154 railroad train is not carrying hazardous materials. 31
155155 (c) After a railroad train passes a defect detector with trending 32
156156 defect detector technology and a trending defect issue is detected for the 33
157157 second time, the following procedure is required: 34
158158 (1) The railroad train shall stop in accordance with safe 35
159159 railroad train handling procedures issued by the railroad corporation; 36 HB1768
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163163
164164 (2) The railroad train or equipment shall be inspected by a 1
165165 position on the ground and a determination shall be made by a qualified 2
166166 person whether the railroad train is safe to move; 3
167167 (3) After the inspection required under subdivision (c)(2) of 4
168168 this section, the equipment shall be set out immediately at th e nearest 5
169169 siding, spur, or designated repair track; and 6
170170 (4) The equipment shall not be moved unless a qualified person 7
171171 has thoroughly inspected the equipment and has repaired the equipment. 8
172172 9
173173 23-12-1105. Installation of defect detector. 10
174174 (a) A defect detector shall be installed every ten (10) miles. 11
175175 (b) If the terrain does not permit the installation of a defect 12
176176 detector, a defect detector shall be installed at least fifteen (15) miles 13
177177 from the location of the previous defect detector. 14
178178 (c)(1) If installment of a defect detector is not possible, a railroad 15
179179 train shall proceed at a restricted speed through the area until passing the 16
180180 next defect detector. 17
181181 (2) The railroad train may resume timetable speed if the defect 18
182182 detector indicates that the rai lroad train has no defects. 19
183183 20
184184 23-12-1106. Publishing. 21
185185 A railroad corporation shall publish and make known to all operating 22
186186 crews and personnel that operate equipment over railroad tracks and all types 23
187187 of defect detectors the following: 24
188188 (1) A railroad train receiving an alarm from any form of defect 25
189189 detector or a defect detector equipped with trending defect detector 26
190190 technology or similar technology in use shall reduce speed in accordance with 27
191191 the railroad corporation's operating rules until the defect detector is 28
192192 cleared; 29
193193 (2) After receiving the defect detector message indicating a 30
194194 defect, the railroad train shall stop in accordance with the railroad 31
195195 corporation's operating rules and inspect the railroad train from a position 32
196196 on the ground; 33
197197 (3) A railroad train receiving a defect message of dragging 34
198198 equipment or a similar message shall stop immediately in accordance with the 35
199199 railroad corporation's operating rules and inspect the railroad train from a 36 HB1768
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204204 position on the ground; 1
205205 (4) If defects are found then the railroad train shall be 2
206206 inspected based on the industry standard of twenty (20) axles before and 3
207207 after the reported defect on both sides of the equipment; 4
208208 (5) Inspections shall not be made from a vehicle or any form of 5
209209 transportation; and 6
210210 (6) A person shall not relieve railroad train operating crew or 7
211211 an operator of any form of railroad equipment from inspections under this 8
212212 section while operating the equipment within the state. 9
213213 10
214214 23-12-1107. Extra axles. 11
215215 (a) If a defect detector detects that a railroad train has at least 12
216216 two (2) fewer axles than the number of axles that should be in the railroad 13
217217 train, the discrepancy shall be reported to the proper railroad authority in 14
218218 charge of railroad train movement on the ter ritory. 15
219219 (b) If the axle count provided by a defect detector is at least two 16
220220 (2) axles or more than the number of axles known to be in the railroad train, 17
221221 the following procedure is required: 18
222222 (1) The proper railroad authority governing train movement on 19
223223 the territory shall be notified; 20
224224 (2) The extra equipment or extra railroad train shall be 21
225225 identified within five (5) miles of the location where the defect detector 22
226226 reported the defect; 23
227227 (3) If communication is not established with the proper 24
228228 governing railroad authority, all movement of the railroad train shall stop 25
229229 within five (5) miles from the location where the defect detector reported 26
230230 the defect; 27
231231 (4) The railroad train shall not proceed unless the equipment 28
232232 has been identified; 29
233233 (5) If the extra equipment is known to be hazardous, the 30
234234 railroad train shall not proceed without a radio waybill or proper 31
235235 documentation; and 32
236236 (6) Employees at the operating controls of moving equipment 33
237237 shall not be permitted to copy or repeat radio waybill i nformation. 34
238238 35
239239 23-12-1108. Civil penalty — Compromise. 36 HB1768
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244244 (a)(1) A person or railroad corporation who violates this subchapter 1
245245 is subject to a civil penalty of at least ten thousand dollars ($10,000) but 2
246246 not more than twenty -five thousand dollars ($25,000) for each day that the 3
247247 violation persists. 4
248248 (2) If the Director of State Highways and Transportation finds 5
249249 the violation to be grossly negligent or that a pattern of repeated 6
250250 violations has caused an imminent hazard of death or injury or has caused 7
251251 death or injury to an individual, the person or the railroad corporation that 8
252252 violates this subchapter is subject to a one -time fine of five hundred 9
253253 thousand dollars ($500,000). 10
254254 (3) The civil penalties collected under subdivisions (a)(1) and 11
255255 (2) of this section shall be deposited into a general fund account of the 12
256256 Arkansas Department of Transportation to be used for the maintenance, repair, 13
257257 and construction of the state highway system. 14
258258 (b) If a violation of this subchapter results in a railroad train 15
259259 derailment in the vicinity of a municipality triggering a one -time civil 16
260260 penalty under subdivision (a)(2) of this section, the civil penalty collected 17
261261 shall be split evenly between the Arkansas Department of Transportation and 18
262262 the affected municipality. 19
263263 (c)(1) The Director of State Highways and Transportation may 20
264264 compromise the amount of the civil penalty under subsection (a) of this 21
265265 section. 22
266266 (2) In determining the amount of a compromise, the director 23
267267 shall consider: 24
268268 (A) The nature, circumstances, exten t, and gravity of the 25
269269 violation; 26
270270 (B) With respect to the violator, the degree of 27
271271 culpability, any history of violations, the ability to pay, and any effect on 28
272272 the ability to continue to do business; and 29
273273 (C) Any other matters that law requires. 30
274274 31
275275 23-12-1109. Compliance. 32
276276 Upon the effective date of this act, a railroad corporation operating 33
277277 within the state shall have twelve (12) months to complete modifications to 34
278278 railroad infrastructure to ensure compliance with this subchapter. 35
279279 36 HB1768
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