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Bill 1257

                    Current Status

Bill Number:                      1257
Type of Legislation:              General Bill GB
Introducing Body:                 Senate
Introduced Date:                  20020430
Primary Sponsor:                  Hutto
All Sponsors:                     Hutto and Matthews
Drafted Document Number:          l:\council\bills\gjk\21268sd02.doc
Residing Body:                    Senate
Current Committee:                Transportation Committee 15 ST
Subject:                          Public Service Commission allowed to 
                                  restrict the speed of trains in close 
                                  proximity to schools


                        History

Body    Date      Action Description                     Com     Leg Involved
______  ________  ______________________________________ _______ ____________
Senate  20020430  Introduced, read first time,           15 ST
                  referred to Committee


              Versions of This Bill

TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 58-15-915 SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION ACTING AS A STATE INSTRUMENTALITY MAY FURTHER RESTRICT THE SPEED OF TRAINS OR LOCOMOTIVES PASSING IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO TWO OR MORE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, SECONDARY SCHOOLS, OR INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING, OR ANY COMBINATIONS THEREOF, WITHIN A DISTANCE SPECIFIED BY THE COMMISSION.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. The General Assembly finds that:

(1) the Supremacy Clause of Article VI of the United States Constitution provides that the laws of the United States shall be the supreme law of the land, anything in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding, and invests in the Congress the power to preempt state law;

(2) preemption occurs when Congress, in enacting a federal statute, expresses a clear intent to preempt state law, when there is outright or actual conflict between federal and state law, where compliance with both federal and state law is in effect physically impossible, where there is implicit in federal law a barrier to state regulation, where Congress has legislated comprehensively, thus occupying an entire field of regulation and leaving no room for the states to supplement federal law, or where the state law stands as an obstacle to the accomplishment and execution for the full objectives of Congress;

(3) the critical question in any preemption analysis is always whether Congress intended that federal regulation supersede state law;

(4) the Congress has enacted the Federal Railway Safety Act (FRSA) regulating various railroad safety and transit matters;

(5) the FRSA contains a preemption clause which provides in part that laws, regulations, and orders related to railroad safety shall be nationally uniform to the extent practicable. A state may adopt or continue in force a law, regulation, or order related to railroad safety until the Secretary of Transportation prescribes a regulation or issues an order covering the subject mater of the state requirement. A state may adopt or continue in force an additional or more stringent law, regulation, or order related to railroad safety when the law, regulation, or order related to railroad safety:

(1) is necessary to eliminate or reduce an essentially local safety hazard;

(2) is not incompatible with a law, regulation, or order of the United States Government; and

(3) does not unreasonably burden interstate commerce.

(6) Congress expressly intended that the FRSA preempt all railroad safety legislation except state law governing an area in which the Secretary of Transportation has not issued a regulation or order and the state law is more strict than federal regulations when necessary to address local problems;

(7) many states including South Carolina have vehicular laws which further restrict the speed which may be traveled in school zones separate and apart from the speed limits generally applicable;

(8) there appears to be no federal provision to date under the Federal Railway Safety Act which provides for specific slower speeds to be traveled by trains passing through school zones similar to comparable vehicular laws;

(9) the State of South Carolina in the interest of child and student safety is therefore permitted to act until such time as federal law or regulations specific to this problem supersede state law.

SECTION 2. The 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 58-15-915. The Public Service Commission acting as a state instrumentality may further restrict the speed of trains or locomotives passing in close proximity to two or more elementary schools, secondary schools, or institutions of higher learning, or any combinations thereof, within a distance specified by the commission. The speed set by the commission in these school zones must be more restrictive than the general speed permitted by federal law or regulation in these areas. The provisions of any federal law or regulation setting specific train speeds in school zones shall supersede any such restrictions established by the Public Service Commission."

SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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