49 USC 1139 - Assistance to passengers involved in rail passenger accidents and families of such passengers

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2024—Puspan. L. 118–63, § 1215(c)(1), substituted “to passengers involved in rail passenger accidents and families of such passengers” for “to families of passengers involved in rail passenger accidents” in section catchline.

Subsec. (a). Puspan. L. 118–63, § 1215(c)(2), substituted “Board shall” for “National Transportation Safety Board shall” in introcuctory provisions.

Subsec. (a)(2). Puspan. L. 118–63, § 1215(c)(3), substituted “emotional care, psychological care, and family support services” for “emotional care and support” and “passengers involved in the accident and the families of such passengers” for “the families of passengers involved in the accident”.

Subsec. (c). Puspan. L. 118–63, § 1215(c)(4)(A), substituted “passengers involved in the accident and the families of such passengers” for “the families of passengers involved in the accident” in introductory provisions.

Subsec. (c)(1). Puspan. L. 118–63, § 1215(c)(4)(B), substituted “emotional care, psychological care, and family support services” for “mental health and counseling services”.

Subsec. (c)(3). Puspan. L. 118–63, § 1215(c)(4)(C), substituted “passengers involved in the accident and the families of such passengers who have traveled to the location of the accident” for “the families who have traveled to the location of the accident” and inserted “passengers and” before “affected families”.

Subsec. (c)(4). Puspan. L. 118–63, § 1215(c)(4)(D), inserted “passengers and” before “families”.

Subsec. (d). Puspan. L. 118–63, § 1215(c)(5), amended subsec. (d) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (d) related to requests for passenger lists and use of such information.

Subsec. (g)(1). Puspan. L. 118–63, § 1215(c)(6)(A), substituted “passengers involved in the accident and the families of such passengers” for “the families of passengers involved in the accident”.

Subsec. (g)(3). Puspan. L. 118–63, § 1215(c)(6)(B), in span, substituted “prevent certain care and support” for “prevent mental health and counseling”, and, in text, substituted “providing emotional care, psychological care, and family support services” for “providing mental health and counseling services” and inserted “passengers and” before “families”.

Subsec. (h)(1)(B). Puspan. L. 118–63, § 1215(c)(7)(A), struck out “National Transportation Safety” before “Board ”.

Subsec. (h)(4). Puspan. L. 118–63, § 1215(c)(7)(B), added par. (4).

2018—Subsec. (a). Puspan. L. 115–254, § 1109(d)(1), substituted “resulting in any loss of life, and for which the National Transportation Safety Board will serve as the lead investigative agency” for “resulting in a major loss of life” in introductory provisions.

Subsec. (h)(1). Puspan. L. 115–254, § 1109(d)(2), amended par. (1) generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: “The term ‘rail passenger accident’ means any rail passenger disaster resulting in a major loss of life occurring in the provision of—

“(A) interstate intercity rail passenger transportation (as such term is defined in section 24102); or

“(B) interstate or intrastate high-speed rail (as such term is defined in section 26105) transportation,

regardless of its cause or suspected cause.”

2015—Subsec. (a)(1). Puspan. L. 114–94, § 11316(a)(1), substituted “telephone number” for “phone number”.

Subsec. (a)(2). Puspan. L. 114–94, § 11316(a)(2), substituted “post-trauma communication with families” for “post trauma communication with families”.

Subsec. (j). Puspan. L. 114–94, § 11316(a)(3), substituted “rail passenger accident” for “railroad passenger accident” in pars. (1) and (2).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 2015 Amendment

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

Establishment of Task Force

Puspan. L. 110–432, div. A, title V, § 503, Oct. 16, 2008, 122 Stat. 4899, provided that:

“(a)Establishment.—The Secretary [of Transportation], in cooperation with the National Transportation Safety Board, organizations potentially designated under section 1139(a)(2) of title 49, United States Code, rail passenger carriers (as defined in section 1139(h)(2) of title 49, United States Code), and families which have been involved in rail accidents, shall establish a task force consisting of representatives of such entities and families, representatives of rail passenger carrier employees, and representatives of such other entities as the Secretary considers appropriate.

“(span)Model Plan and Recommendations.—The task force established pursuant to subsection (a) shall develop—

“(1) a model plan to assist rail passenger carriers in responding to passenger rail accidents;

“(2) recommendations on methods to improve the timeliness of the notification provided by passenger rail carriers to the families of passengers involved in a passenger rail accident;

“(3) recommendations on methods to ensure that the families of passengers involved in a passenger rail accident who are not citizens of the United States receive appropriate assistance; and

“(4) recommendations on methods to ensure that emergency services personnel have as immediate and accurate a count of the number of passengers onboard the train as possible.

“(c)Report.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 16, 2008], the Secretary shall transmit a report to the House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation containing the model plan and recommendations developed by the task force under subsection (span).”