As Introduced

127th General Assembly
Regular Session
2007-2008
S. B. No. 340


Senator Cafaro 

Cosponsors: Senators Miller, R., Boccieri 

A BILL
To amend section 3750.20 and to enact sections 1
3750.23 and 4999.09 of the Revised Code to require 2
rail owners and operators to secure rail 3
facilities and equipment from the threat of 4
terrorism through the development of a 5
vulnerability assessment, an infrastructure 6
protection program, and proper communication with 7
public authorities, and to prohibit a railroad8
from operating a locomotive, other than on a 9
passenger train, over the road between two 10
terminals unless a certified train service 11
engineer is present in the crew compartment.12


BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

       Section 1. That section 3750.20 be amended and sections 13
3750.23 and 4999.09 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as 14
follows:15

       Sec. 3750.20.  (A) The attorney general, the prosecuting16
attorney of the county, or the city director of law of the city17
where a violation has occurred or is occurring, upon the written18
request of the executive committee of the emergency response19
commission, the local emergency planning committee, or the fire20
department having jurisdiction where the violation has occurred or 21
is occurring, or upon the written request of any public authority 22
as defined in section 3750.23 of the Revised Code for a violation 23
of division (G) of that section, shall prosecute to termination or 24
bring an action for injunction against any person who has 25
violated or is violating any section of this chapter or rules 26
adopted or orders issued under it. The court of common pleas in 27
which an action for injunction is filed has the jurisdiction to 28
and shall grant preliminary and permanent injunctive relief upon a 29
showing that the person against whom the action is brought has 30
violated or is violating any section of this chapter or a rule 31
adopted or order issued under it. The court shall give precedence 32
to such an action over all other cases.33

       Upon the certified written request of any person, the34
director of environmental protection shall conduct such35
investigations and make such inquiries as are necessary to secure36
compliance with this chapter and the rules adopted or orders37
issued under it. The director or the commission may, upon request 38
or upon their own initiative, investigate or make inquiries into 39
any alleged violation of this chapter or rules adopted or orders 40
issued under it.41

       (B)(1) Whoever violates section 3750.06 of the Revised Code 42
or an order issued under section 3750.18 of the Revised Code to 43
enforce that section shall pay a civil penalty of not more than 44
twenty-fivefive thousand dollars for each day of violation.45

       (2) Whoever violates division (B) of section 3750.17 of the 46
Revised Code shall pay a civil penalty of not more than47
twenty-fivefive thousand dollars for each violation.48

       (3) Whoever violates section 3750.05, 3750.07, or 3750.08 of 49
the Revised Code, divisions (C)(1) to (3) of section 3750.09 of 50
the Revised Code, division (C) of section 3750.10, a rule adopted 51
under division (B)(1)(d) or (e) of section 3750.02 of the Revised 52
Code, an order issued under section 3750.18 of the Revised Code to 53
secure compliance with any of those sections or rules, division 54
(E)(5) of section 3750.03 of the Revised Code, division (E) of 55
section 3750.11 of the Revised Code, or division (C) of section 56
3750.17 of the Revised Code shall pay a civil penalty of not more 57
than tensix thousand five hundred dollars for each day of58
violation.59

       (4) Whoever violates division (G) of section 3750.23 of the 60
Revised Code shall pay a civil penalty of not more than ten 61
thousand dollars for each day of violation.62

       (5) Whoever violates a provision of this chapter or a rule63
adopted under it for which no civil penalty is otherwise provided64
shall pay a civil penalty of not more than tenfive thousand 65
dollars for each day of violation. The66

       The attorney general, the prosecuting attorney of the county, 67
or the city director of law of the city where a violation of this 68
chapter or of a rule adopted or order issued under it has occurred 69
or is occurring, upon the written request of the executive 70
committee of the commission, the committee of the emergency 71
planning district, or of the fire department having jurisdiction 72
where the offense has occurred or is occurring, or upon the 73
written request of any public authority as defined in section 74
3750.23 of the Revised Code for a violation of division (G) of 75
that section, shall bring an action under this division against76
any person who has committed or is committing any such violation.77
All civil penalties received under divisionsdivision (B)(1) to 78
(4), (2), (3), or (5) of this section pursuant to actions brought 79
upon the written request of the executive committee of the 80
emergency response commission shall be credited to the emergency 81
planning and community right-to-know fund created in section 82
3750.14 of the Revised Code. All civil penalties received under 83
those divisions pursuant to actions brought upon the written 84
request of a local emergency planning committee or fire 85
department shall be credited to the special emergency planning 86
fund created in section 3750.03 of the Revised Code of the 87
district in which the violation occurred. One-half of the civil 88
penalties received under division (B)(4) of this section shall be 89
credited to the rail development fund created in section 4981.09 90
of the Revised Code to be used by the Ohio rail development 91
commission for purposes authorized by that section. One-half of 92
the civil penalties received under division (B)(4) of this section 93
shall be credited to the public utilities fund created in section 94
4905.10 of the Revised Code to be used by the public utilities 95
commission for purposes related to its supervision and 96
jurisdiction over railroad transportation, including its 97
enforcement of section 3750.23 of the Revised Code.98

       (C) Any action for injunction or civil penalties under99
division (A) or (B) of this section is a civil action governed by100
the Rules of Civil Procedure.101

       Sec. 3750.23. (A) As used in this section:102

       (1) "Community facilities" include schools, hospitals, 103
nursing homes, and other similar sensitive or vulnerable public 104
facilities.105

       (2) "Critical infrastructure" includes bridges, tunnels, 106
signal systems, and other points of vulnerability on a rail system 107
that handles hazardous cargo.108

       (3) "Hazardous cargo" means any hazardous chemical or 109
hazardous material.110

       (4) "Hazardous material" has the meaning given to that term 111
in 49 C.F.R. 171.8. The term also includes any substance or 112
material that an owner or operator of a rail facility transports, 113
stores, or handles as a hazardous material.114

       (5) "Public authority" means any of the following:115

       (a) The local emergency planning committee of the emergency 116
planning district in which the rail facility is located;117

       (b) The fire department with jurisdiction over the rail 118
facility;119

       (c) The sheriff of the county in which the rail facility is 120
located;121

       (d) The chief of police of any municipal corporation with 122
jurisdiction over the rail facility;123

       (e) Any state agency involved in the development of plans to 124
protect railroads or other businesses against terrorist attack, 125
including the department of public safety, the state highway 126
patrol, the office of homeland security, the emergency management 127
agency, the public utilities commission, and the department of 128
transportation.129

       (6) "Rail facilities" include tracks, terminals, stations, 130
structures, rolling stock, rights-of-way, bridges, tunnels, signal 131
systems, and any other rail property or equipment of the owner or 132
operator that is considered necessary for the operation of rail 133
services.134

       (B)(1) Not later than one hundred eighty days after the 135
effective date of this section, every owner or operator of a rail 136
facility in the state shall develop a vulnerability assessment of 137
each rail facility in the state; upon request, the office of 138
homeland security shall extend the deadline for developing a 139
vulnerability assessment by forty-five days. The vulnerability 140
assessment shall describe all of the following:141

       (a) All facilities and their functions;142

       (b) The types of cargo that move through such facilities, 143
including any hazardous cargo, the classes of hazardous cargo, and 144
the approximate annual amounts of such hazardous cargo;145

       (c) Any storage of hazardous cargo in rail facilities;146

       (d) The distances from rail facilities that transport or 147
store hazardous cargo to community facilities located within 148
fifteen miles of the rail facility;149

       (e) The practices or measures the rail owner or operator 150
employs to prevent acts of sabotage, terrorism, or other crimes 151
on rail facilities;152

       (f) All required employee security training programs;153

       (g) The emergency response procedures of the rail owner or 154
operator with regard to acts of sabotage, terrorism, or other 155
crimes;156

       (h) The procedures the rail owner or operator has established 157
to communicate with public authorities in the event of acts of 158
sabotage, terrorism, or other crimes.159

       (2) Every owner or operator of a rail facility shall update 160
its vulnerability assessment at least once every year and provide 161
a current copy of the assessment to each public authority, broken 162
down by the classes and annual amounts of hazardous cargo that 163
move through each rail facility.164

       (3) Any public authority that receives a vulnerability 165
assessment or other security-sensitive information pursuant to 166
this section may provide a copy of that assessment or information 167
to any other public authority but shall not share that 168
vulnerability assessment or security-sensitive information with 169
any other public or private office unless required to do so by 170
federal or state law. Any vulnerability assessment or other 171
security-sensitive information a public authority receives 172
pursuant to this section is not a public record under section 173
149.43 of the Revised Code and that assessment or information is 174
not subject to the mandatory disclosure requirements of section 175
149.43 of the Revised Code.176

       (C)(1) Not later than three hundred sixty days after the 177
effective date of this section, every owner or operator of a rail 178
facility in the state shall establish and implement a rail 179
infrastructure protection program to protect rail facilities from 180
acts of sabotage, terrorism, or other crimes and provide for the 181
security of critical infrastructure; upon request, the office of 182
homeland security shall extend the deadline for establishing and 183
implementing a rail infrastructure protection program by 184
forty-five days. Each rail owner or operator shall do all of the 185
following:186

       (a) Notify each public authority of the location, size, 187
function, and importance of its critical infrastructure;188

       (b) Protect critical infrastructure from acts of sabotage, 189
terrorism, or other crimes by providing, at a minimum, 190
twenty-four-hour-per-day surveillance, monitoring, and protection 191
of the facilities;192

       (c) Train and equip rail personnel to prevent acts of 193
sabotage, terrorism, or other crimes, and to respond in the event 194
of such acts;195

       (d) Inspect any rail facility located within fifteen miles of 196
a community facility and that handles hazardous cargo on a regular 197
basis to determine the condition of the rail facility and the 198
vulnerability of the rail facility to acts of sabotage, terrorism, 199
or other crimes;200

       (e) Update its infrastructure protection program at least 201
once every year and provide a current copy of the program to each 202
public authority.203

       (2) The office of homeland security shall review the 204
infrastructure protection program of each rail owner or operator 205
and may order the rail owner or operator to improve, modify, or 206
change its program to comply with this section.207

       (D) For any rail facility that handles cargo within fifteen 208
miles of a community facility, the owner or operator of the rail 209
facility shall do all of the following:210

       (1) Provide adequate security personnel for a rail facility 211
that handles or stores hazardous cargo;212

       (2) Store hazardous cargo only in secure facilities designed 213
for such storage, which shall not include railroad rights-of-way;214

       (3) Require rail personnel to be present when locomotive 215
equipment is running and lock unattended locomotive equipment;216

       (4) Make adequate, qualified personnel available to assist, 217
replace, or relieve train operators who need assistance;218

       (5) Ensure that the cabs of occupied locomotives can be 219
secured against outsiders who threaten hijack, sabotage, or 220
terrorism;221

       (6) Limit the use of remote control locomotives to equipment 222
not involving hazardous cargo;223

       (7) Secure remote control devices to prevent access to such 224
devices by unauthorized personnel, including persons intent on 225
acts of sabotage, terrorism, or other crimes;226

       (8) Ensure that all employees connected with rail facilities 227
that transport hazardous cargo within fifteen miles of a community 228
facility receive, at least once every twelve months, training 229
related to security, shipment of hazardous cargo, and terrorism 230
prevention.231

       (E) Each rail owner or operator in the state shall provide 232
communications capability, other than a railroad radio, to do all 233
of the following:234

       (1) Alert public authorities in the event of sabotage, 235
terrorism, or other crimes;236

       (2) Allow bridge tenders on movable bridges to alert public 237
authorities in the event of sabotage, terrorism, or other crimes;238

       (3) Notify rail workers of the local or national threat level 239
for the rail industry.240

       (F)(1) This section applies to any rail owner or operator, 241
any contractor or subcontractor working on facilities of the rail 242
owner or operator, and any other individual or corporation 243
performing work on rail facilities in the state. All employees of 244
a railroad contractor or subcontractor, and any other individual 245
or corporation performing work on rail facilities in the state, 246
shall receive training adequate to make them as well-trained as 247
employees of the rail owner or operator performing such work, and 248
shall be required to undergo the same background, skills, and 249
fitness-for-duty checks as employees of the rail owner or 250
operator.251

       (2) No rail owner or operator shall take punitive action of 252
any kind against an employee who reports violations of this 253
section. An employee subject to such punitive action may seek 254
damages in an amount not to exceed twenty-five thousand dollars 255
from any employer who takes such action, in addition to other 256
remedies, including back pay, reinstatement, and other damages.257

       (G) No rail owner or operator shall fail to comply with 258
division (C)(1) or (D) of this section or an order issued under 259
division (C)(2) of this section.260

       Sec. 4999.09. (A) No railroad operating in this state shall261
allow the over-the-road operation of a locomotive between two 262
terminals unless the locomotive operator is a fully certified 263
train service engineer, who at all times shall be present in the 264
crew compartment and shall operate the unit that controls the 265
movement of multiple units.266

       (B) Division (A) of this section does not apply to any267
passenger train operating in this state.268

        (C) The public utilities commission shall enforce this269
section and may issue any order that may be proper to ensure270
compliance with this section.271

        (D) Whoever violates division (A) of this section shall be272
fined five thousand dollars for each offense.273

       Section 2. That existing section 3750.20 of the Revised Code 274
is hereby repealed.275