Finally, I would like to discuss the specific amendments included in this proposed authorization bill.

Proposed 1980 Safety Amendments

The amendments included in our bill are intended to modernize, clarify and strengthen the enforcement powers of the FRA related to railroad safety. The principal amendments would:

Permit the United States to bring a single suit
for multiple civil penalties in the jurisdiction
where the railroad has its principal executive
office, as an alternative to bringing suit in a
number of separate judicial districts where the
violations occurred.

o Provide civil penalty sanctions for violations
of those provisions of the Hours of Service Act
relating to employee sleeping quarters.

o Provide explicit compliance order and injunctive
relief authority for enforcement of the older

railroad safety laws.

be conducted on claims under the Hours of Service
Act, without the necessity of bringing suit, where
notification of the violations has been provided
in a timely fashion.

o Eliminate certain unnecessary reporting requirements under the Locomotive Inspection Act.

Clarify the power of the Secretary to issue emergency orders in the full range of circumstances that

may present an immediate threat of death or serious injury.

A technical amendment would also consolidate the safety

related investigative and administrative powers of the Secretary under the Interstate Commerce Act into the Federal Railroad Safety Act.

Attached to this testimony is a copy of our draft bill, together with a section-by-section analysis, detailing the basis and scope of each of the amendments which we are requesting. We have also attached our comments on safety bills pending before the Committee.

Mr. Chairman, this completes my prepared statement. My associates and I will be happy to respond to any questions which the Committee may have.

State Participation

A Grant-In-Aid Program
Involving States In Rail Safety Inspection

Congress directed the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to increase its efforts to make the State Participation Program effective and report no later than December 1, 1979, concerning the steps that have been taken to enhance the program. This report includes a discussion of how some recent FRA initiatives are proving fruitful in furthering the State Participation Program.

Statutory Scheme

Section 206 of the Federal Railroad Safety Act of 1970 (the Act) gives the states a right to "participate in carrying out investigative and surveillance activities in connection with any rule, regulation, order or standard prescribed by the Secretary" under the Act. At the same time, a continuing active role by the Department of Transportation is envisioned. The Secretary is required to retain the exclusive authority to assess and compromise penalties and to request injunctive relief. In addition, Subsection 206(e) provides that "The Secretary is authorized to conduct such monitoring of state investigative and surveillance practices and such other inspection and investigation as may be necessary to aid in the enforcement of the provisions of this title."

FRA's approach to the administration of the program must follow the philosophy embodied in the statute. First, FRA must be faithful to the mandate of Congress which requires that states capable of making a contribution are permitted to contribute. Second, FRA must retain the enforcement prerogatives set out in the statute recognizing that it is finally responsible, as the Secretary's agent, for the conduct of the entire Federal safety effort.

1/ If the Secretary fails to act within ninety days of the Jate of violation, the participating state may bring a penalty or injunctive action in a Federal court. State-originated enforcement actions are given expedited handling. No state has ever brought suit under this provision.

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Role Definition

FRA's continued overall responsibility for improving railroad safety demands that FRA have the flexibility to assign its inspectors where the need is the greatest. Even in those states which have achieved full certification, a continued Federal presence is likely to ensure uniform application of Federal regulations. Of course, the level of such a presence will vary considerably from state to state depending on the safety condition of railroads within the state, the degree of certification achieved, the level of experience of the state inspectors, and related factors.

The fact that FRA will continue to be legally responsible for conducting inspections in all states must be clearly understood. A fundamental problem in the administration of the State Participation Program has been defining the respective roles of the Federal field force and the state railroad inspection authorities. Some state safety program managers now believe that the ultimate objective of the State Participation Program is for the states to assume responsibility for all day-to-day compliance activities. This is not correct. The role of the states must be to supplement FRA efforts up to a point at which the combination of state and FRA resources are engaged in an optimally effective safety compliance program.

FRA's Role

FRA's major responsibilities in ensuring the success of the State State Participation Program are: 1) recruitment, 2) training, 3) monitoring, 4) coordination with regional activities, and 5) management of the national inspection program.

Recruitment

Current state salary levels make it difficult to attract highly qualified candidates for state inspector positions. Some states have suggested that the Federally mandated employee qualifications should be liberalized. However, FRA has found that when an inspector cannot authoritatively address a wide range of safety related issues (see Appendix I)

to railroad officials, the entire safety program loses credibility. Rather than relaxing current standards, FRA believes that it is better to concentrate on providing improved training and the recruitment of especially able trainees. State employees with engineering degrees or similar technical qualifications, who may now be assigned to other transportation related departments within the state, may be desirable candidates for inspector training.

Training

FRA will continue to provide 100 percent funding for state inspector training at the Transportation Safety Institute (TSI) at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. TSI is an excellent training facility and is essential for both orientation and refresher training in a classroom atmosphere for both state and Federal inspectors.

FRA believes that on-the-job training can also be very helpful to new state inspectors. In the past, the quality of such training has been hampered by the limited guidance that FRA inspectors have been given. A manual to assist FRA inspectors in on-the-job training is now nearing completion and should be ready for distribution in the Spring of 1980.

FRA will supplement this on-going on-the-job training effort with a new training program. Under this plan, FRA will select special instructors from our force of field inspectors for on-the-job training of new state personnel. These instructors will be selected based on both their technical expertise and their teaching ability. Each FRA instructor will have the primary responsibility for the on-the-job training of several state trainees.

FRA agrees that some acceleration of the period required to qualify state inspector trainees as full inspectors is possible with respect to individual state trainees. FRA will work closely with the states to ensure that the rapid qualification of such individuals is realized.