PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Feb 1, 2005
Railroad Crossing and Hazardous Materials Transport Safety Act of 2005 - Directs the Secretary of Transportation to conduct a review of the safety of all highway-rail grade crossings in the United States and to submit to Congress a priority list of highway-rail grade crossings most in need of safety improvements.
Amends Federal transportation law to direct the Secretary to maintain a national database of information on the safety of highway-rail grade crossings in the United States, including accident and other safety-related incident information.
Requires the Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to investigate the cause of each fatal accident that occurs at a highway-rail grade crossing.
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Directs the Secretary to prescribe regulations for improving the safety, maintenance, and surveillance of highway-rail grade crossings.
Establishes in the FRA the position of Deputy Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration for Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Safety.
Increases civil penalties for violations of requirements related to: (1) highway-rail grade crossing safety; and (2) transportation of hazardous materials.
Sets forth requirements calling for: (1) the removal of railroad cars from service for public health and safety protection; (2) age limits for railroad cars transporting hazardous materials; (3) provision of hazardous material lists by railroad carriers to State homeland security coordinators; (4) replacement of manual railroad track switches most in need of maintenance and upgrades; (5) deployment of positive train control systems; and (6) the development of dynamic tank car standards.
People & committees
Sen. Schumer, Charles E. [D-NY] · D–NY
Legislative record
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
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Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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