
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 49USC20302]

 
                        TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION
 
                        SUBTITLE V--RAIL PROGRAMS
 
                             PART A--SAFETY
 
                     CHAPTER 203--SAFETY APPLIANCES
 
Sec. 20302. General requirements

    (a) General.--Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section 
and section 20303 of this title, a railroad carrier may use or allow to 
be used on any of its railroad lines--
        (1) a vehicle only if it is equipped with--
            (A) couplers coupling automatically by impact, and capable 
        of being uncoupled, without the necessity of individuals going 
        between the ends of the vehicles;
            (B) secure sill steps and efficient hand brakes; and
            (C) secure ladders and running boards when required by the 
        Secretary of Transportation, and, if ladders are required, 
        secure handholds or grab irons on its roof at the top of each 
        ladder;

        (2) except as otherwise ordered by the Secretary, a vehicle only 
    if it is equipped with secure grab irons or handholds on its ends 
    and sides for greater security to individuals in coupling and 
    uncoupling vehicles;
        (3) a vehicle only if it complies with the standard height of 
    drawbars required by regulations prescribed by the Secretary;
        (4) a locomotive only if it is equipped with a power-driving 
    wheel brake and appliances for operating the train-brake system; and
        (5) a train only if--
            (A) enough of the vehicles in the train are equipped with 
        power or train brakes so that the engineer on the locomotive 
        hauling the train can control the train's speed without the 
        necessity of brake operators using the common hand brakes for 
        that purpose; and
            (B) at least 50 percent of the vehicles in the train are 
        equipped with power or train brakes and the engineer is using 
        the power or train brakes on those vehicles and on all other 
        vehicles equipped with them that are associated with those 
        vehicles in the train.

    (b) Refusal To Receive Vehicles Not Properly Equipped.--A railroad 
carrier complying with subsection (a)(5)(A) of this section may refuse 
to receive from a railroad line of a connecting railroad carrier or a 
shipper a vehicle that is not equipped with power or train brakes that 
will work and readily interchange with the power or train brakes in use 
on the vehicles of the complying railroad carrier.
    (c) Combined Vehicles Loading and Hauling Long Commodities.--
Notwithstanding subsection (a)(1)(B) of this section, when vehicles are 
combined to load and haul long commodities, only one of the vehicles 
must have hand brakes during the loading and hauling.
    (d) Authority To Change Requirements.--The Secretary may--
        (1) change the number, dimensions, locations, and manner of 
    application prescribed by the Secretary for safety appliances 
    required by subsection (a)(1)(B) and (C) and (2) of this section 
    only for good cause and after providing an opportunity for a full 
    hearing;
        (2) amend regulations for installing, inspecting, maintaining, 
    and repairing power and train brakes only for the purpose of 
    achieving safety; and
        (3) increase, after an opportunity for a full hearing, the 
    minimum percentage of vehicles in a train that are required by 
    subsection (a)(5)(B) of this section to be equipped and used with 
    power or train brakes.

    (e) Services of Association of American Railroads.--In carrying out 
subsection (d)(2) and (3) of this section, the Secretary may use the 
services of the Association of American Railroads.

(Pub. L. 103-272, Sec. 1(e), July 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 881.)

                                          Historical and Revision Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------
           Revised  Section                    Source (U.S. Code)              
 Source (Statutes at Large)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------
20302(a) (1)(A).......................  45:2.                            Mar. 2
, 1893, ch. 196, Secs.  1-4, 27
                                                                          Stat.
 531; June 22, 1988, Pub. L. 100-
                                                                          342, 
Sec.  13(1)(A)- (D), 102 Stat.
                                                                          630.
                                        45:8 (words before 16th comma).  Mar. 2
, 1903, ch. 976, Sec.  1 (words
                                                                          befor
e 23d comma), 32 Stat. 943; June
                                                                          22, 1
988, Pub. L. 100-342, Sec.
                                                                          13(2)
(A), 102 Stat. 631.
20302(a) (1)(B).......................  45:11 (words before proviso      Apr. 1
4, 1910, ch. 160, Sec.  2, 36
                                         related to sill steps and hand   Stat.
 298; June 22, 1988, Pub. L. 100-
                                         brakes).                         342, 
Sec.  13(3)(A), 102 Stat. 631.
20302(a) (1)(C).......................  45:8 (words before 16th comma).
                                        45:11 (words before proviso
                                         related to ladders, running
                                         boards, grab irons, and
                                         handholds).
20302(a)(2)...........................  45:4.
                                        45:8 (words before 16th comma).
                                        49 App.:1655(e)(1)(C).           Oct. 1
5, 1966, Pub. L. 89-670, Sec.
                                                                          6(e)(
1)(A)-(C), 80 Stat. 939.
20302(a)(3)...........................  45:8 (words before 16th comma).
                                        45:12 (last sentence).           Apr. 1
4, 1910, ch. 160, Sec.  3 (1st
                                                                          sente
nce words before semicolon,
                                                                          provi
so, last sentence), 36 Stat. 298;
                                                                          June 
22, 1988, Pub. L. 100-342, Sec.
                                                                          13(3)
(B), 102 Stat. 631.
                                        49 App.:1655(e)(1)(A).
20302(a)(4)...........................  45:1 (related to locomotives).
                                        45:8 (words before 16th comma).
20302(a) (5)(A).......................  45:1 (related to trains).
20302(a) (5)(B).......................  45:9 (1st sentence words before  Mar. 2
, 1903, ch. 976, Sec.  2 (1st
                                         last semicolon).                 sente
nce), 32 Stat. 943; Apr. 11,
                                                                          1958,
 Pub. L. 85-375, Sec.  1(b)(1),
                                                                          (2), 
72 Stat. 86.
                                        45:9 (3d sentence).              Mar. 2
, 1903, ch. 976, 32 Stat. 943,
                                                                          Sec. 
 2 (2d-5th sentences); added Apr.
                                                                          11, 1
958, Pub. L. 85-375, Sec.
                                                                          1(b)(
3), 72 Stat. 86; June 22, 1988,
                                                                          Pub. 
L. 100-342, Sec.  13(2)(B), 102
                                                                          Stat.
 631.
20302(b)..............................  45:3.
                                        45:8 (words before 16th comma).
20302(c)..............................  45:11 (proviso).
20302(d)(1)...........................  45:12 (1st sentence words
                                         before semicolon).
                                        49 App.:1655(e)(1)(C).
20302(d)(2)...........................  45:9 (2d sentence).
                                        49 App.:1655(e)(1)(B).
20302(d)(3)...........................  45:9 (1st sentence words after
                                         last semicolon).
                                        49 App.:1655(e)(1)(B).
20302(e)..............................  45:9 (4th sentence).
                                        49 App.:1655(e)(1)(B).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------

    In subsection (a), before clause (1), the words ``Except as provided 
in subsection (c) of this section and section 20303 of this title'' are 
added to alert the reader to the exceptions restated in subsection (c) 
and section 20303. The words ``use or allow to be used'' are substituted 
for ``haul or permit to be hauled or used'' in 45:2 and 11, ``use'' in 
45:4 and 12, ``use'' and ``run'' in 45:1, ``operated'' and ``used, 
hauled, or permitted to be used or hauled'' in 45:9, ``using . . . 
running . . . hauling or permitting to be hauled or used'' in 45:6, and 
``used'' in 45:8 for consistency in this section and to eliminate 
unnecessary words. See United States v. St. Louis Southwestern Ry. Co. 
of Texas, 184 F. 28, 32 (5th Cir., 1910); United States v. Chicago, M. & 
St. P. Ry. Co., 149 F. 486, 488 (D.S.D. Iowa, 1906). The words ``That 
from and after the first day of January, eighteen hundred and ninety-
eight'', ``That on and after the first day of January, eighteen hundred 
and ninety-eight'', and ``That from and after the first day of July, 
eighteen hundred and ninety-five'' in sections 1, 2, and 4, 
respectively, of the Act of March 2, 1893 (ch. 196, 27 Stat. 531), are 
omitted as obsolete. The words ``a railroad carrier . . . on any of its 
railroad lines'' are substituted for ``any railroad . . . on its line'' 
in 45:1, ``any such railroad . . . on its line'' in 45:2, ``any railroad 
company'' in 45:4, ``railroads in the Territories and the District of 
Columbia . . . used on any railroad, and in the Territories and the 
District of Columbia'' in 45:8, ``Whenever, as provided in sections 1 to 
7 of this title'' and ``any railroad'' in 45:9, and ``any railroad 
subject to the provisions of sections 11 to 16 of this title . . . on 
its line'' in 45:11 for clarity, for consistency in the revised title, 
to eliminate unnecessary words, and because of the definition of 
``railroad carrier'' in section 20102 of the revised title. See Southern 
Ry. Co. v. United States, 222 U.S. 20, 26 (1911). In clauses (1)-(3), 
the word ``vehicle'' is substituted for ``any car'' in 45:2, ``car'' in 
45:4, ``all trains, locomotives, tenders, cars, and similar vehicles 
used on . . . all other locomotives, tenders, cars, and similar vehicles 
used in connection therewith'' in 45:8, and ``any car subject to the 
provisions of said sections . . . to wit: All cars'' in 45:11, and ``any 
car or vehicle'' in 45:12 for clarity, for consistency in the revised 
title, to eliminate unnecessary words, and because of the definition of 
``vehicle'' in section 20301 of the revised title. In clause (1)(A), a 
comma is placed after the word ``uncoupled'' for clarity. See Johnson v. 
Southern Pacific Co., 196 U.S. 1, 18 (1904). In clause (1)(C), the words 
``by the Secretary of Transportation'' are added for clarity because of 
45:12. In clause (3), the words ``required by regulations prescribed by 
the Secretary'' are substituted for ``the standard now fixed or the 
standard so prescribed . . . the standard so prescribed by the 
Secretary'' in 45:12 for clarity and to eliminate unnecessary words. The 
words ``Said Secretary is given authority, after hearing, to modify or 
change, and to prescribe the standard height of drawbars and to fix the 
time within which such modification or change shall become effective and 
obligatory'' are omitted as surplus because of 49:322(a). The words 
``and prior to the time so fixed . . . and after the time so fixed'' are 
omitted as surplus. In clause (4), the word ``locomotive'' is 
substituted for ``any locomotive engine'' in 45:1 and ``all trains, 
locomotives, tenders, cars, and similar vehicles used on . . . all other 
locomotives, tenders, cars, and similar vehicles used in connection 
therewith'' in 45:8 for clarity and to eliminate unnecessary words. In 
clause (5)(B), the words ``the engineer is using the power or train 
brakes on those vehicles and on all other vehicles equipped with them 
that are associated with those vehicles in the train'' are substituted 
for ``their brakes used and operated by the engineer of the locomotive 
drawing such train; and all power-braked cars in such train which are 
associated together with said 50 per centum shall have their brakes so 
used and operated'' and ``all . . . locomotives, tenders, cars, and 
similar vehicles'' for clarity and consistency in this section. The text 
of section 2 (2d sentence) of the Act of March 2, 1903 (ch. 976, 32 
Stat. 943), as added by section (1)(b) of the Power or Train Brakes 
Safety Appliance Act of 1958 (Public Law 85-375, 72 Stat. 86), is 
omitted as executed.
    In subsection (b), the words ``A railroad carrier complying with 
subsection (a)(5)(A) of this section'' are substituted for ``any 
railroad shall have equipped a sufficient number of its cars so as to 
comply with the provisions of section 1 of this title'' in 45:3 and 
``The provisions and requirements of sections 1 to 7 of this title shall 
be held to apply to railroads in the Territories and the District of 
Columbia'' in 45:8 for clarity, for consistency in this section, and 
because of the definition of ``railroad carrier'' in section 20102 of 
the revised title. The words ``a vehicle that is not equipped with power 
or train brakes that will work and readily interchange with the power or 
train brakes in use on the vehicles of the complying railroad carrier'' 
are substituted for ``any cars not equipped sufficiently, in accordance 
with said section, with such power or train brakes as will work and 
readily interchange with the brakes in use on its own cars, as required 
by sections 1 to 7 of this title'' in 45:3 for clarity and to eliminate 
unnecessary words.
    In subsection (c), the words ``Notwithstanding subsection (a)(1)(B) 
of this section'' are added for clarity.
    In subsection (d)(1), the words ``change . . . only for . . . and 
after'' are substituted for ``shall remain as the standards of equipment 
to be used on all cars subject to the provisions of sections 11 to 16 of 
this title, unless changed by an order of said Secretary of 
Transportation to be made after . . . and for'' for clarity and to 
eliminate unnecessary words. The text of section 3 (proviso) of the Act 
of April 14, 1910 (ch. 160, 36 Stat. 298), is omitted as obsolete.
    In subsection (d)(2), the text of 45:9 (2d sentence words before 
proviso) is omitted as executed.
    In subsection (d)(3), the words ``to more fully carry into effect 
the objects of said sections'' and ``from time to time'' are omitted as 
surplus. The words ``an opportunity for'' are added for clarity and 
consistency in the revised title and with other titles of the Code. The 
words ``equipped and used'' are substituted for ``operated'' for 
consistency in this section.
    In subsection (e), the words ``and may avail himself of the advice 
and assistance of any department, commission, or board of the United 
States Government, and of State governments'' are omitted as unnecessary 
because of 49:301(6) and (7) and 322(c). The words ``but no official or 
employee of the United States shall receive any additional compensation 
for such service except as now permitted by law'' are omitted as surplus 
because of 5:5533.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 501, 20304 of this title.
