D-BLOC Act

This bill introduces a new federal standard limiting how long railroad carriers can block public highway-rail grade crossings. Under the proposed law, a railroad may not cause a blocked crossing incident lasting longer than 10 minutes , unless specific circumstances apply, such as a casualty, accident, track obstruction, or actions necessary for federal rail safety compliance. Other exceptions include trains fully within rail yard limits, acts of God, or equipment failures preventing movement. For crossings experiencing frequent violations—defined as three or more incidents exceeding 10 minutes on at least three separate days within a 30-day period—the Secretary of Transportation must investigate the causes and potential solutions. Railroads involved in such incidents would be required to maintain detailed train location data records , including incident duration and cause. The bill also allows for the imposition of civil penalties for violations of the 10-minute limit, particularly if a pattern of incidents continues to delay emergency services, though certain exemptions apply if no alternate route exists or if a grade separation project is planned and funded. The legislation also strengthens the existing federal blocked crossing portal by requiring Class I railroad carriers to publish an active link to it on their public websites. Furthermore, it mandates that railroads, upon receiving a report of a blocked crossing, verify if the crossing was blocked for at least 10 minutes and, if so, enter the incident into the portal within 14 days. This aims to improve data collection and public transparency regarding blocked crossings, though Amtrak and commuter authorities are exempt from these provisions.