Railroad Safety Requirements

Header text changed from 'REREVISED' to 'REVISED' with updated language indicating amendments were adopted on second reading in the Second House.

Removed 17 House co-sponsors (Lieder, Bird, Boesenecker, Brown, Clifford, Duran, Froelich, Garcia, Hamrick, Jackson, Joseph, Lindsay, Lindstedt, Martinez, Mauro, McCluskie, Paschal, Rutinel, Sirota, Smith, Story, Titone) from the House sponsorship list, leaving only Mabrey and Velasco, Lieder.

Removed '3rd Reading Unamended' stamp dated May 2, 2025 from the House section.

Header changed from 'PREAMENDED' to 'REREVISED' to indicate all amendments have been adopted in the Second House.

Added new House sponsors: Bird, Boesenecker, Brown, Clifford, Duran, Froelich, Garcia, Hamrick, Jackson, Joseph, Lindsay, Lindstedt, Martinez, Mauro, McCluskie, Paschal, Rutinel, Sirota, Smith, Story, Titone.

Removed original bill summary text (lines 1-27) that detailed the rationale for creating an office of rail safety, including reasons about public health, environmental sustainability, and funding structure.

Added reading status information showing the bill was amended on May 1, 2025, and 3rd Reading Unamended on May 2, 2025.

Added a requirement for the state's watch center to notify the Public Utilities Commission and Office of Rail Safety immediately after receiving emergency notifications from railroads.

Modified emergency notification procedures to include a chain of notifications from railroad to watch center to commission and office, with specific information requirements.

Granted the Public Utilities Commission sole authority to inspect, investigate, and regulate Class I railroads, railroads using former Class I lines, and passenger railroads.

Established a requirement for regulated railroads to pay fees to cover the commission's and office's costs, with quarterly installments and penalties for late payment.

Removed detailed definitions for environmental areas such as 'Corrective Action,' 'Environmentally Critical Area,' and 'Vulnerable Environmental Corridor' from the statute.

Removed a repeal provision that was set to take effect on July 1, 2025.

Removed placeholder text, formatting errors, and extraneous markup from the bill document.

Corrected section numbering and alignment issues throughout the document.

Fixed inconsistent spacing and line breaks in the legislative text.

Added new definitions for 'Corrective Action', 'Environmentally Critical Area', and 'Vulnerable Environmental Corridor' to clarify what constitutes protected areas and required safety actions.

Modified the definition of 'Fund' to repeal the previous reference and clarify that fines collected will be credited to the State Highway Fund.

Modified emergency notification requirements to establish a clearer chain of communication between the Department of Public Safety watch center, the Public Utilities Commission, and the Office of Rail Safety within 30 days of an incident.

Added requirements for the Office of Rail Safety to notify community and industry advisory committees within 30 days of receiving emergency notifications.

Added reporting deadlines requiring the Public Utilities Commission to submit annual reports to legislative committees by February 1 of each year starting in 2026.

Added immunity provisions protecting railroad employees and crew members from civil liability when responding to emergencies in good faith.

Added multiple new sponsors to the Senate sponsorship list, including Amabile, Ball, Bridges, Danielson, Daugherty, Exum, Gonzales J., Jodeh, Kipp, Kolker, Marchman, Michaelson Jenet, Mullica, Roberts, Rodriguez, Sullivan, Wallace, and Weissman Winter F.

Updated the legislative status header from 'ENGROSSED' to 'REENGROSSED' and changed the amendment description to reflect that all amendments were adopted in the House of Introduction rather than on Second Reading.

Removed Section 2 which amended 40-20-302 to add definitions for 'CORRECTIVE ACTION' and repealed existing definitions, which previously defined corrective action as activities to ensure railroad tracks, cars, locomotives, and equipment are in good condition for safe train operations.

Added a new provision stating that railroads should not face multiple fee structures, and that a new office of rail safety fund should provide a single funding source for rail safety and highway-rail grade crossing regulation.

Removed a previous declaration that Colorado must fund the office of rail safety to ensure highest safety standards, which was replaced by the new funding provision.

Amended the bill to repeal and re-add specific definitions in Colorado Revised Statutes 40-20-302, including changes to how 'environmentally critical area' and 'vulnerable environmental corridor' are defined.

Added a note indicating that the version includes all amendments adopted on second reading in the House of Introduction, dated April 22, 2025.