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Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 2607 - Rail Safety Enforcement and Review Act of 1991

September 20, 1991

STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY

(House)
(Swift (D) Washington)

The Administration is strongly committed to rail safety and has several initiatives in progress to maintain and strengthen rail safety standards. However, if H.R. 2607 were presented to the President in its current form, the Secretary of Transportation would recommend a veto. The Administration particularly objects to:

— Section 2, which would require the Secretary of Transportation to issue final rules for all rulemaking areas listed in the Rail Safety Improvement Act (RSIA) without taking into account their necessity or cost. The Department of Transportation has not only initiated all 12 rulemaking activities required by the RSIA, but has completed all but 2 of them.

— Section 14, which would authorize appropriations totaling $75 million for the Local Rail Freight Assistance Program during FYs 1992-1994. This program has outlived its usefulness and should be allowed to expire at the conclusion of the current fiscal year.

The Administration also objects to Section 3 and 4. Section 3 would require reporting that would not contribute to rail safety while needlessly diverting rail safety enforcement resources. Section 4 would establish a $1,000 per-violation minimum civil penalty that is unwarranted because the current $250 minimum is adequate and because the other transportation modes have compiled excellent safety enforcement records without such a statutory limitation.

Scoring for Purposes of Pay-As-You-Go

OMB's preliminary scoring estimates of this bill are presented below. Final scoring of this legislation may deviate from these estimates. If H.R. 2607 were enacted, final OMB scoring estimates would be published within five days of enactment, as required by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (OBRA). The cumulative effects of all enacted legislation on direct spending will be issued in monthly reports transmitted to the Congress.

Estimates For Pay-As-You-Go
(receipts in millions)

  1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1991-1995
Totals -- +.2 +.2 +.2 +.2 +.8

George Bush, Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 2607 - Rail Safety Enforcement and Review Act of 1991 Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/330805

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