79R15062 CLE-D

By:  Chavez                                                     H.C.R. No. 171



CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
	WHEREAS, At a time when many rail cars crossing the 
Texas-Mexico border carry hazardous materials, posing a 
significant threat to public health and safety in the event of a 
collision, derailment, and subsequent release, whether accidental 
or as a result of a targeted attack by terrorists, the failure of 
the Federal Railroad Administration, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, to issue mandatory safety regulations for remote 
control locomotive operations is a glaring omission in our nation's 
homeland security efforts; and
	WHEREAS, The three major railroads serving Texas are using 
remotely controlled locomotives to switch rail cars and make up 
trains at rail yards across Texas, including those in El Paso, 
Laredo, and other Texas border cities, according to the Railroad 
Commission of Texas; and
	WHEREAS, The Federal Railroad Administration admits that 
compliance with recommendations it issued in 2001 to guide the rail 
industry in using remotely controlled locomotives is voluntary and 
that not all of the recommendations have been adopted by all of the 
nation's railroads; and
	WHEREAS, In its May 2004 interim report on the safety of 
remote control locomotive operations, the Federal Railroad 
Administration also acknowledges that certain types of human error 
may be more likely to occur in remote control locomotive operations 
than in conventional switching operations; and
	WHEREAS, Despite a number of reported accidents related to 
unmanned locomotives, a worker may operate a remotely controlled 
locomotive after only 80 hours of training; in contrast, a 
locomotive engineer is required to take up to eight months of 
training before receiving certification to operate a locomotive; 
and
	WHEREAS, An example of what can happen when hazardous 
materials are moved by a locomotive with no engineer on board 
occurred in 2004 when four rail cars went off the tracks in an East 
St. Louis rail yard, setting fire to a spilled chemical and 
sickening students at a nearby high school; and
	WHEREAS, Another reason that hazardous materials in rail cars 
are more dangerous in remote control locomotive operations than in 
conventional switching operations is that the radio transmitter 
used to control the locomotives is more vulnerable to terrorist and 
criminal exploitation; and
	WHEREAS, The lack of mandatory safety regulations for remote 
control locomotive operations is particularly critical as the 
technology moves from switching yards to main-track train 
operations; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the 79th Legislature of the State of Texas 
hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to 
direct the Federal Railroad Administration, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, to issue mandatory safety regulations for remote 
control locomotive operations along the Texas-Mexico border; and, 
be it further
	RESOLVED, That the regulations include prohibitions against 
using remotely controlled locomotives to transport hazardous 
materials, switch cars containing hazardous materials, or switch 
cars on or near tracks occupied by cars containing hazardous 
materials; and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official 
copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to 
the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the 
senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of the 
Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this 
resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a 
memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.