
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 49USC21104]

 
                        TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION
 
                        SUBTITLE V--RAIL PROGRAMS
 
                             PART A--SAFETY
 
                      CHAPTER 211--HOURS OF SERVICE
 
Sec. 21104. Limitations on duty hours of signal employees

    (a) General.--(1) In paragraph (2)(C) of this subsection, ``24-hour 
period'' means the period beginning when a signal employee reports for 
duty immediately after 8 consecutive hours off duty or, when required 
under paragraph (2)(B) of this subsection, after 10 consecutive hours 
off duty.
    (2) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, a railroad 
carrier and its officers and agents may not require or allow a signal 
employee to remain or go on duty--
        (A) unless that employee has had at least 8 consecutive hours 
    off duty during the prior 24 hours;
        (B) after that employee has been on duty for 12 consecutive 
    hours, until that employee has had at least 10 consecutive hours off 
    duty; or
        (C) after that employee has been on duty a total of 12 hours 
    during a 24-hour period, or after the end of that 24-hour period, 
    whichever occurs first, until that employee has had at least 8 
    consecutive hours off duty.

    (b) Determining Time on Duty.--In determining under subsection (a) 
of this section the time a signal employee is on duty or off duty, the 
following rules apply:
        (1) Time on duty begins when the employee reports for duty and 
    ends when the employee is finally released from duty.
        (2) Time spent performing any other service for the railroad 
    carrier during a 24-hour period in which the employee is engaged in 
    installing, repairing, or maintaining signal systems is time on 
    duty.
        (3) Time spent returning from a trouble call, whether the 
    employee goes directly to the employee's residence or by way of the 
    employee's headquarters, is neither time on duty nor time off duty, 
    except that up to one hour of that time spent returning from the 
    final trouble call of a period of continuous or broken service is 
    time off duty.
        (4) If, at the end of scheduled duty hours, an employee has not 
    completed the trip from the final outlying worksite of the duty 
    period to the employee's headquarters or directly to the employee's 
    residence, the time after the scheduled duty hours necessarily spent 
    in completing the trip to the residence or headquarters is neither 
    time on duty nor time off duty.
        (5) If an employee is released from duty at an outlying worksite 
    before the end of the employee's scheduled duty hours to comply with 
    this section, the time necessary for the trip from the worksite to 
    the employee's headquarters or directly to the employee's residence 
    is neither time on duty nor time off duty.
        (6) Time spent in transportation on an ontrack vehicle, 
    including time referred to in paragraphs (3)-(5) of this subsection, 
    is time on duty.
        (7) A regularly scheduled meal period or another release period 
    of at least 30 minutes but not more than one hour is time off duty 
    and does not break the continuity of service of the employee under 
    this section, but a release period of more than one hour is time off 
    duty and does break the continuity of service.

    (c) Emergencies.--A signal employee may be allowed to remain or go 
on duty for not more than 4 additional hours in any period of 24 
consecutive hours when an emergency exists and the work of that employee 
is related to the emergency. In this subsection, an emergency ends when 
the signal system is restored to service.

(Pub. L. 103-272, Sec. 1(e), July 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 889.)

                                          Historical and Revision Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------
           Revised  Section                    Source (U.S. Code)              
 Source (Statutes at Large)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------
21104(a)..............................  45:63a(a) (1st sentence).        Mar. 4
, 1907, ch. 2939, 34 Stat. 1415,
                                                                          Sec. 
 3A(a) (1st sentence), (b); added
                                                                          July 
8, 1976, Pub. L. 94-348, Sec.
                                                                          4(d),
 90 Stat. 819; June 22, 1988,
                                                                          Pub. 
L. 100-342, Sec.  16(4), 102
                                                                          Stat.
 635.
                                        45:63a(a) (2d-last sentences).   Mar. 4
, 1907, ch. 2939, 34 Stat. 1415,
                                                                          Sec. 
 3A(a) (2d-last sentences); added
                                                                          Nov. 
2, 1978, Pub. L. 95-574, Sec.
                                                                          4(a),
 92 Stat. 2459.
21104(b)..............................  45:63a(b).
                                        45:63a(c).                       Mar. 4
, 1907, ch. 2939, 34 Stat. 1415;
                                                                          Sec. 
 3A(c); added July 8, 1976, Pub.
                                                                          L. 94
-348, Sec.  4(d), 90 Stat. 819;
                                                                          resta
ted Nov. 2, 1978, Pub. L. 95-574,
                                                                          Sec. 
 4(b), 92 Stat. 2460.
21104(c)..............................  45:63a(f).                       Mar. 4
, 1907, ch. 2939, 34 Stat. 1415,
                                                                          Sec. 
 3A(f); added July 8, 1976, Pub.
                                                                          L. 94
-348, Sec.  4(d), 90 Stat. 819.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------

    In this section, the words ``signal employee'' are substituted for 
``an individual employed by the railroad who is engaged in installing, 
repairing or maintaining signal systems'' and ``an individual described 
in paragraph (1)'' in 45:63a(a), ``individual'' in 45:63a(b) and (c), 
and ``individual engaged in installing, repairing, or maintaining signal 
systems'' in 45:63a(f) because of the definition of ``signal employee'' 
in section 21101 of the revised title.
    Subsection (a)(1) is substituted for 45:63a(a) (last sentence) for 
clarity and because of the restatement.
    In subsection (a)(2), before clause (A), the words ``Except as 
provided in subsection (c) of this section'' are added to alert the 
reader to the exception restated in subsection (c). The text of 
45:63a(a) (2d sentence) is omitted as surplus.
    In subsection (b), the words before paragraph (1) are added as 
related to 45:63a(c) and substituted for ``In determining for the 
purposes of subsection (a) of this section the number of hours an 
individual is on duty'' for clarity. In paragraph (2), the word 
``actually'' is omitted as surplus.
    In subsection (c), the word ``actual'' is omitted as surplus.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in section 21105 of this title.
