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To require the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations requiring a rail carrier to report certain damage if such carrier has a reasonable suspicion that an action carried out by the carrier caused such damage.
Summary
The HOWIE Act would require the Federal Railroad Administration to update regulations requiring railroads to report train accidents and damage when the railroad has a reasonable suspicion that an action carried out by the railroad caused that damage. The updated requirements would include incidents causing fires, including brush fires, alongside railroad tracks. The bill modifies section 225.9 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations to establish this expanded reporting obligation for rail carriers.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
Actions (3)
- Mar 20, 2026 Referred to the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials. · house
- Mar 19, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. · house
- Mar 19, 2026 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 19, 2026
Mr. Lawler introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations requiring a rail carrier to report certain damage if such carrier has a reasonable suspicion that an action carried out by the carrier caused such damage.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Helping Oversee and Ward off Infrastructure Emergencies Act” or the “HOWIE Act”.
SEC. 2. STANDARD FOR REPORTING CERTAIN DAMAGE RELATING TO RAILROAD OPERATIONS.
The Secretary of Transportation, acting through the Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, shall issue such regulations as are necessary to update section 225.9 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, to require a railroad to report a train accident resulting in damage described under such section, including any incident that causes a fire (including a brush fire) alongside a railroad track, if such railroad has a reasonable suspicion that an action carried out by the railroad caused such damage. <all>
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