Railroad Safety Requirements

The act creates the office of rail safety (office) and charges the administration of the office to the public utilities commission (commission). The office is required to collect and report information regarding blocked highway-rail crossings in the state, including information regarding emergency vehicles affected by blocked highway-rail crossings. The office must create a standard process for investigators to use during investigations for determining the appropriate time and method for:
    ●    Gathering information about an investigation; and
    ●    Consulting with railroads, contractors, or employees of railroads, or with representatives of employees of railroads, and others for technical expertise on the facts of an investigation.
    The office must promulgate rules to protect railroad employees from retaliation for their participation in investigations and create a mechanism to accept and resolve complaints regarding violations of the rules. The office must coordinate with the department of transportation, the department of public safety, the department of public health and environment, the department of natural resources, and stakeholders to identify and implement initiatives and priorities to reduce the frequency of blocked highway-rail crossings, improve emergency preparedness and resilience, and improve rail safety. The office must also coordinate with these entities regarding possible federal grants to improve rail and public safety.
    The act creates the community rail safety advisory committee and establishes its membership. An employer is prohibited from discriminating, taking adverse action, or retaliating against an employee in response to the employee serving in good faith on the community rail safety advisory committee or raising a reasonable concern about a possible workplace violation of government safety rules, or about an otherwise significant workplace threat to safety. The act also creates the rail industry safety advisory committee and establishes its membership. The community rail safety advisory committee and the rail industry safety advisory committee are repealed, effective September 1, 2034, following a sunset review.
    The act requires a railroad operating any main line in the state to submit to the commission an annual public report that discloses certain information concerning the railroad's use of wayside detector systems on main lines in Colorado. If a railroad or any officer, agent, or employee of the railroad violates the reporting requirement, the commission may impose a fine of not less than $10,000 but not more than $25,000 on the railroad. The commission may impose a fine of up to $100,000 per violation if the commission finds the railroad intentionally or knowingly violated the requirement or that the railroad's violation was part of a pattern and practice of repeated violations. Each day of a continuing violation constitutes a separate violation. All collected fines are credited to the rail district maintenance and safety fund (fund), which fund is created in the act. The commission must promulgate rules for the determination, imposition, and appeal of fines.
    The act declares that, with certain exceptions, the state expects that any train or equipment operating on a main line or siding in the state should be operated in such a manner as to minimize obstruction of emergency vehicles at highway-rail crossings. If a blocked crossing is not cleared, the entity operating the emergency vehicle or the department of public safety must request that the railroad immediately take any action, consistent with safe operating procedures, necessary to clear the highway-rail crossing. The department of public safety must, and other emergency vehicle operators may, report to the office the details of any event in which an emergency vehicle was stopped or delayed by a train blocking a highway-rail crossing, any request that was made to clear the crossing, the resolution of any such request, and any effects that the delay of the emergency vehicle had on the emergency response.
    The act states that state emergency response authorities may recommend actions necessary to protect railroads, rail workers, and public safety in the event of an emergency such as wildfire, flood, earth movement, or civil disorder, including stopping or rerouting rail traffic if deemed necessary. A railroad is required to respond to a state emergency response authority promptly and work closely with state and local officials during emergencies to coordinate response efforts and ensure the safety of rail personnel and the public.
    The act requires a railroad that accommodates high-hazard flammable trains or high-hazard high-consequence hazardous material to coordinate with the department of public safety regarding emergency response and spill response capacity and planning. The railroad and the department of public safety must coordinate regarding the adequacy of caches of equipment, supplies, and available staff to mitigate all hazards likely within the area covered by each cache. A railroad must ensure that local and state first responders have access to cached equipment necessary to respond to rail incidents.
    The act requires each railroad to coordinate with the department of public safety to conduct at least 2 hazardous materials response tabletop exercises each year with other federal, regional, state, and local agencies, including at least one scenario involving derailment and release of crude oil or other flammable materials and at least one incident with derailment involving inhalation hazards.
    The act requires that, within 30 minutes after discovering an emergency involving a train, unless communication is impossible, the railroad operating the train must notify the state's watch center of the emergency. The act describes certain emergency conditions that require a railroad to provide such notice and requires each such notice to include certain information. After providing an emergency notification, a railroad must submit follow-up reports to the commission and coordinate response efforts. A railroad must also notify the community rail safety advisory committee and the rail industry safety advisory committee of the incident within 30 days after providing an emergency notification.
    The act allows a crew member of a train operated by a railroad in the state to report to the crew member's designated union representative a violation of any of the safety requirements established in the act, an injury to the crew member or another crew member sustained while operating a train, or a death that occurred during the operation of a train. A designated union representative receiving a report may request an investigation from the office.
    The act requires that on or before July 1, 2025, and at least once every 3 years thereafter, each railroad must offer training to each fire department and other first responder organization having jurisdiction along tracks upon which the railroad operates in the state. The training must:
    ●    Address the general hazards of hazardous materials, techniques to assess risks posed to the environment and to the safety of emergency responders and the public, factors an incident commander must consider in determining whether to attempt to suppress a fire or to evacuate the public and emergency responders from an area, public notification processes, environmental contamination response, resource coordination, and other strategies for initial response by emergency responders; and
    ●    Include safety drills that implement suggested protocols or practices for emergency responders to use. Each railroad must conduct at least one oil containment, recovery, and sensitive area protection walkthrough; tabletop exercise; or functional exercise involving oil or hazardous substances every year, and at least one full-scale exercise every 5 years, in coordination with local emergency management organizations and local fire chiefs.
    The commission must promulgate rules for the implementation of the training requirements. In satisfying the training requirements, a railroad must coordinate its efforts with local law enforcement agencies and the hazardous materials section of the Colorado state patrol.
    As soon as is practicable, the commission, on behalf of the state, must enter into an agreement with the federal railroad administration (FRA) to participate in inspection and investigation activities. Under the agreement, the commission must secure the authority to address all railroad safety disciplines, including crossings, track, signal and train control, motive power and equipment, operating practices, compliance, and hazardous materials. If an agreement cannot be reached, the commission, on behalf of the state, must file an annual certification with the FRA concerning railroad inspection and investigation activities, in accordance with federal law.
    The act requires the commission, the department of public safety, and the department of transportation to engage in inspection and investigation activities to address compliance with the requirements of the act. The attorney general may bring an action, consistent with federal law, to enforce state and federal railroad safety regulations. An interested party may request that the commission, the department of public safety, or the department of transportation investigate an alleged violation. The commission, the department of public safety, or the department of transportation may report an alleged violation of the act or any other safety concern to the FRA or the federal surface transportation board. The commission may seek, accept, and expend gifts, grants, and donations and federal grant money to purchase training materials and other equipment as needed. The commission must regularly engage with stakeholders in fulfilling its inspection and investigation duties. The commission, the department of public safety, and the department of transportation are immune from liability for actions performed in fulfilling their inspection and investigation duties. The commission must conduct periodic compliance reviews.
    On or before December 1, 2024, the commission, the department of public safety, and the department of transportation must provide a report to the governor and to legislative committees of reference. The report must be developed in consultation with the community rail safety advisory committee and the rail industry safety advisory committee and include certain assessments and other information concerning railroad safety in the state. The report must also include a legislative proposal concerning the creation of a fee structure or other revenue source, an assessment, and a governance body and an office of rail safety to address the needs described in the report, which fee structure, assessment, and governance body can be introduced as legislation as soon as the 2025 regular legislative session and begin operating no later than January 1, 2027. In preparing the report, the commission, the department of public safety, and the department of transportation must consult with the attorney general, the community rail safety advisory committee, the rail industry safety advisory committee, and interested stakeholders.
    For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $391,057 from the public utilities commission fixed utility fund to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the commission.
APPROVED by Governor May 10, 2024
EFFECTIVE July 1, 2024