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STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1st Session of the 60th Legislature (2025)
SENATE BILL 597 By: Pederson
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to the operation of railroads;
defining terms; prohibiting operation of trains
exceeding a certain length; creating a civil penalty;
providing for certain fine for certain violations;
allowing for Transportation Commission to request
Attorney General take certain action; directing
deposit of certain monies; providing for
codification; and providing an effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 104 of Title 66, unless there is
created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
As used in this act:
1. “Branch line” means a secondary railroad track that branches
off from a main line;
2. “Main line” means a Class I railroad as documented in
current timetables filed by the Class I railroad with the Federal
Railroad Administration under 49 C.F.R., Section 217.7 when the
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railroad has five million (5,000,000) or more gross tons of railroad
traffic transported annually;
3. “Railroad” means any form of non-highway ground
transportation that runs on rails or electromagnetic guideways;
4. “Train” means one or more locomotives, coupled with or
without cars, that require an air brake test in accordance with 49
C.F.R., Part 232 or 238; and
5. “Siding or passing track” means a sidetrack with switches at
both ends.
SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 105 of Title 66, unless there is
created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. No railroad company operating in this state shall run or
permit to be run any train that exceeds eight thousand five hundred
(8,500) feet in length or exceeds the length of the shortest siding
or passing track on which it travels on any main line or branch
line, or that routinely or repeatedly blocks any intersection for
periods exceeding ten (10) minutes at one time.
B. Except as provided in subsection C of this section, if any
railroad company has been determined by the Transportation
Commission as willfully violating subsection A of this section, the
company shall be liable for a civil penalty not less than Five
Hundred Dollars ($500.00) per foot nor more than One Thousand
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Dollars ($1,000.00) per foot of the length of a train exceeding the
limitation set forth in subsection A of this section.
C. Any railroad company that commits a grossly negligent
violation or that has a pattern of repeated violations, which the
Transportation Commission has determined caused an imminent threat
of death or injury to another person or that caused death or injury
to another person, shall be subject to a fine not to exceed Two
Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000.00).
D. In determining the amount of a civil penalty under this
section, the Transportation Commission shall consider the:
1. Nature, circumstances, extent, and seriousness of the
violation; and
2. Degree of culpability, history of violations, ability to
pay, and any effect on the violator’s ability to continue to do
business.
E. At the request of the Transportation Commission, the
Attorney General may initiate a civil action in any court of
competent jurisdiction to collect any civil penalty imposed pursuant
to this section. A civil action under this section shall be
commenced within three (3) years of the date of the violation or
within three (3) years of the latest violation if a repeated offense
is alleged.
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F. Any civil penalty received under this section shall be
deposited in the State Transportation Fund created under Section
1501.1 of Title 69 of the Oklahoma Statutes.
SECTION 3. This act shall become effective November 1, 2025.
60-1-119 MSBB 1/19/2025 5:39:37 AM