HOWIE Act

Helping Oversee and Ward off Infrastructure Emergencies Act or the HOWIE Act

This bill directs the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to revise current railroad accident reporting requirements to include additional causes of damage. Specifically, FRA must require a railroad to report a train accident that results in damage if the railroad has a reasonable suspicion that an action carried out by the railroad caused the damage. An accident includes any incident that causes a fire, including a brush fire, alongside a railroad track.

Other titles

the names this measure carries besides the one at the top of this page, each with the record's own label for it. The collection includes titles given to parts of a bill as well as to the whole.

To require the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations requiring a rail carrier to report certain damage if such carrier has a reasonable suspicion that an action carried out by the carrier caused such damage.Official Title as Introduced

HOWIE ActShort Title(s) as Introduced

Helping Oversee and Ward off Infrastructure Emergencies ActShort Title(s) as Introduced

Legislative history

H.R. 8012·House·Bill·Transportation and Public Works

Rep. Michael Lawler(Republican-New York-17)

Mar 19, 2026

IntroducedIntroduced in House

Mar 19, 2026

HouseReferred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

Mar 20, 2026

House · CommitteeReferred to the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.

Documents

Everything Congress printed about this measure. A bill is reprinted each time it changes, the Congressional Research Service summarizes each version, and the committee that reports a bill files its own written account of it.

Bill text

Mar 19, 2026As introduced in the House

Plain-language summaries

Mar 19, 2026Introduced in House