Increase thresholds for railroad accident reporting requirements
SB 23 revises railroad accident reporting requirements for companies operating in Montana. The bill amends current law to empower the Public Service Commission to adopt rules that set specific thresholds for when a railroad accident must be reported. This grants the Commission the authority to define the criteria for reportable incidents, rather than requiring companies to report every accident. The changes directly affect railroad companies operating in the state and the Public Service Commission.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Dec 2024
Committee Review
Feb 2025
Senate Passage
Apr 2025
House Passage
Apr 2025
Signed into Law
Apr 2025
Introduced Dec 18, 2024
Signed Apr 18, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 7 comparisons
What changed between versions
SB0023_X(5).pdf
→
SB0023_X(6).pdf
·
4 edits
MODERATE
The bill's title was updated to clarify that the Commission has the authority to set reporting thresholds for railroad regulations. The text was also amended to explicitly state that Section 69-14-252 of the Montana Code Annotated is being amended, and the bill now provides for an immediate effective date.
Scope change
The bill's scope was clarified to specify that the Commission, rather than the Department, holds the authority to set reporting thresholds, and the amendment explicitly targets Section 69-14-252.
REQUIREMENT
The authority to set reporting thresholds was changed from the 'Department' to the 'Commission'.
The amendment to Section 69-14-252 was made explicit in the title.
TIMELINE
The bill now includes a provision for an immediate effective date.
TECHNICAL
Minor formatting changes were made to the bill's header and title structure.
Floor votes · Senate Mar 26, 2025 · House Mar 20, 2025
How they voted
50–0
Passed
Total votes 50
Mar 26, 2025
D
Democratic18
100% Yea
R
Republican32
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
42
Key actions
9
Committee
6
Amendments
1
Apr 17, 2025
Signed into law
(S) Signed by Governor
upper
Apr 7, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Signed by Speaker
lower
Apr 1, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Signed by President
upper
Mar 26, 2025
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (50-0)
senate
Mar 20, 2025
House · Passed
House Vote: pass (97-1-2)
house
Mar 20, 2025
Introduced
(H) Returned to Senate with Amendments
lower
Feb 13, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Report - (H) Energy, Technology and Federal Relations
lower
Feb 12, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Executive Action - (H) Energy, Technology and Federal Relations
lower
Jan 27, 2025
Committee
(H) Referred to Committee - (H) Energy, Technology and Federal Relations
lower
Jan 22, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Report - (S) Energy, Technology & Federal Relations
upper
Jan 21, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Executive Action - (S) Energy, Technology & Federal Relations
upper
Jan 7, 2025
Committee
(S) Referred to Committee - (S) Energy, Technology & Federal Relations
upper
Dec 18, 2024
Introduced
(S) Introduced
upper
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Daniel Zolnikov
RRepublican
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