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Title 49 — Transportation

Part B · Chapter 227 — State Rail Plans

§ 22702. Authority

Statutory text

(a)

In General.—

Each State may prepare and maintain a State rail plan in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

(b)

Requirements.—

The Secretary shall establish the minimum requirements for the preparation and periodic revision of a State rail plan, including that a State shall—

(1)

establish or designate a State rail transportation authority to prepare, maintain, coordinate, and administer the plan;

(2)

establish or designate a State rail plan approval authority to approve the plan;

(3)

submit the State’s approved plan to the Secretary of Transportation for review; and

(4)

revise and resubmit a State-approved plan no less frequently than once every 4 years for acceptance by the Secretary.

Legislative history

Reconstructed from this section’s Code source credit and amendment notes, resolved against the local Statutes at Large. Editorial notes are evidence, not the law that made the change.

  1. Pub. L. 110–432 div. B title III § 303(a) · 122 Stat. 4848

    Enacted · 49 U.S.C. § 22702

    Added Pub. L. 110–432, div. B, title III, § 303(a), Oct. 16, 2008, 122 Stat. 4948

    Source evidence

    Code source credit
    Added Pub. L. 110–432, div. B, title III, § 303(a), Oct. 16, 2008, 122 Stat. 4948

    Enacted provision · exact public law section
    (a) In General.— Subchapter I of chapter 201, as amended by section 109 of this division, is amended by adding at the end the following: “§ 20120. Enforcement report “(a) In General.— Beginning Effective date. Public information. Web site. not later than December 31, 2009, the Secretary of Transportation shall make available to the public and publish on its public website an annual report that— “(1) provides a summary of railroad safety and hazardous materials compliance inspections and audits that Federal or State inspectors conducted in the prior fiscal year organized by type of alleged violation, including track, motive power and equipment, signal, grade crossing, operating practices, accident and incidence reporting, and hazardous materials; “(2) provides a summary of all enforcement actions taken by the Secretary or the Federal Railroad Administration during the prior fiscal year, including— “(A) the number of civil penalties assessed; “(B) the initial amount of civil penalties assessed; “(C) the number of civil penalty cases settled; “(D) the final amount of civil penalties assessed; “(E) the difference between the initial and final amounts of civil penalties assessed; “(F) the number of administrative hearings requested and completed related to hazardous materials transportation law violations or enforcement actions against individuals; “(G) the number of cases referred to the Attorney General for civil or criminal prosecution; “(H) the number and subject matter of all compliance orders, emergency orders, or precursor agreements; “(3) analyzes the effect of the number of inspections conducted and enforcement actions taken on the number and rate of reported accidents and incidents and railroad safety; “(4) provide the information required by paragraphs (2) and (3)— “(A) for each Class I railroad individually; and “(B) in the aggregate for— “(i) Class II railroads; “(ii) Class III railroads; “(iii) hazardous materials shippers; and “(iv) individuals; “(5) identifies the number of locomotive engineer certification denial or revocation cases appealed to and the average length of time it took to be decided by— “(A) the Locomotive Engineer Review Board; “(B) an Administrative Hearing Officer or Administrative Law Judge; or “(C) the Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration; “(6) provides an explanation regarding any changes in the Secretary’s or the Federal Railroad Administration’s enforcement programs or policies that may substantially affect the information reported; and “(7) includes any additional information that the Secretary determines is useful to improve the transparency of its enforcement program.” .

  2. Passenger Rail Reform and Investment Act of 2015

    Pub. L. 114–94 div. A title XI § 11315(a)(1) · 129 Stat. 1312

    Substituted · 49 U.S.C. § 22702(b)(4)

    Pub. L. 114–94 substituted “4 years for acceptance by the Secretary” for “5 years for reapproval by the Secretary”

    Source evidence

    Code amendment note
    Subsec. (b)(4). Pub. L. 114–94 substituted “4 years for acceptance by the Secretary” for “5 years for reapproval by the Secretary”.

    Enacted provision · exact public law section
    (1) Authority.— Section 22702(b)(4) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking “5 years for reapproval by the Secretary” and inserting “4 years for acceptance by the Secretary”.

    Effective date note
    Amendment by Pub. L. 114–94 effective Oct. 1, 2015, see section 1003 of Pub. L. 114–94, set out as a note under section 5313 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.

2 of 2 references resolved to an enrolled provision

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2015—Subsec. (b)(4). Pub. L. 114–94 substituted “4 years for acceptance by the Secretary” for “5 years for reapproval by the Secretary”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 2015 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 114–94 effective , see section 1003 of Pub. L. 114–94, set out as a note under section 5313 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.

Credits

2008–2015 · 2 acts
  1. 2008Added Pub. L. 110–432, div. B, title III, § 303(a), , 122 Stat. 4948
  2. 2015amended Pub. L. 114–94, div. A, title XI, § 11315(a)(1), , 129 Stat. 1674.
Show as published

(Added Pub. L. 110–432, div. B, title III, § 303(a), , 122 Stat. 4948; amended Pub. L. 114–94, div. A, title XI, § 11315(a)(1), , 129 Stat. 1674.)

Parsed from the official OLRC USLM XML in data/usc_all/usc49.xml · release point 119-108 · OLRC build 2026-05-04

USLM identifier /us/usc/t49/s22702