Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
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State of Arkansas 1
94th General Assembly A Bill 2
Regular Session, 2023 HOUSE BILL 1768 3
4
By: Representative D. Whitaker 5
By: Senator R. Murdock 6
7
For An Act To Be Entitled 8
AN ACT TO CREATE STA NDARD REQUIREMENTS C ONCERNING 9
RAILROAD TRAIN DEFEC T DETECTORS; AND FOR OTHER 10
PURPOSES. 11
12
13
Subtitle 14
TO CREATE STANDARD REQUIREMENTS 15
CONCERNING RAILROAD TRAIN DEFECT 16
DETECTORS. 17
18
19
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 20
21
SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 23, Chapter 12, is amended to add an 22
additional subchapter to read as follows: 23
Subchapter 11 — Defect Detector Safety 24
25
23-12-1011. Legislative intent. 26
The General Assembly finds th at: 27
(1) In light of the February 2023 railroad train derailment in 28
East Palestine, Ohio, and the absence of any federal regulation of defect 29
detectors, the continuance of railroad corporations with no oversight or 30
regulation of hot box detectors operati ng within the state on a main line or 31
branch line exposes the public to unnecessary dangers and disruptions of 32
commerce; and 33
(2) The intent of this act is to eliminate unnecessary dangers 34
and disruptions of commerce imposed upon communities and resident s of 35
Arkansas. 36 HB1768
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1
23-12-1102. Definitions. 2
As used in this subchapter: 3
(1) "Defect detector" means an electronic device: 4
(A) That scans passing railroad trains or equipment for a 5
defect, including without limitation a defect in the: 6
(i) Hot wheel bearing; 7
(ii) Hot wheel; 8
(iii) Acoustic bearing detection; or 9
(iv) Dragging equipment as a primary function; 10
(B) That may be integrated to detect excessive height or 11
excessive wide shipments and shifted lading; and 12
(C) With wheel impact integration or that stands alone as 13
a singular unit to detect a wheel defect; 14
(2)(A) “Railroad” means a form of non -highway ground 15
transportation that runs on rails or electromagnetic guideways within this 16
state, including without limitation: 17
(i) Commuter railroad service or other short -haul 18
railroad passenger service in a metropolitan or suburban area; and 19
(ii) High-speed ground transportation systems that 20
connect metropolitan areas, without regard to whether those system s use new 21
technologies not associated with traditional railroads. 22
(B) "Railroad" does not include rapid transit operations 23
in an urban area that are not connected to the general railroad system of 24
transportation; 25
(3) "Railroad corporation" means al l corporations, companies, or 26
individuals owning or operating any railroad in this state whether as owner, 27
contractor, lessee, mortgagee, trustee, assignee, or receiver; 28
(4)(A) “Railroad train" means one (1) or more locomotives 29
coupled with or without c ars, requiring an air brake test in accordance with 30
49 C.F.R. § 232, as it existed on January 1, 2023, or 49 C.F.R. § 238, as it 31
existed on January 1, 2023, including without limitation: 32
(i) A single locomotive; 33
(ii) Multiple locomotives coupled together; or 34
(iii) One (1) or more locomotives coupled with one 35
(1) or more cars. 36 HB1768
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(B) "Railroad train" does not include a locomotive or car 1
during switching operations or when the operation of the locomotive or car is 2
that of classifying and ass embling cars within a railroad yard for the 3
purpose of making or breaking up railroad trains; 4
(5) "Restricted speed" means a speed that permits a railroad 5
train to stop within one half (1/2) the range of vision but does not exceed 6
twenty miles per hour (20 m.p.h.); and 7
(6) "Trending defect detector technology" means an algorithm 8
technology applied to a defect detector that allows for communication from 9
one (1) defect detector to another to predict or detect a defect, including 10
without limitation the communication of: 11
(A) The changing temperature of wheel bearings on railroad 12
equipment; 13
(B) Acoustic information; or 14
(C) Other data that would lead to the discovery of a 15
failure of the rolling equipment. 16
17
23-12-1103. Defect detector mi nimum requirements. 18
(a) A defect detector installed within the state shall be equipped 19
with a: 20
(1) Hot box detector; 21
(2) Hot wheel detector; and 22
(3) Dragging equipment detector technology. 23
(b)(1) A defect detector shall be equipped with an audible alarm that 24
is assigned to the Association of American Railroads frequency assigned to 25
the specific territory in which the defect detector is located. 26
(2) In the event of a defect, the: 27
(A) Alarm shall sound over the assigned radio channel 28
three (3) consecutive times for no longer than five (5) seconds and with five 29
(5) seconds of silence in between the sounding of the alarm; 30
(B) Defect detector shall repeat an audible message three 31
(3) times with twenty (20) seconds of silence between me ssages stating the 32
following information to the operating crew or person, the: 33
(i) Detector location milepost and name; 34
(ii) Track number in multiple track territory; 35
(iii) Total number of axles in the railroad train, 36 HB1768
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which shall include mo tive power; and 1
(iv) Location of defects within the railroad train 2
or equipment. 3
(3) If no defects are found the defect detector shall provide an 4
audible message to the operating crew or person stating the following: 5
(A) The location of the defect detector milepost and name; 6
(B) The track number in multiple track territory; 7
(C) The total number of axles in the railroad train, which 8
shall include motive power; 9
(D) Railroad train speed; and 10
(E) A no defects message, including a "repeat no defects, 11
out" message. 12
13
23-12-1104. Trending defect detector technology. 14
(a) A defect detector equipped with trending defect detector 15
technology or similar technology shall not have a silent alarm and shall be 16
listed to all railroad person nel operating equipment on the railroad tracks. 17
(b) After a railroad train passes a defect detector with trending 18
defect detector technology and a trending defect issue is detected, the 19
following procedure is required: 20
(1) The railroad train shall sto p in accordance with safe 21
railroad train handling procedures issued by the railroad corporation; 22
(2) An inspection of the railroad train shall be made by the 23
operating crew from a position on the ground; 24
(3) The railroad train inspection results shall be noted and 25
presented to the appropriate officer of the railroad corporation, dispatcher, 26
or qualified person; and 27
(4) Based on the inspection results, the railroad train may 28
proceed at a speed that does not exceed ten miles per hour (10 m.p.h. ) if 29
carrying hazardous materials or thirty miles per hour (30 m.p.h.) if the 30
railroad train is not carrying hazardous materials. 31
(c) After a railroad train passes a defect detector with trending 32
defect detector technology and a trending defect issue is detected for the 33
second time, the following procedure is required: 34
(1) The railroad train shall stop in accordance with safe 35
railroad train handling procedures issued by the railroad corporation; 36 HB1768
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(2) The railroad train or equipment shall be inspected by a 1
position on the ground and a determination shall be made by a qualified 2
person whether the railroad train is safe to move; 3
(3) After the inspection required under subdivision (c)(2) of 4
this section, the equipment shall be set out immediately at th e nearest 5
siding, spur, or designated repair track; and 6
(4) The equipment shall not be moved unless a qualified person 7
has thoroughly inspected the equipment and has repaired the equipment. 8
9
23-12-1105. Installation of defect detector. 10
(a) A defect detector shall be installed every ten (10) miles. 11
(b) If the terrain does not permit the installation of a defect 12
detector, a defect detector shall be installed at least fifteen (15) miles 13
from the location of the previous defect detector. 14
(c)(1) If installment of a defect detector is not possible, a railroad 15
train shall proceed at a restricted speed through the area until passing the 16
next defect detector. 17
(2) The railroad train may resume timetable speed if the defect 18
detector indicates that the rai lroad train has no defects. 19
20
23-12-1106. Publishing. 21
A railroad corporation shall publish and make known to all operating 22
crews and personnel that operate equipment over railroad tracks and all types 23
of defect detectors the following: 24
(1) A railroad train receiving an alarm from any form of defect 25
detector or a defect detector equipped with trending defect detector 26
technology or similar technology in use shall reduce speed in accordance with 27
the railroad corporation's operating rules until the defect detector is 28
cleared; 29
(2) After receiving the defect detector message indicating a 30
defect, the railroad train shall stop in accordance with the railroad 31
corporation's operating rules and inspect the railroad train from a position 32
on the ground; 33
(3) A railroad train receiving a defect message of dragging 34
equipment or a similar message shall stop immediately in accordance with the 35
railroad corporation's operating rules and inspect the railroad train from a 36 HB1768
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position on the ground; 1
(4) If defects are found then the railroad train shall be 2
inspected based on the industry standard of twenty (20) axles before and 3
after the reported defect on both sides of the equipment; 4
(5) Inspections shall not be made from a vehicle or any form of 5
transportation; and 6
(6) A person shall not relieve railroad train operating crew or 7
an operator of any form of railroad equipment from inspections under this 8
section while operating the equipment within the state. 9
10
23-12-1107. Extra axles. 11
(a) If a defect detector detects that a railroad train has at least 12
two (2) fewer axles than the number of axles that should be in the railroad 13
train, the discrepancy shall be reported to the proper railroad authority in 14
charge of railroad train movement on the ter ritory. 15
(b) If the axle count provided by a defect detector is at least two 16
(2) axles or more than the number of axles known to be in the railroad train, 17
the following procedure is required: 18
(1) The proper railroad authority governing train movement on 19
the territory shall be notified; 20
(2) The extra equipment or extra railroad train shall be 21
identified within five (5) miles of the location where the defect detector 22
reported the defect; 23
(3) If communication is not established with the proper 24
governing railroad authority, all movement of the railroad train shall stop 25
within five (5) miles from the location where the defect detector reported 26
the defect; 27
(4) The railroad train shall not proceed unless the equipment 28
has been identified; 29
(5) If the extra equipment is known to be hazardous, the 30
railroad train shall not proceed without a radio waybill or proper 31
documentation; and 32
(6) Employees at the operating controls of moving equipment 33
shall not be permitted to copy or repeat radio waybill i nformation. 34
35
23-12-1108. Civil penalty — Compromise. 36 HB1768
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(a)(1) A person or railroad corporation who violates this subchapter 1
is subject to a civil penalty of at least ten thousand dollars ($10,000) but 2
not more than twenty -five thousand dollars ($25,000) for each day that the 3
violation persists. 4
(2) If the Director of State Highways and Transportation finds 5
the violation to be grossly negligent or that a pattern of repeated 6
violations has caused an imminent hazard of death or injury or has caused 7
death or injury to an individual, the person or the railroad corporation that 8
violates this subchapter is subject to a one -time fine of five hundred 9
thousand dollars ($500,000). 10
(3) The civil penalties collected under subdivisions (a)(1) and 11
(2) of this section shall be deposited into a general fund account of the 12
Arkansas Department of Transportation to be used for the maintenance, repair, 13
and construction of the state highway system. 14
(b) If a violation of this subchapter results in a railroad train 15
derailment in the vicinity of a municipality triggering a one -time civil 16
penalty under subdivision (a)(2) of this section, the civil penalty collected 17
shall be split evenly between the Arkansas Department of Transportation and 18
the affected municipality. 19
(c)(1) The Director of State Highways and Transportation may 20
compromise the amount of the civil penalty under subsection (a) of this 21
section. 22
(2) In determining the amount of a compromise, the director 23
shall consider: 24
(A) The nature, circumstances, exten t, and gravity of the 25
violation; 26
(B) With respect to the violator, the degree of 27
culpability, any history of violations, the ability to pay, and any effect on 28
the ability to continue to do business; and 29
(C) Any other matters that law requires. 30
31
23-12-1109. Compliance. 32
Upon the effective date of this act, a railroad corporation operating 33
within the state shall have twelve (12) months to complete modifications to 34
railroad infrastructure to ensure compliance with this subchapter. 35
36 HB1768
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