BILL NUMBER: SJR 19	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Ackerman
   (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Daucher)

                        JUNE 18, 2001

   Senate Joint Resolution No. 19--Relative to railroad grade
crossings.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SJR 19, as introduced, Ackerman.  Railroad grade crossings:  quiet
zones.
   This measure would memorialize the Federal Railroad Administration
to adopt, as soon as possible, regulations relating to the
establishment of quiet zones at railroad grade crossings in
accordance with a specified federal law and the Congress to approve
legislation that provides funding to the states for the
implementation of supplemental safety measures for the purposes of
establishing those quiet zones.
   Fiscal committee:  no.




   WHEREAS, The Federal Railroad Administration is proposing
regulations to carry out Section 20153 of Title 49 of the United
States Code that, in general, require a locomotive horn to be sounded
when a train is approaching and entering a public highway-rail grade
crossing; and
   WHEREAS, The adoption of those federal regulations will enable
appropriate public entities to submit waiver petitions to the Federal
Railroad Administration for the purpose of establishing quiet zones,
within which locomotive horns may not be sounded, at eligible
railroad grade crossings, together with proposals for the
implementation of safety measures that adequately substitute for the
sounding of the locomotive horn; and
   WHEREAS, The applicable federal law also authorizes the Secretary
of Transportation to provide, in advance of any rulemaking by the
Federal Railroad Administration, for certain exceptions to the
requirement to sound the locomotive horn, including exceptions for
categories of railroad grade crossings that feature supplementary
safety measures that, in the judgment of the secretary, compensate
for the absence of the warning provided by the locomotive horn; and
   WHEREAS, Many communities are likely to improve the safety of
railroad grade crossings for the purpose of establishing quiet zones,
thereby preventing fatalities and injuries relating to those
crossings while improving the quality of living conditions for those
living near crossings; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Senate and Assembly of the State of California,
jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California respectfully
memorializes the Federal Railroad Administration to adopt, as soon
as possible, regulations relating to the establishment of quiet zones
at eligible railroad grade crossings in accordance with Section
20153 of Title 49 of the United States Code; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Legislature respectfully memorializes the
Congress of the United States to approve legislation that provides
the necessary funding to the states for the implementation of
supplemental safety measures for the purpose of establishing quiet
zones in accordance with that federal law; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States,
the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Majority Leader of
the Senate, each Senator and Representative from California in the
Congress of the United States, the Secretary of Transportation, and
the Federal Railroad Administrator.