In response to the June 22 crash on the D.C. Metro’s Red line that left nine dead, two bills that would federalize safety regulations on American light-rail and subway systems are before Congress, according to a press release from the office of Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.).

Current authority over safety regulations lies in 27 independent institutions, many of which do not have adequate resources to fulfill their duties, according to The Washington Post. 

President Obama’s administration proposes that the regional oversight committees currently capable of operating according to federal guidelines retain their powers, with government subsidies. The committees that are incapable of operating within the guidelines will be replaced by direct federal oversight if the president’s plan is implemented, according to The Washington Post. 

The Tri-State Oversight Committee, the D.C. Metrorail’s regulator, is among the most poorly equipped, with no employees or contact information, the Post reported. In a September 2009 letter to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, the general manager of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, John Catoe Jr., along with the heads of the D.C., Maryland and Virginia Transportation Departments, pitched the idea of reform at the regional level.

“Effective safety oversight requires granting a state or regional agency not only oversight responsibility, but also the authority, expertise and resources to carry out that responsibility,” the letter stated. “We are taking steps to strengthen the TOC to improve safety oversight of the Metrorail system.”

The steps mentioned in the letter include increasing funding and staffing as well as creating accident information sharing requirements.

The new congressional legislation seeks to authorize the Department of Transportation to make safety regulations and to create oversight at the federal level. It would require the National Transportation Safety Board to provide guidance in the implementation of safe practices.

The National Metro Safety Act, sponsored by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), seeks to establish uniform, national safety standards under the Federal Transit Authority. The bill recommends that regulations improve emergency access, the effectiveness of train event recorders (used to store data on a train’s controls and performance) and expand hours of service. The act leaves specific regulations to the discretion of the Transportation Secretary and the National Transportation Safety Board.

Norton’s bill, H.R. 3975, the National Transportation Safety Board Interim Safety Recommendation Act of 2009, compels the NTSB to offer alternative safety strategies to rails systems that could not meet federal standards. This allows existing systems that lack the time and money to make alterations to operate at an enhanced safety level. Norton, a co-sponsor of both bills, wishes to include both bills in the president’s plan, according to the press release.  

The House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit will meet to discuss federal responsibility for public transit safety on Tuesday, Dec. 8.  “