PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 3265
PRINTER'S NO. 3276
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
2391
Session of
2024
INTRODUCED BY NEILSON, JUNE 7, 2024
AS REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION, HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES, AS AMENDED, JUNE 10, 2024
AN ACT
Amending Title 74 (Transportation) of the Pennsylvania
Consolidated Statutes, in sustainable mobility options,
providing for State Safety Oversight Office.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Title 74 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
Statutes is amended by adding a section to read:
§ 1510.1. State Safety Oversight Office.
(a) Establishment.--The State Safety Oversight Office is
established in the department and shall be under the
jurisdiction of the secretary. The secretary, in consultation
with the Federal Transit Administration, shall determine an
appropriate staffing level for the office that is commensurate
with the number, size and complexity of fixed guideway public
transportation systems in this Commonwealth. The office shall
adhere to and have the authority and capability to perform and
enforce the provisions and functions specified under this
section, 49 U.S.C. § 5329 (relating to public transportation
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safety program) and the associated Federal regulations specified
and adopted for oversight for each fixed guideway public
transportation system.
(b) Program standard.--The office shall establish, adopt,
administer and enforce a program standard. The office shall
annually review and consult with each fixed guideway public
transportation system that the office oversees in the
development of the program standard.
(c) Risk-based inspections, investigations, audits, testing
and other oversight activities.--
(1) The office shall conduct risk-based inspections,
investigations, audits and other oversight activities at each
fixed guideway public transportation system.
(2) In carrying out the duty imposed under paragraph
(1), the office shall enter the facilities of each fixed
guideway public transportation system, either physically or
virtually, to inspect infrastructure, equipment, records,
personnel and data, including the data that the fixed
guideway public transportation system collects when
identifying and evaluating safety risks and safety events,
with or without advanced notice to the fixed guideway public
transportation system.
(d) Failure to comply.--If a fixed guideway public
transportation system fails to comply with relevant safety-
related Federal and State laws and the program standard, the
office may:
(1) Issue a safety directive requiring the fixed
guideway public transportation system to correct the safety
deficiency.
(2) Require the prioritization and utilization of State
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funding to correct the safety deficiency.
(3) Issue temporary orders to reduce or stop service of
the fixed guideway public transportation system.
(e) Enforcement action.--In response to an imminent threat
to the safety of fixed guideway public transportation system
employees or the general public by an unacceptable hazardous
condition, the office shall issue and enforce temporary actions
or directives to the fixed guideway public transportation
system.
(f) Oversight.--The office shall oversee a fixed guideway
public transportation system's execution of security assessments
and mitigations as described in the fixed guideway public
transportation system's security and emergency preparedness plan
and in safety and security certification processes for new
capital projects being developed and constructed by the fixed
guideway public transportation system, provided that the
oversight does not conflict with requirements developed by the
Transportation Security Administration under the United States
Department of Homeland Security.
(g) Confidentiality.--Data and reports gathered GENERATED by
or submitted to the office and not made publicly available under
this section and pertaining to security of a rail-fixed FIXED
guideway public transportation system or its passenger
operations are not:
(1) Subject to access under the act of February 14, 2008
(P.L.6, No.3), known as the Right-to-Know Law.
(2) Discoverable or admissible as evidence in a legal
action or other proceeding for damages.
(h) Definitions.--As used in this section, the following
words and phrases shall have the meanings given to them in this
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subsection unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Fixed guideway nonrail public transportation system." As
follows:
(1) Any of the following:
(i) Route 103 Busway operated by the transportation
authority of a metropolitan area as defined in section
1701 (relating to definitions).
(ii) Martin Luther King, Jr., (East) Busway operated
by the local transportation organization organized and
existing under the act of April 6, 1956 (1955 P.L.1414,
No.465), known as the Second Class County Port Authority
Act.
(iii) South Busway operated by the local
transportation organization organized and existing under
the Second Class County Port Authority Act.
(iv) West Busway operated by the local
transportation organization organized and existing under
the Second Class County Port Authority Act.
(v) Any other busway designed and constructed by the
transportation authority of a metropolitan area as
defined under section 1701 or the local transportation
organization organized and existing under the Second
Class County Port Authority Act that meets the definition
of a "bus rapid transit system" as defined by the
National Transit Database and that operates on a fixed
guideway.
(2) Any other busway project that has entered a
preliminary engineering phase.
"Fixed guideway public transportation system." A fixed
guideway nonrail public transportation system or a rail-fixed
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guideway public transportation system.
"Office." The State Safety Oversight Office established
under this section.
"Program standard." A document established and enforced by
the office that identifies the processes and procedures that
govern the activities of the office and includes minimum safety
standards, policies and procedures that meet Federal
requirements for fixed guideway public transportation systems
within the office's oversight jurisdiction.
"Rail-fixed guideway public transportation system." As
follows:
(1) A fixed guideway system that:
(i) uses rail;
(ii) operates for public transportation within this
Commonwealth; and
(iii) is not subject to the jurisdiction of the
Federal Railroad Administration.
(2) The term includes a fixed guideway system that is in
an engineering or construction phase and designed to:
(i) use rail;
(ii) operate for public transportation within this
Commonwealth; and
(iii) not be subject to the jurisdiction of the
Federal Railroad Administration.
"Safety and security certification." A series of processes
that collectively verify the safety and security readiness
associated with a capital project.
"Security and emergency preparedness plan." A document
developed and adopted by a rail-fixed guideway public
transportation system describing security and emergency
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preparedness policies, objectives, responsibilities and
procedures.
Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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