Blocked Rail Crossings Safety Improvement Act of 2021
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.
Blocked Rail Crossings Safety Improvement Act of 2021
This bill addresses safety and congestion along railroad right-of-way and highway-rail grade crossings.
For example, the bill directs the Department of Transportation (DOT) to provide grants to (1) assist state, local, and tribal governments in funding the cost of highway-rail grade crossing separation projects; and (2) help nonprofit organizations carry out public information and education programs to help prevent and reduce rail-related pedestrian, motor vehicle, and other incidents, injuries, and fatalities, and to improve awareness along railroad right-of-way and at highway-rail grade crossings.
Additionally, the bill prohibits railroad carriers from obstructing travel at public highway-rail crossings for more than 10 minutes, except under limited circumstances (e.g., safety issues).
Further, DOT must (1) establish a national blocked crossings database for the public to report blocked crossing incidents; (2) conduct a comprehensive review of the national highway-rail crossing inventory; and (3) revise its regulations, guidance, or other relevant agency documents to include the number of suicides on a railroad crossing or railroad right-of-way in the total number of rail fatalities it reports each year.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on December 23, 2022. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on December 26, 2022: Referred to the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 117th Congress (2021-22), 362 of the 15,242 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
André Carson (D-IN) introduced it on December 23, 2022. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on December 23, 2022, 1357 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 1354 days ago, on December 26, 2022.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 117th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2023 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers