City of Edmond, Oklahoma, et al. v. BNSF Railway Company

When trains block traffic at road intersections, they impose numerous safety risks. Oklahoma enacted a statute prohibiting trains from stopping where rails cross streets or highways for more than ten minutes, subject to certain exceptions. Despite the safety concerns caused by blocked crossings, over which state authority is preserved by the Federal Railroad Safety Act (“FRSA”), 49 U.S.C. § 20106(a)(2), the Tenth Circuit found Oklahoma’s statute preempted under the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act, 49 U.S.C. § 10501(b) (“ICCTA”). The questions presented are:

1. In determining whether a state law affecting railroads is preempted, may a court look only to the ICCTA, as the Fifth and Tenth Circuits have held, or must courts also consider all other relevant federal railroad statutes (such as the FRSA), as the Second, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth and D.C. Circuits have held?

2. Does state authority over rail safety, expressly preserved by the FRSA, include public safety at rail crossings, as the Eighth Circuit holds with agreement from the relevant federal agency, or is it limited to state regulation of the safety of participants in the railroad system, as the Tenth Circuit held?