Blocked highway-rail grade crossings

(a) Study The Secretary shall seek to enter into an agreement with the President of the National Academy of Sciences under which the President of the National Academy shall— (1) conduct a study of 20 most frequently blocked highway-rail grade crossings in not fewer than 10 different States, as determined by the Secretary based on— (A) Federal Railroad Administration data; (B) the work experience of the Office of Railroad Safety's Grade Crossing and Trespasser Outreach Division; (C) data from the blocked highway-rail grade crossing portal; and (D) geographic diversity; and (2) provide recommendations to the Secretary for solutions in preventing or reducing occurrences or repeated occurrences where highway-rail grade crossings are blocked for extended periods. (b) Members In establishing the membership to conduct the study described in subsection (a)(1), the President of the National Academy of Sciences shall appoint not fewer than 3 members of the National Academy who— (1) are engineering or rail experts; (2) are not railroad carriers, or entities funded by railroad carriers; (3) have relevant experience in railroad safety technology or railroad operating experience; and (4) have no financial ties to the rail industry. (c) Elements The study conducted pursuant to subsection (a)(1) shall— (1) examine any potential impacts to railroad and community safety due to blocked highway-rail grade crossings; (2) identify potential financial impacts incurred by the railroad or its customers due to blocked crossings; (3) identify potential freight network efficiency impacts due to solutions that will reduce or eliminate the impacts of blocked crossings; (4) examine community impacts that result from blocked crossings; (5) examine causes for blocked crossings; and (6) identify practical solutions to prevent blocked crossings. (d) Report Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit a report to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives that contains the results of the study conducted by the National Academy of Sciences pursuant to this section. (e) Funding From the amounts appropriated for fiscal year 2024 to carry out section 20108 of title 49, United States Code, that remain unobligated, the Secretary shall expend such sums as may be necessary, but not more than $2,000,000, to carry out the study required under this section. (f) Railroad Crossing Elimination Program Section 22909 of title 49, United States Code, is amended— (1) in subsection (f)(2)(C)— (A) in clause (i), by striking; or and inserting a semicolon; (B) in clause (ii), by striking the semicolon and inserting; or; and (C) by adding at the end the following: (iii) a bus route to a school or within 1 mile of a school;; and (2) in subsection (g)— (A) by striking Except and inserting the following: (1) In general Except; and (B) by adding at the end the following: (2) Certain bus routes The Federal share of the cost of a project given additional consideration under subsection (f)(2)(C)(iii) may not exceed 85 percent.. (g) Railroad point of contact for blocked crossings (1) In general Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, each railroad carrier shall establish and maintain a toll-free telephone service for rights-of-way over which the railroad carrier dispatches trains to directly receive calls reporting blocked highway-rail grade crossings. (2) Use of existing number A railroad carrier may comply with the requirement under subsection (a) by using the telephone number that is being used to comply with section 20152(a)(1) of title 49, United States Code. (3) Publicly available Each railroad carrier subject to this subsection shall notify the Secretary of the telephone number referred to in paragraph (1) or (2), who shall post such number on a publicly available website of the Department of Transportation. (4) Waiver The Secretary may waive the requirement that the telephone service be toll-free for Class II and Class III rail carriers if the Secretary determines that toll-free service would be cost prohibitive or unnecessary.