HR 6223 116th Congress House Transportation and Public Works Accounting and auditing Administrative law and regulatory procedures Administrative remedies Civil actions and liability Congressional officers and employees Government information and archives Public-private cooperation Railroads Roads and highways Transportation safety and security

D-BLOC Act

Introduced: March 12, 2020 See on congress.gov

Everywhere this bill has been 3 steps

Introduced

In committee

Reported out

Passed House

Passed Senate

To President

Became law

Mar 13, 2020

Referred to the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.

Mar 12, 2020

Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

Mar 12, 2020

Introduced in House

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Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Don't BLock Our Communities Act or the D-BLOC Act

This bill addresses concerns related to blocked crossings. (A blocked crossing is a circumstance in which a train, railroad car, or locomotive engine is stopped or is standing in a manner that obstructs public travel at a crossing).

Specifically, the bill

requires each railroad carrier to collect data on blocked crossings and directs the Department of Transportation (DOT) to incorporate such data into the national highway-rail crossing inventory;
establishes a 10-minute limit on trains, locomotive, railroad cars, or other railroad equipment blocking crossings, with specified exceptions;
authorizes DOT to issue civil penalties for each incident where a crossing is blocked by a standing train, locomotive, or rail equipment;
requires DOT to issue regulations defining what is considered persistently or egregiously blocking a crossing, including taking into consideration the extent to which the blocked crossing poses a public safety hazard;
does not apply to the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) or commuter authorities;
directs DOT to issue and publish a national strategy on how it plans to address blocked crossings; and
requires each railroad carrier to establish and maintain a toll-free telephone service for rights-of-way over which it dispatches trains to directly receive calls reporting blocked crossings.