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    "label": "Signing of H.R. 11804 - Federal Railroad Safety Authorization Act of 1976 [Bill]",
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    "title": "Signing of H.R. 11804 - Federal Railroad Safety Authorization Act of 1976 [Bill]",
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    "ocrText": "Digitized from Box 28 of the White House Press Releases at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library\nJULY 9, 1976\nOffice of the White House Press Secretary\nNOTICE TO THE PRESS\nThe President has signed H. R. 11804 Federal Railroad Safety\nAuthorization Act of 1976. This bill authorizes appropriations of\n$35 million for each of fiscal years 1977 and 1978 to carry out rail\nsafety programs; to establish safety standards for railroad employees;\nto place time limits on Department of Transportation proceedings; to\nrequire the Federal Railroad Administration to have at least 8 regional\noffices; to authorize an evaluation of railroad safety laws; and to increase\npenalties for violation of rail safety provisions.\nH. R. 11804 authorizesappropriations of $35 million for each of fiscal\nyears 1977 and 1978 for the Department of Transportation to carry out\nthe provisions of the Federal Railroad Safety Act of 1970.\nH. R. 11804 will also continue the section in the current Act which places\nceilings on the expenditure of funds for the major portions of Federal\nRailroad Administration (FRA) activities under the Rail Safety Act\nand would set an excessively high ceiling for the number of rail safety in-\nspectors. In addition, the bill will continue to limit the amount that could\nbe spent on rail safety research and development to no more than the\namount spent on inspection and enforcement of the rail safety rules and\nregulations.\nSection 4 of the bill will (a) establish maximum hours of service for crews\nof wreck or relief trains in emergency situations, (b) set standards for\nsleeping quarters for railroad employees, and (c) bring signalmen and\nhostlers (persons who move locomotives in yard and repair areas) within\ncurrent limitations concerning employees' hours of duty.\nSection 5 (a) of H. R. 11804 will require the Secretary of DOT to establish,\nwithin 180 days of enactment, procedures placing time limits upon all\nproceedings under this Act, with a maximum time limit of one year. Section\n5 (b) will require the Secretary to issue regulations within 180 days of enact-\nment regarding the visibility of rear cars of trains and preventing movement\nof trains onto tracks being repaired. Section 7 will authorize the congressional\nOffice of Technology Assessment (OTA) to conduct an evaluation of the effective-\nness of rail safety laws to be completed within 18 months of enactment. Finally,\nthe bill will raise the range of penalties for violations of rail safety provisions\nfrom 0-$250 to $250-$2500.\n###"
}