A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to update state law governing department of transportation oversight of the safety of rail fixed GUIDEWAY public transportation systems.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 136‑18(36) reads as rewritten:
"(36)	
a.	To oversee the safety of fixed guideway public transportation systems in the State not regulated by the Federal Railroad Administration, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 5329 and § 5330 and any reauthorizations of or amendments to those sections. The Department shall adopt rules in conformance with 49 U.S.C. § 5329 and 49 U.S.C. § 5330 concerning its oversight of the safety of fixed guideway public transportation systems.
b.	The Department shall examine and inspect the condition of each rail fixed guideway public transportation system and its equipment and facilities for the purpose of ensuring the safety and convenience of the public and the rail fixed guideway public transportation system's employees. If the Department finds any equipment or facilities to be unsafe, it shall at once notify the rail fixed guideway public transportation system and require the rail fixed guideway public transportation system to repair the equipment or facilities.
c.	The Department may conduct, in a manner consistent with federal law, a program of accident prevention and public safety covering all rail fixed guideway public transportation systems and may investigate the cause of any rail fixed guideway public transportation system accident. In order to facilitate this program, any rail fixed guideway public transportation system involved in an accident meeting the reporting thresholds defined by the Department shall report the accident to the Department.
d.	The Department shall review, approve, oversee, and enforce each rail fixed guideway public transportation system's implementation of the public transportation system safety plan required pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 5329(d).
e.	The Department shall audit, at least once triennially, each rail fixed guideway public transportation system's compliance with the public transportation agency safety plan required pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 5329(d).
f.	The Department shall provide, at least once annually, a status report on the safety of the rail fixed guideway public transportation systems overseen by the Department to the Federal Transit Administration, the Governor, and the Board of Directors, or equivalent entity, of any rail fixed guideway public transportation system the Department oversees.
g.	The Department shall not receive funding for the activities authorized by sub‑subdivisions a. through f. of this subdivision from any rail fixed guideway public transportation systems subject to the Department's authority pursuant to the provisions of sub‑subdivisions a. through f. of this subdivision."
SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.