BILL ANALYSIS Ó
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 730|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 730
Author: Wolk (D)
Introduced:2/27/15
Vote: 21
SENATE LABOR & IND. REL. COMMITTEE: 4-1, 4/22/15
AYES: Mendoza, Jackson, Leno, Mitchell
NOES: Stone
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT: Railroads: movement of freight: trains or light
engines: crew size
SOURCE: Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen,
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
DIGEST: This bill 1) prohibits a train or light engine used in
connection with the movement of freight, as specified, from
being operated in California unless it has a crew consisting of
at least two individuals, and 2) authorizes the California
Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to assess civil penalties for
willful violations of this provision.
ANALYSIS:
Existing federal law:
SB 730
Page 2
1)Authorizes, under the Federal Railroad Safety Act (FRSA), the
Secretary of Transportation to prescribe regulations and issue
orders for all areas of railroad safety (supplementing
existing rail safety statues and regulations) and to conduct
necessary research, development, testing, evaluation, and
training.
2)Provides that, under the FRSA, to the extent practicable,
laws, regulations, and orders related to railroad safety and
security are required to be nationally uniform, but authorizes
a state to adopt or continue to enforce a law, regulation, or
order related to railroad safety or security until the
Secretary of Transportation (with respect to railroad safety
matters), or the Secretary of Homeland Security (with respect
to railroad security matters), prescribes a regulation or
issues an order covering the subject matter of the state
requirement.
Existing state law:
1)Provides that the Division of Occupational Safety and Health
(also known as Cal/OSHA) has jurisdiction over, among other
things, the occupational safety and health of employees of
rail rapid transit systems, electric interurban railroads, or
street railroads and the safety and health of railroad
employees employed in offices and in shops devoted to the
construction, maintenance or repair of railroad equipment.
2)Provides that the CPUC is the agency charged with ensuring the
safety of freight railroads, inter-city and commuter
railroads, and highway-railroad crossings in the State of
California. The CPUC performs these railroad safety
responsibilities through the Railroad Operations and Safety
Branch (ROSB) of the Safety & Enforcement Division.
This bill:
1)Prohibits, on and after February 1, 2016, a train or light
engine used in connection with the movement of freight, as
specified, from being operated unless it has a crew consisting
of at least two individuals.
SB 730
Page 3
2)Authorizes the CPUC to assess civil penalties against any
person who willfully violates this provision according to the
following schedule:
$250 to $1,000 dollars for the first violation;
$1,000 to $5,000 dollars for the second violation within
a three-year period; and
$5,000 to $10,000 for the third violation and each
subsequent violation within a three-year period.
Background
Railroad operations and safety. The CPUC performs railroad
safety responsibilities through the ROSB of the Safety &
Enforcement Division. ROSB's mission is to ensure that
California communities and railroad employees are protected from
unsafe practices on freight and passenger railroads by enforcing
state and federal rail safety rules, regulations, and inspection
efforts; and by carrying out proactive assessments of potential
risks before they create dangerous conditions.
ROSB personnel investigate rail accidents and safety related
complaints, and recommend safety improvements to the CPUC,
railroads, and the federal government as appropriate. In
addition to enforcing the California Public Utilities Code and
CPUC General Orders, ROSB inspectors enforce Federal Railroad
Administration (FRA) regulations in a state/federal enforcement
partnership. According to the CPUC Web site, ROSB currently has
45 certified inspector positions that are FRA-certified and are
divided into the FRA's five railroad subject areas described
below:
1)Operating Practices - enforcing regulations for main, branch
and yard train operations, including hours of service, carrier
operating rules, employee qualification guidelines, and
carrier training and testing programs to enforce compliance
with railroad occupational safety and health standards,
accident and personal injury reporting requirements, and other
requirements.
SB 730
Page 4
2)Track - enforcing regulations for track construction,
maintenance and inspections.
3)Signal & Train Control - enforce safety rules on signal system
construction, maintenance and inspection activities.
4)Motive Power & Equipment - enforce safety rules on
locomotives, freight and passenger rail cars, air brakes, and
other safety appliances maintenance and inspection activities.
5)Hazardous Materials - enforcing regulations for rail movements
of hazardous materials, such as petroleum and chemical
products; and inspection of hazardous materials shippers.
Railroad safety statistics. According to the U.S. Department of
Transportation -FRA, the nation has had two straight years of
record-breaking safety performance, along with significant
reductions in all types of accidents since Fiscal Year 2008.
(Safety Fact Sheet, February 2014.) Overall, the FRA found that
human factor caused accidents were down by 38%, track defects
down by 37% ,and equipment defects down by 41%.
In California, the CPUC reported the following activities in its
2013-14 Annual Railroad Safety Activity Report:
Performed 3,692 inspections and follow-up inspections to
monitor the railroads' compliance and remedial actions;
Identified 11,445 federal regulation non-compliance defects
(which are notices to railroads of an existing issue -
railroads are directed to replace, repair or remove the
defects. Violations exist when the defects are not remediated
or conditions are so that they warrant a civil penalty and
immediate remedial action);
Completed 349 CPUC General Orders (GO) that identified 938
SB 730
Page 5
defects;
Recommended 259 violations of FRA regulations;
Cited 11 violations of state regulations; and,
Responded to and resolved 28 informal safety complaints.
The CPUC Office of Rail Safety can assess penalties depending on
the violation.
For violations of federal railroad safety regulations, ROSB
railroad safety
inspectors make recommendations to the FRA for the assessment of
penalties. A
railroad issued such a citation may accept the fine imposed or
contest it through a
process of appeal.
The Lac-Mégantic Canada Incident. On July 6, 2013, there was a
derailment of an unattended Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway
freight train containing crude oil in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec,
Canada. In this accident, the train had been operated by one
person who failed to secure the hand brakes properly before
retiring for the night. The train rolled down the grade
uncontrollably and crashed and exploded killing 47 people.
In response to this tragic incident, the U.S. Department of
Transportation created three Railroad Safety Advisory Committee
(RSAC) Working Groups - Appropriate Train Crew Size, Securement,
and Hazardous Materials Issues. The RSAC held emergency meetings
to evaluate and consider wide-ranging proposals to enhance
railroad safety including the safe shipment of crude oil by
rail. On April 9, 2014, following deliberations of the working
groups, the U.S. Department of Transportation's FRA announced
its intention to issue a proposed rule requiring two-person
train crews on crude oil trains and establishing minimum crew
size standards for most main line freight and passenger rail
operations. According to the FRA Administrator Joseph C. Szabo,
"We believe that safety is enhanced with the use of a multiple
person crew-safety dictates that you never allow a single point
of failure. Ensuring that trains are adequately staffed for the
type of service operated is a critically important to ensure
safety redundancy." The FRA has not yet adopted regulations for
implementation of this minimum crew size rule.
SB 730
Page 6
Existing California law has no minimum size of railroad crew
requirements. Similar to the federal efforts on the issue, this
bill prohibits, on and after February 1, 2016, a train or light
engine used in connection with the movement of freight, as
specified, from being operated unless it has a crew consisting
of at least two individuals. According to the FRSA, it is the
policy of Congress that rail safety regulations be nationally
uniform to whatever extent practicable. However, a state is
permitted to continue to regulate with respect to any rail
safety matter until such time as the Secretary of the U.S.
Department of Transportation issues a rule covering the same
subject matter. Also, a state is permitted to adopt additional
or more stringent standards than the federal standards if the
state rule does not create an undue burden on interstate
commerce, is not incompatible with federal standards, and is
necessary to eliminate or reduce local safety hazards (FRSA of
1970).
Similar efforts at the state and national level. In addition to
the pending two-person train crew rule at the federal level,
there are several states that have either implemented or are
considering similar requirements. In the State of Wisconsin no
person operating or controlling any railroad, as defined, may
allow the operation of any railroad train or locomotive unless
it has a crew of at least two individuals. It goes even further
by requiring that one of the individuals be a certified railroad
locomotive engineer and imposing penalties for violations
($25-100 for a first offense, $100-500 for a 2nd offense within
three years, and $500-1000 for a 3rd offence within three
years). Two-person railroad crew legislation is also pending in
other states including Washington, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wyoming,
Iowa, Utah and North Dakota.
Wisconsin - case seeking invalidation of "two-person crew." On
July 23, 1999, the U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit made a
decision in the case of Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway
Company, Soo Line Railroad Company, Union Pacific Railroad
Company, and Wisconsin Central Ltd. vs. Attorney General, et al
of Wisconsin and the United Transportation Union. The railroads
brought action against Wisconsin Attorney General and district
attorneys seeking invalidation of Wisconsin's "two-person crew"
statute because FRA regulations allegedly preempted same safety
concerns. The court held that crew qualification requirements
SB 730
Page 7
were preempted by federal law but held that two-person crews
were not.
Prior Legislation
SB 200 (O'Connell, 1999) would have provided that a common
carrier may run freight or work trains only if it employs on
that train at least two persons, one of whom is a railroad
trainman, as defined. The bill would have also made violations
of this requirement a misdemeanor. SB 200 died in the Assembly.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
SUPPORT: (Verified4/22/15)
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, International
Brotherhood of Teamsters
California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO
California Public Utilities Commission
California Teamsters Public Affairs Council
United Transportation Union
OPPOSITION: (Verified4/22/15)
BNSF Railway Company
California Railroad Industry
California Short Line Railroad Association
Union Pacific Railroad Company
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, SB 730
protects communities by requiring trains and light engines
carrying freight within California to be operated with an
adequate crew size for both public safety reasons and the
protection of railroad workers. According to proponents, this
bill is designed to maintain the status quo in freight
operations in this state, as the overwhelming majority of trains
operated in the U.S. run with a two person crew. Despite that
fact, however, they argue that it is clear that the intention of
SB 730
Page 8
the railroad industry is to move to a one person crew. The shift
to one-person crews raises safety concerns, especially in light
of accidents involving the transport of hazardous materials
through urban areas such as the derailment of a fuel train, run
by a one-man crew, in Quebec in 2013 which killed 47 people,
along with several other destructive derailments of fuel trains
in the U.S.
Proponents argue that if this were just about staffing, that
would be one thing, but this is about public safety. Freight
trains are longer, heavier and have more hazardous, toxic,
dangerous and explosive materials being hauled than ever before.
As such, an accident can be devastating and deadly. Proponents
argue that every effort should be made to minimize the exposure
and impact of this danger to the general public.
Advanced technology has made the railroads safer; however,
proponents argue that nothing can replace an extra set of eyes
and ears when trains drive through populated areas. A single
operator in an emergency situation cannot properly assess the
situation, secure the train, and notify police, fire and other
necessary officials in a timely manner. Lastly, proponents state
that the federal government and other states are grappling with
how to increase railroad safety and 14 states have introduced
minimum crew legislation this year.
Additionally, the CPUC has voted unanimously to support SB 730
stating that requiring two-person crews is a straightforward way
of ensuring two qualified crew members continue to operate
freight trains in California until such time as the rules and
practices of safe operation may be updated for safer operation
with smaller crews. According to the CPUC, of all the
industries subject to CPUC oversight (energy, water,
telecommunications, and transportation) rail accidents result in
the greatest number of fatalities each year.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: The California Railroad Industry
opposes this bill because it will unnecessarily and unreasonably
interfere with the ability of railroad management and union
leaders to fully bargain over the best and safest crew size for
each assignment in California. They argue that state
legislation that attempts to alter terms of collective
bargaining agreements would harm the process and would
SB 730
Page 9
permanently undermine the principle of labor and management
cooperation that underpins the Railway Labor Act.
Opponents argue that, historically, safety and technology
improvements have been a primary catalyst for negotiations
related to crew size. As a result of these improvements, rail
labor and rail management have agreed to reductions in crew size
from as many as five persons in the 1980s to two persons on most
territories operating today. They argue that these reductions
in crew size were achieved without compromise to safety as
witnessed by a decline in rail employee injuries, train accident
and grade crossing collision rates by 79 percent or more.
Hazardous material accidents rates are down 91 percent.
Additionally, opponents argue that the collectively bargained
crew size also provides the parties with flexibility to address
needs that arise from advancements in technology, design, and
planning. The railroads are not asking for one-person crews at
this time, however, they are opposing this legislation so that
if safe operating practices and technology make single person
crews viable in the future, then that option is not foreclosed
in California. Opponents point to Positive Train Control, which
is designed to automatically stop a train before certain
accidents caused by human error can occur, as a contemporary
example of pursuing such technological advancements.
Prepared by:Alma Perez / L. & I.R. / (916) 651-1556
5/6/15 17:02:31
**** END ****