49 U.S.C. § 21102 — Nonapplication, exemption, and alter-

Page 613 TITLE 49—TRANSPORTATION § 21103 1 So in original. No subpar. (B) has been enacted. ‘‘(B) to authorize electronic record keeping, and re- porting of excess service, consistent with appropriate considerations for user interface; and ‘‘(C) to require training of affected employees and supervisors, including training of employees in the entry of hours of service data. ‘‘(2) PROCEDURE.—In lieu of issuing a notice of pro- posed rulemaking as contemplated by section 553 of title 5, United States Code, the Secretary may utilize the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee to assist in development of the regulation. The Secretary may pro- pose and adopt amendments to the revised regulations thereafter as may be necessary in light of experience under the revised requirements.’’ § 21102. Nonapplication, exemption, and alter- nate hours of service regime (a) GENERAL.—This chapter does not apply to a situation involving any of the following: (1) a casualty. (2) an unavoidable accident. (3) an act of God. (4) a delay resulting from a cause unknown and unforeseeable to a railroad carrier or its officer or agent in charge of the employee when the employee left a terminal. (b) EXEMPTION.—The Secretary of Transpor- tation may exempt a railroad carrier having not more than 15 employees covered by this chapter from the limitations imposed by this chapter. The Secretary may allow the exemption after a full hearing, for good cause shown, and on decid- ing that the exemption is in the public interest and will not affect safety adversely. The exemp- tion shall be for a specific period of time and is subject to review at least annually. The exemp- tion may not authorize a carrier to require or allow its employees to be on duty more than a total of 16 hours in a 24-hour period. (c) APPLICATION OF HOURS OF SERVICE REGIME TO COMMUTER AND INTERCITY PASSENGER RAIL- ROAD TRAIN EMPLOYEES.— (1) When providing commuter rail passenger transportation or intercity rail passenger transportation, the limitations on duty hours for train employees of railroad carriers, in- cluding public authorities operating passenger service, shall be solely governed by old section 21103 until the earlier of— (A) the effective date of regulations pre- scribed by the Secretary under section 21109(b) of this chapter; or (B) the date that is 3 years following the date of enactment of the Rail Safety Im- provement Act of 2008. (2) After the date on which old section 21103 ceases to apply, pursuant to paragraph (1), to the limitations on duty hours for train em- ployees of railroad carriers with respect to the provision of commuter rail passenger trans- portation or intercity rail passenger transpor- tation, the limitations on duty hours for train employees of such railroad carriers shall be governed by new section 21103, except as pro- vided in paragraph (3). (3) After the effective date of the regulations prescribed by the Secretary under section 21109(b) of this title, such carriers shall— (A) comply with the limitations on duty hours for train employees with respect to the provision of commuter rail passenger transportation or intercity rail passenger transportation as prescribed by such regula- tions; and (B) be exempt from complying with the provisions of old section 21103 and new sec- tion 21103 for such employees. (4) In this subsection: (A) The terms ‘‘commuter rail passenger transportation’’ and ‘‘intercity rail pas- senger transportation’’ have the meaning given those terms in section 24102 of this title. (C) 1 The term ‘‘new section 21103’’ means section 21103 of this chapter as amended by the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008. (D) The term ‘‘old section 21103’’ means section 21103 of this chapter as it was in ef- fect on the day before the enactment of that Act. (Pub. L. 103–272, § 1(e), July 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 888; Pub. L. 110–432, div. A, title I, § 108(d)(1), Oct. 16, 2008, 122 Stat. 4863.) HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES Revised Section Source (U.S. Code) Source (Statutes at Large) 21102(a) ...... 45:63a(d) (related to 45:64a). Mar. 4, 1907, ch. 2939, 34 Stat. 1415, § 3A(d) (related to § 5); added July 8, 1976, Pub. L. 94–348, § 4(d), 90 Stat. 819; June 22, 1988, Pub. L. 100–342, § 16(4), 102 Stat. 635. 45:64a(d). Mar. 4, 1907, ch. 2939, § 5(d), 34 Stat. 1417; restated Dec. 26, 1969, Pub. L. 91–169, § 1, 83 Stat. 464; June 22, 1988, Pub. L. 100–342, § 16(6)(D), 102 Stat. 635. 21102(b) ...... 45:63a(d) (related to 45:64a). 45:64a(e). Mar. 4, 1907, ch. 2939, § 5(e), 34 Stat. 1417; restated Dec. 26, 1969, Pub. L. 91–169, § 1, 83 Stat. 464. In subsection (b), the words ‘‘with respect to one or more of its employees’’ are omitted as surplus because the authority to exempt a railroad carrier includes the authority to exempt only some of the employees of the carrier. The words ‘‘carrier to require or allow its em- ployees to be on duty’’ are substituted for ‘‘any rail- road described in this section to work its employees’’ for clarity and consistency in this chapter. Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008, referred to in subsec. (c)(1)(B), (4)(C), (D), is div. A of Pub. L. 110–432, Oct. 16, 2008, 122 Stat. 4848. For complete classi- fication of this Act to the Code, see Short Title of 2008 Amendment note set out under section 20101 of this title and Tables. AMENDMENTS 2008—Pub. L. 110–432, § 108(d)(1)(A), substituted ‘‘Non- application, exemption, and alternate hours of service regime’’ for ‘‘Nonapplication and exemption’’ in section catchline. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 110–432, § 108(d)(1)(B), added sub- sec. (c). § 21103. Limitations on duty hours of train em- ployees (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub- section (d) of this section, a railroad carrier and