Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials

The Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials has jurisdiction over rail transportation, including rail economic regulation, rail safety, rail infrastructure, rail labor, and international rail issues. It also has jurisdiction over pipeline and hazardous materials transportation. This jurisdiction includes all aspects of the Federal Railroad Administration, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, and the Surface Transportation Board (“STB”), including the agencies’ homeland security responsibilities. For example, the STB has statutory authority to deal with various national emergencies, including war, as they affect the nation’s rail transport system. Under Sections 11123 and 11124 of Title 49, United States Code, the STB is authorized to take summary emergency action to deal with any rail transport emergency that threatens rail service, including according preferences and priority to military traffic, such as the transportation of war material, at the President’s request.

The Subcommittee also has jurisdiction over the National Mediation Board, the Railroad Retirement Board, Amtrak, and other forms of non-highway ground transportation that run on rails and electromagnetic guideways, including commuter and other short-haul railroad passenger service and high-speed ground transportation systems. The Subcommittee does not have jurisdiction over public transportation issues, which are under the jurisdiction of the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. Issues under the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials include:

• Amtrak
• Federal Railroad Administration Reauthorization
• Hazardous Materials Endorsement Background Checks
• Hazardous Materials Transportation
• High-Speed Rail
• National Mediation Board
• National Transportation Safety Board
• Pipeline Transportation
• Rail Capacity
• Rail Infrastructure
• Rail Labor and Railway Labor Act
• Rail Mergers and Restructuring
• Rail Rates, Service, and Economic Regulation
• Railroad Retirement Board
• Rail Safety and Security
• Surface Transportation Board