12 2 STA T .4853PUBLIC LA W 11 0– 432 —O CT. 1 6, 2008 onC o m m erc e ,S c i ence, a n dT ran sp or t ation and t h e H o u seo fR ep - resentati v es Committee on Transportation and I nfrastructure at the same time as the P resident ’ s b ud g et submission .( d )ACHIEV E M E NTOFG O ALS . — ( 1 )P R O G RESS ASSESSMENT.— N o l ess fre q uentl y than annually, the Secretary shall assess the progress of the D epart- ment to w ard achieving the strategic goals described in sub- section (a). The Secretary shall identify any deficiencies in achieving the goals within the strategy and develop and institute measures to remediate such deficiencies. The Sec- retary and the Administrator shall convey their assessment to the employees of the F ederal Railroad Administration and shall identify any deficiencies that should be remediated before the ne x t progress assessment. ( 2 )RE P ORT TO CONGRESS.— B eginning in 2 0 0 9 , not later than November 1 of each year, the Secretary shall transmit a report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on the performance of the Federal Railroad Administration containing the progress assessment required by paragraph (1) toward achieving the goals of the railroad safety strategy and annual plans under subsection (a). SEC.103 . RAIL R O A D SA F E TY RIS K RED U CTIO NP RO G RA M . (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 201 is amended by adding at end thereof the following
- ‘
‘ §20156.Railro a ds a fety ris k red uc tio np ro g ra m‘ ‘(a) IN GENERAL.— ‘‘(1) PROGRAM RE QU IREMENT.—Not later than 4 years after the date of enactment of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 200 8 , the Secretary of Transportation, by regulation, shall require each railroad carrier that is a Class I railroad, a railroad carrier that has inadequate safety performance (as determined by the Secretary), or a railroad carrier that provides intercity rail passenger or commuter rail passenger transportation— ‘‘(A) to develop a railroad safety ris k reduction program under subsection (d) that systematically evaluates railroad safety risks on its system and manages those risks in order to reduce the numbers and rates of railroad accidents, incidents, in j uries, and fatalities
‘‘(B) to submit its program, including any required plans, to the Secretary for review and approval; and ‘‘(C) to implement the program and plans approved by the Secretary. ‘‘(2) RELIANCE ON PILOT PROGRAM.—The Secretary may con- duct behavior-based safety and other research, including pilot programs, before promulgating regulations under this sub- section and thereafter. The Secretary shall use any information and experience gathered through such research and pilot pro- grams under this subsection in developing regulations under this section. ‘‘( 3 ) REVIE W AN D APPROVAL.—The Secretary shall review and approve or disapprove railroad safety risk reduction pro- gram plans within a reasonable period of time. If the proposed plan is not approved, the Secretary shall notify the affected Notif i ca tio n.De a dl ine. R e gu lation s . Deadline.
�
