Full Text of HB3755 99th General Assembly
HB3755eng 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning transportation.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 1. Findings. It is the public policy of the State | 5 | | of Illinois to enhance public safety by establishing a minimum | 6 | | freight train operating crew size to address the transportation | 7 | | of all freight, including but not limited to hazardous and | 8 | | volatile materials, on the railroads of Illinois. The | 9 | | transportation of this freight, coupled with substantially | 10 | | longer trains, creates significant health, safety, and | 11 | | security concerns for local communities. Adequate railroad | 12 | | operating personnel are critical to ensuring railroad | 13 | | operational safety and security and in supporting first | 14 | | responder activities in the event of a hazardous material | 15 | | incident, grade crossing incident, or mechanical failure. | 16 | | Section 5. The Illinois Vehicle Code is amended by changing | 17 | | Section 18c-7402 as follows:
| 18 | | (625 ILCS 5/18c-7402) (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 18c-7402)
| 19 | | Sec. 18c-7402. Safety Requirements for Railroad | 20 | | Operations.
| 21 | | (1) Obstruction of Crossings.
| 22 | | (a) Obstruction of Emergency Vehicles.
Every railroad |
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| 1 | | shall be operated in such a manner as to
minimize | 2 | | obstruction of emergency vehicles at crossings.
Where such | 3 | | obstruction occurs and the train crew is
aware of the | 4 | | obstruction, the train crew shall
immediately take any | 5 | | action, consistent with safe
operating procedure, | 6 | | necessary to remove the
obstruction. In the Chicago and St. | 7 | | Louis switching
districts, every railroad dispatcher or | 8 | | other person
responsible for the movement of railroad | 9 | | equipment in a
specific area who receives notification that | 10 | | railroad
equipment is obstructing the movement of an | 11 | | emergency
vehicle at any crossing within such area shall
| 12 | | immediately notify the train crew through use of
existing | 13 | | communication facilities. Upon notification,
the train | 14 | | crew shall take immediate action in accordance
with this | 15 | | paragraph.
| 16 | | (b) Obstruction of Highway at Grade Crossing | 17 | | Prohibited.
It is unlawful for a rail carrier to permit any | 18 | | train,
railroad car or engine to obstruct public travel at | 19 | | a
railroad-highway grade crossing for a period in excess
of | 20 | | 10 minutes, except where such train or railroad car
is | 21 | | continuously moving or cannot be moved by reason of
| 22 | | circumstances over which the rail carrier has no
reasonable | 23 | | control.
| 24 | | In a county with a population of greater than 1,000,000, as | 25 | | determined by
the most recent federal census, during the
hours | 26 | | of 7:00 a.m. through 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. through 6:00 p.m. |
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| 1 | | it is
unlawful for a rail carrier to permit any single train or | 2 | | railroad car to
obstruct
public travel at a railroad-highway | 3 | | grade crossing in excess of a total of 10
minutes during a 30 | 4 | | minute period, except where the train or railroad
car
cannot be | 5 | | moved by reason or circumstances over which the rail carrier | 6 | | has no
reasonable control. Under no circumstances will a moving | 7 | | train be stopped for
the purposes of
issuing a citation related | 8 | | to this Section.
| 9 | | However, no employee acting under the rules or orders of | 10 | | the rail carrier or
its supervisory personnel may be prosecuted | 11 | | for a violation of this
subsection (b).
| 12 | | (c) Punishment for Obstruction of Grade Crossing.
Any | 13 | | rail carrier violating paragraph (b) of this
subsection | 14 | | shall be guilty of a petty offense and fined
not less than | 15 | | $200 nor more than $500 if the duration of
the obstruction | 16 | | is in excess of 10 minutes but no longer
than 15 minutes. | 17 | | If the duration of the obstruction
exceeds 15 minutes the | 18 | | violation shall be a business
offense and the following | 19 | | fines shall be imposed: if
the duration of the obstruction | 20 | | is in excess of 15
minutes but no longer than 20 minutes, | 21 | | the fine shall be
$500; if the duration of the obstruction | 22 | | is in excess of
20 minutes but no longer than 25 minutes, | 23 | | the fine shall
be $700; if the duration of the obstruction | 24 | | is in excess
of 25 minutes, but no longer than 30 minutes, | 25 | | the fine
shall be $900; if the duration of the obstruction | 26 | | is in
excess of 30 minutes but no longer than 35 minutes, |
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| 1 | | the
fine shall be $1,000; if the duration of the | 2 | | obstruction
is in excess of 35 minutes, the fine shall be | 3 | | $1,000
plus an additional $500 for each 5 minutes of
| 4 | | obstruction in excess of 25 minutes of obstruction.
| 5 | | (2) Other Operational Requirements.
| 6 | | (a) Bell and Whistle-Crossings.
Every rail carrier | 7 | | shall cause a bell, and a whistle or
horn to be placed and | 8 | | kept on each locomotive, and shall
cause the same to be | 9 | | rung or sounded by the engineer or
fireman, at the distance | 10 | | of a least 1,320 feet, from the
place where the railroad | 11 | | crosses or intersects any
public highway, and shall be kept | 12 | | ringing or sounding
until the highway is reached; provided | 13 | | that at crossings
where the Commission shall by order | 14 | | direct, only after a hearing has been
held to determine the | 15 | | public is reasonably and sufficiently protected, the rail
| 16 | | carrier may be excused from giving warning provided by
this | 17 | | paragraph.
| 18 | | (a-5) The requirements of paragraph (a) of this
| 19 | | subsection (2) regarding ringing a bell and sounding a
| 20 | | whistle or horn do not apply at a railroad crossing that
| 21 | | has a permanently installed automated audible warning
| 22 | | device authorized by the Commission under Section
| 23 | | 18c-7402.1 that sounds automatically when an approaching
| 24 | | train is at least 1,320 feet from the crossing and that
| 25 | | keeps sounding until the lead locomotive has crossed the
| 26 | | highway. The engineer or fireman may ring the bell or
sound |
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| 1 | | the whistle or horn at a railroad crossing that has a
| 2 | | permanently installed audible warning device.
| 3 | | (b) Speed Limits.
Each rail carrier shall operate its | 4 | | trains in compliance
with speed limits set by the | 5 | | Commission. The Commission
may set train speed limits only | 6 | | where such limits are
necessitated by extraordinary | 7 | | circumstances effecting
the public safety, and shall | 8 | | maintain such train speed
limits in effect only for such | 9 | | time as the extraordinary
circumstances prevail.
| 10 | | The Commission and the Department of Transportation | 11 | | shall conduct a study
of the relation between train speeds | 12 | | and railroad-highway grade crossing
safety. The Commission | 13 | | shall report the findings of the study to the General
| 14 | | Assembly no later than January 5, 1997.
| 15 | | (c) Special Speed Limit; Pilot Project. The Commission | 16 | | and the
Board of the Commuter Rail Division of the Regional | 17 | | Transportation Authority
shall conduct a pilot project in | 18 | | the Village of
Fox River Grove, the site of the
fatal | 19 | | school bus accident at a railroad crossing
on October 25, | 20 | | 1995, in order to improve railroad crossing safety. For | 21 | | this
project, the Commission is directed to set the maximum | 22 | | train speed limit for
Regional Transportation Authority | 23 | | trains at 50 miles per hour at intersections
on
that | 24 | | portion of
the intrastate rail line located in the Village | 25 | | of Fox River Grove.
If the Regional Transportation | 26 | | Authority deliberately fails to comply with this
maximum |
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| 1 | | speed
limit, then any entity, governmental or otherwise, | 2 | | that provides capital or
operational funds to the Regional | 3 | | Transportation
Authority shall appropriately reduce or | 4 | | eliminate that funding.
The Commission shall report
to the | 5 | | Governor and the General Assembly on the results of this | 6 | | pilot
project in January
1999, January 2000, and January | 7 | | 2001. The Commission shall also submit a final
report on | 8 | | the pilot project to the Governor and the General Assembly | 9 | | in January
2001. The provisions of this
subsection (c), | 10 | | other than this sentence, are inoperative after February 1,
| 11 | | 2001.
| 12 | | (d) Freight Train Crew Size. No rail carrier shall | 13 | | operate or cause to operate a train or light engine used in | 14 | | connection with the movement of freight unless it has an | 15 | | operating crew consisting of at least 2 individuals. The | 16 | | minimum freight train crew size indicated in this | 17 | | subsection (d) shall remain in effect until a federal law | 18 | | or rule encompassing the subject matter has been adopted. | 19 | | The Commission, with respect to freight train crew member | 20 | | size under this subsection (d), has the power to conduct | 21 | | evidentiary hearings, make findings, and issue and enforce | 22 | | orders, including sanctions under Section 18c-1704 of this | 23 | | Chapter. For the purposes of this subsection (d), the term | 24 | | "train or light engine" does not include trains operated by | 25 | | a hostler service or utility employees. | 26 | | (3) Report and Investigation of Rail Accidents.
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| 1 | | (a) Reports.
Every rail carrier shall report to the | 2 | | Commission, by
the speediest means possible, whether | 3 | | telephone,
telegraph, or otherwise, every accident | 4 | | involving its
equipment, track, or other property which | 5 | | resulted in
loss of life to any person. In addition, such | 6 | | carriers
shall file a written report with the Commission.
| 7 | | Reports submitted under this paragraph shall be strictly
| 8 | | confidential, shall be specifically prohibited from
| 9 | | disclosure, and shall not be admissible in any
| 10 | | administrative or judicial proceeding relating to the
| 11 | | accidents reported.
| 12 | | (b) Investigations.
The Commission may investigate all | 13 | | railroad accidents
reported to it or of which it acquires | 14 | | knowledge
independent of reports made by rail carriers, and | 15 | | shall
have the power, consistent with standards and
| 16 | | procedures established under the Federal Railroad Safety | 17 | | Act, as amended, to
enter such
temporary orders as will | 18 | | minimize the risk of future accidents pending notice,
| 19 | | hearing, and final action by the Commission.
| 20 | | (Source: P.A. 91-675, eff. 6-1-00; 92-284, eff. 8-9-01 .)
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