Sponsored by:
Senator PATRICK J. DIEGNAN, JR.
District 18 (Middlesex)
Senator GORDON M. JOHNSON
District 37 (Bergen)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senator Cryan
SYNOPSIS
Concerns railroad safety.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning railroad safety and supplementing Title 27 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):
Board means the Board of Public Utilities.
Branch line means a secondary railroad track that branches off from a main line.
Commissioner means the Commissioner of Environmental Protection.
Contamination or contaminant means any discharged hazardous substance, hazardous waste as defined pursuant to section 1 of P.L.1976, c.99 (C.13:1E-38), or pollutant as defined pursuant to section 3 of P.L.1977, c.74 (C.58:10A-3).
Defects include hot wheel bearings, hot wheels, defective bearings that are detected through acoustics, dragging equipment, excessive height or weight, shifted loads, low hoses, rail temperature, and wheel conditions.
Department means the Department of Environmental Protection.
Discharge means any intentional or unintentional action or omission resulting in the releasing, spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, or dumping of hazardous substances into the waters or onto the lands of the State, or into waters outside the jurisdiction of the State when damage may result to the lands, waters, or natural resources within the jurisdiction of the State.
Emergency response action means those activities conducted by a local unit to clean up, remove, prevent, contain, or mitigate a discharge that poses an immediate threat to the environment or to the public health, safety, or welfare.
Emergency services provider means a law enforcement agency, emergency medical services unit, fire department, emergency communications provider, hazardous material response unit, volunteer fire department, duly incorporated fire or first aid company, or volunteer emergency, ambulance, or rescue squad association, organization, or company which provides emergency services for a local unit.
Hazardous substances means any Class 1 explosives as categorized in Division 1.1, 1.2, or 1.3 (as such terms are defined in 49 C.F.R. s.173.50); any flammable gases as defined by section 49 C.F.R. s.173.115(a); any flammable liquids as defined in 49 C.F.R. s.173.120(a); any hazardous material as designated by the Secretary of Transportation as hazardous pursuant to 49 U.S.C. s.5103; any high level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel with the same meanings given to a type B package or a fissile material package as defined in 49 C.F.R. s.173.403; any material poisonous by inhalation or material toxic by inhalation as defined in 49 C.F.R. s.171.8; and any environmentally sensitive chemicals which shall include, but not be limited to:
a. AllylChloride;
b. Carbon Tetrachloride;
c. Chlorobenzene;
d. Chloroform;
e. O-Dichlorobenzene;
f. Dichloropropance (Propylene dichloride);
g. Dichloropropane/Dichloropropene Mixture;
h. Dichloropropene;
i. Ethyl Chloride;
j. Ethylene Dibromide;
k. Ethylene Dibromide and Methyl Bromide Mixtures;
l. Ethylene Dichloride;
m. Epichlorohydrin;
n. Methyl Chloroform (1,1,1 Trichloroethane);
o. Methylene Chloride (Dichloromethane);
p. Methylene Chloride/Chloroform Mixture;
q. Perchloroethylene (Tetrachloroethylene);
r. Perchloroethylene/Trichloroethylene Mixture; and
s. Trichloroethylene.
High hazard train means any railroad locomotive propelling a railroad tank car or connection of railroad tank cars transporting 200,000 gallons or more of petroleum or petroleum products or 20,000 gallons or more of hazardous substances other than petroleum or petroleum products.
Local unit means any county or municipality, or a fire district, or any agency or other instrumentality thereof, or a duly incorporated volunteer fire, ambulance, first aid, emergency, or rescue company or squad.
Main line means a Class I railroad, as documented in current timetables filed by the Class I railroad with the Federal Railroad Administration, over which 5,000,000 or more gross tons of railroad traffic is transported annually. Main line includes railroads used for regularly scheduled intercity or commuter rail passenger service, or both.
Major facility shall have the same meaning as set forth in section 3 of P.L.1976, c.141 (C.58:10-23.11b).
Natural resources means all land, fish, shellfish, wildlife, biota, air, waters, and other resources owned, managed, held in trust, or otherwise controlled by the State.
Owner or operator means, with respect to any high hazard train, any person owning the high hazard train, or operating it by lease, contract, or other form of agreement; provided, however, that the owner or operator shall not mean a person who operates a high hazard train only for the purposes of positioning or moving railroad tank cars within the confines of a major facility, or a person whose interest in a high hazard train solely involves the ownership or lease of one or more railroad tank cars without operational authority.
Petroleum or petroleum products shall have the same meaning as set forth in section 3 of P.L.1976, c.141 (C.58:10-23.11b).
Railroad means any form of non-highway ground transportation that runs on rails or electromagnetic guideways, including commuter or other short-haul railroad passenger service in a metropolitan or suburban area, commuter railroad service and high speed ground transportation systems that connect metropolitan areas, without regard to whether those systems use new technologies not associated with traditional railroads. Railroad does not include rapid transit operations in an urban area that are not connected to the general railroad system of transportati