6 U.S.C. § 1167 — Railroad security training program

Page 475 TITLE 6—DOMESTIC SECURITY § 1167 1 So in original. Probably should be ‘‘(2)’’. els reflecting the extent of their use or planned use of the tunnels, if feasible. (Pub. L. 110–53, title XV, § 1515, Aug. 3, 2007, 121 Stat. 437.) § 1166. Railroad carrier exercises (a) In general The Secretary shall establish a program for conducting security exercises for railroad car- riers for the purpose of assessing and improving the capabilities of entities described in sub- section (b) to prevent, prepare for, mitigate, re- spond to, and recover from acts of terrorism. (b) Covered entities Entities to be assessed under the program shall include— (1) Federal, State, and local agencies and tribal governments; (2) railroad carriers; (3) governmental and nongovernmental emergency response providers, law enforce- ment agencies, and railroad and transit police, as appropriate; and (4) any other organization or entity that the Secretary determines appropriate. (c) Requirements The Secretary shall ensure that the program— (1) consolidates existing security exercises for railroad carriers administered by the De- partment and the Department of Transpor- tation, as jointly determined by the Secretary and the Secretary of Transportation, unless the Secretary waives this consolidation re- quirement as appropriate; (2) consists of exercises that are— (A) scaled and tailored to the needs of the carrier, including addressing the needs of the elderly and individuals with disabilities; (B) live, in the case of the most at-risk fa- cilities to a terrorist attack; (C) coordinated with appropriate officials; (D) as realistic as practicable and based on current risk assessments, including credible threats, vulnerabilities, and consequences; (E) inclusive, as appropriate, of railroad frontline employees; and (F) consistent with the National Incident Management System, the National Response Plan, the National Infrastructure Protection Plan, the National Preparedness Guidance, the National Preparedness Goal, and other such national initiatives; (3) provides that exercises described in para- graph (2) will be— (A) evaluated by the Secretary against clear and consistent performance measures; (B) assessed by the Secretary to identify best practices, which shall be shared, as ap- propriate, with railroad carriers, nonprofit employee organizations that represent rail- road carrier employees, Federal, State, local, and tribal officials, governmental and nongovernmental emergency response pro- viders, law enforcement personnel, including railroad carrier and transit police, and other stakeholders; and (C) used to develop recommendations, as appropriate, from the Secretary to railroad carriers on remedial action to be taken in response to lessons learned; (4) allows for proper advanced notification of communities and local governments in which exercises are held, as appropriate; and (5) assists State, local, and tribal govern- ments and railroad carriers in designing, im- plementing, and evaluating additional exer- cises that conform to the requirements of paragraph (1) 1. (d) National Exercise Program The Secretary shall ensure that the exercise program developed under subsection (c) is a component of the National Exercise Program es- tablished under section 748 of this title. (Pub. L. 110–53, title XV, § 1516, Aug. 3, 2007, 121 Stat. 438.) § 1167. Railroad security training program (a) In general Not later than 6 months after August 3, 2007, the Secretary shall develop and issue regula- tions for a training program to prepare railroad frontline employees for potential security threats and conditions. The regulations shall take into consideration any current security training requirements or best practices. (b) Consultation The Secretary shall develop the regulations under subsection (a) in consultation with— (1) appropriate law enforcement, fire service, emergency response, security, and terrorism experts; (2) railroad carriers; (3) railroad shippers; and (4) nonprofit employee labor organizations representing railroad employees or emergency response personnel. (c) Program elements The regulations developed under subsection (a) shall require security training programs de- scribed in subsection (a) to include, at a min- imum, elements to address the following, as ap- plicable: (1) Determination of the seriousness of any occurrence or threat. (2) Crew and passenger communication and coordination. (3) Appropriate responses to defend or pro- tect oneself. (4) Use of personal and other protective equipment. (5) Evacuation procedures for passengers and railroad employees, including individuals with disabilities and the elderly. (6) Psychology, behavior, and methods of terrorists, including observation and analysis. (7) Training related to psychological re- sponses to terrorist incidents, including the ability to cope with hijacker behavior and pas- senger responses. (8) Live situational training exercises re- garding various threat conditions, including tunnel evacuation procedures. (9) Recognition and reporting of dangerous substances, suspicious packages, and situa- tions. Page 476 TITLE 6—DOMESTIC SECURITY § 1168 (10) Understanding security incident proce- dures, including procedures for commu- nicating with governmental and nongovern- mental emergency response providers and for on-scene interaction with such emergency re- sponse providers. (11) Operation and maintenance of security equipment and systems. (12) Other security training activities that the Secretary considers appropriate. (d) Required programs (1) Development and submission to Secretary Not later than 90 days after the Secretary issues regulations under subsection (a), each railroad carrier shall develop a security train- ing program in accordance with this section and submit the program to the Secretary for approval. (2) Approval or disapproval Not later than 60 days after receiving a secu- rity training program proposal under this sub- section, the Secretary shall approve the pro- gram or require the railroad carrier that de- veloped the program to make any revisions to the program that the Secretary considers nec- essary for the program to meet the require- ments of this section. A railroad carrier shall respond to the Secretary’s comments within 30 days after receiving them. (3) Training Not later than 1 year after the Secretary ap- proves a security training program in accord- ance with this subsection, the railroad carrier that developed the program shall complete the training of all railroad frontline employees who were hired by a carrier more than 30 days preceding such date. For such employees em- ployed less than 30 days by a carrier preceding such date, training shall be completed within the first 60 days of employment. (4) Updates of regulations and program revi- sions The Secretary shall periodically review and update as appropriate the training regulations issued under subsection (a) to reflect new or changing security threats. Each railroad car- rier shall revise its training program accord- ingly and provide additional training as nec- essary to its frontline employees within a rea- sonable time after the regulations are up- dated. (e) National Training Program The Secretary shall ensure that the training program developed under subsection (a) is a component of the National Training Program established under section 748 of this title. (f) Reporting requirements Not later than 2 years after the date of regula- tion issuance, the Secretary shall review imple- mentation of the training program of a rep- resentative sample of railroad carriers and rail- road frontline employees, and report to the ap- propriate congressional committees on the num- ber of reviews conducted and the results of such reviews. The Secretary may submit the report in both classified and redacted formats as nec- essary. (g) Other employees The Secretary shall issue guidance and best practices for a railroad shipper employee secu- rity program containing the elements listed under subsection (c). (Pub. L. 110–53, title XV, § 1517, Aug. 3, 2007, 121 Stat. 439.) § 1168. Railroad security research and develop- ment (a) Establishment of research and development program The Secretary, acting through the Under Sec- retary for Science and Technology and the Ad- ministrator of the Transportation Security Ad- ministration, shall carry out a research and de- velopment program for the purpose of improving the security of railroad transportation systems. (b) Eligible projects The research and development program may include projects— (1) to reduce the vulnerability of passenger trains, stations, and equipment to explosives and hazardous chemical, biological, and radio- active substances, including the development of technology to screen passengers in large numbers at peak commuting times with mini- mal interference and disruption; (2) to test new emergency response and re- covery techniques and technologies, including those used at international borders; (3) to develop improved railroad security technologies, including— (A) technologies for sealing or modifying railroad tank cars; (B) automatic inspection of railroad cars; (C) communication-based train control systems; (D) emergency response training, including training in a tunnel environment; (E) security and redundancy for critical communications, electrical power, com- puter, and train control systems; and (F) technologies for securing bridges and tunnels; (4) to test wayside detectors that can detect tampering; (5) to support enhanced security for the transportation of security-sensitive materials by railroad; (6) to mitigate damages in the event of a cyber attack; and (7) to address other vulnerabilities and risks identified by the Secretary. (c) Coordination with other research initiatives The Secretary— (1) shall ensure that the research and devel- opment program is consistent with the Na- tional Strategy for Railroad Transportation Security developed under section 1161 of this title and any other transportation security re- search and development programs required by this Act; (2) shall, to the extent practicable, coordi- nate the research and development activities of the Department with other ongoing re- search and development security-related ini- tiatives, including research being conducted by—