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Railroad Advancement of Innovation and Leadership with Safety Act

S. 1451 · 115th Congress · Jun 28, 2017 · Lineage

A BILL

To facilitate and promote innovative approaches to railroad safety, and for other purposes.

Section 1 Short title; table of contents; references

(a)
Short title— This Act may be cited as the “Railroad Advancement of Innovation and Leadership with Safety Act” or the “RAILS Act”.
(b)
Table of contents— The table of contents of this Act is as follows:
(c)
References to title 49, United States Code— Except as otherwise expressly provided, wherever in this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference shall be considered to be made to a section or other provision of title 49, United States Code.

Sec. 2 Definitions

(a)
In general— In this Act:
(1)
Reportable— The term reportable means required under part 225 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation, to be reported to the Federal Railroad Administration.
(2)
Secretary— The term Secretary means the Secretary of Transportation.
(b)
Amendments to chapter 201— Section 20102 is amended—
(1)
by redesignating paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) as paragraphs (3), (4), and (5), respectively;
(2)
by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:

“(2) guidance document means an agency statement of general applicability and future effect, other than a regulation, that sets forth a policy on a statutory, regulatory, or technical issue or an interpretation of a statutory, regulatory, or technical issue.”

(3)
by adding at the end the following:

“(7) significant rule means any final rule that the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget determines is likely to—

“(A) have an annual effect on the economy of $100,000,000 or more or adversely affect in a material way the economy, a sector of the economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, public health or safety, or State, local, or tribal governments or communities;

“(B) create a significant inconsistency or otherwise interfere with an action taken or planned by another Federal agency;

“(C) materially alter the budgetary impact of entitlements, grants, user fees, or loan programs or the rights and obligations of recipients thereof; or

“(D) raise novel legal or policy issues.

“(8) supporting information includes data, studies, formulas, models, and scientific, technical, and economic findings.”