Bill Text: TX HB4313 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the safety standards of certain rail employees; requiring an occupational permit.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-21 - Referred to Transportation [HB4313 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB4313-Introduced.html
| 88R2683 DRS-F | ||
| By: Raymond | H.B. No. 4313 | |
|
|
||
|
|
||
| relating to the safety standards of certain rail employees; | ||
| requiring an occupational permit. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Chapter 199, Transportation Code, is amended by | ||
| adding Section 199.004 to read as follows: | ||
| Sec. 199.004. SAFETY STANDARDS FOR CERTAIN RAIL EMPLOYEES. | ||
| (a) In this section, "covered rail employee" means a railroad | ||
| employee whose primary reporting point is in the United Mexican | ||
| States. | ||
| (b) A railroad may not employ a covered rail employee to | ||
| perform a railroad service in this state unless the railroad: | ||
| (1) obtains from the department a permit that | ||
| authorizes covered rail employees to perform those services; and | ||
| (2) certifies to the department as part of the | ||
| permitting process that each covered rail employee is in compliance | ||
| with the safety standards applicable to a railroad employee whose | ||
| primary reporting point is in the United States. | ||
| (c) The department shall publish in the Texas Register | ||
| notice of an application for a permit to employ covered rail | ||
| employees not later than the fifth day after the department | ||
| receives the application. The notice must contain: | ||
| (1) the application; and | ||
| (2) any supporting documentation. | ||
| (d) For each application for a permit under this section, | ||
| the department shall: | ||
| (1) hold a public hearing; | ||
| (2) allow public comment for at least 30 days before | ||
| making a decision on the permit; | ||
| (3) publish in the Texas Register the department's | ||
| decision on the application; and | ||
| (4) notify each standing committee of the legislature | ||
| with jurisdiction over railroad safety of the department's decision | ||
| on the application. | ||
| (e) In making a decision on an application for a permit | ||
| under this section, the department may: | ||
| (1) inspect a railroad's safety training of covered | ||
| rail employees; and | ||
| (2) access any rail facility where safety training is | ||
| conducted, including a rail facility from which trains are | ||
| dispatched to the border with the United Mexican States. | ||
| (f) The commission shall adopt rules necessary to implement | ||
| this section. | ||
| SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. | ||
