Hill Democrats Urge Action on Rail Safety Legislation
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Congressional Democrats on the transportation committees are pressing for approval of rail safety legislation after an investigation of a high-profile freight train derailment in Ohio in 2023.
The senior Democrats pointed to measures meant to enhance safety operations on the heels of the National Transportation Safety Board’s revelatory findings about the Norfolk Southern derailment in East Palestine.
“Railroads have been treating derailments as the cost of doing business — each incident poses a risk to communities, train crews, first responders and the environment,” Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) said June 25.
Specific to last year’s committee approval of the bipartisan Railway Safety Act, Cantwell added the bill “takes key steps to address both the East Palestine derailment and the 1,285 other derailments that happened last year alone, including 39 in the state of Washington.”
(Al Drago/Bloomberg News)
“Congress must act to strengthen safety oversight, require the use of advanced safety technologies and improve emergency preparedness on our railways,” she said.
The Railway Safety Act proposes updates to Federal Railroad Administration guidelines and promotes enhancing industry safety standards. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), the bill’s co-sponsor, pressed for the bill’s passage.
“These [NTSB] findings underscore the need for Congress to pass the Railway Safety Act, which would go a long way to improve our rail safety standards and prevent future disasters like what happened in East Palestine,” Vance said. “I won’t stop fighting for those residents until they get the accountability they deserve.”
Norfolk Southern headquarters in Atlanta. (Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg News)
On the other side of the Capitol, Democratic Reps. Rick Larsen of Washington and Emilia Sykes of Ohio noted House Republicans’ inaction on their efforts to directly respond to the derailment in East Palestine. The Reducing Accidents in Locomotive (RAIL) Act is co-sponsored by Sykes.
“With this [NTSB] information in hand, there is absolutely no excuse for Congress not to act on policy that will improve rail safety, ensure hazardous materials are transported safely and hold Norfolk Southern accountable for the trauma they have inflicted on the residents of East Palestine,” said Sykes, a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Sykes
“My bipartisan RAIL Act addresses many of the concerns outlined in this report, including strengthening regulations to prevent wheel-bearing failures,” she added. “Now, the House Majority must immediately pass the RAIL Act to protect Americans and prevent a similar derailment from happening again.”
Larsen, the committee’s ranking member, added, “Congress must pass common-sense reforms that improve rail safety for the sake of rail workers, to protect communities all over the country and to hold operators accountable for the safe transportation of people and goods by rail.”
House Republican leaders have not scheduled consideration for the measure. For this, the Biden administration took aim at the chamber’s Republican leaders.
Larsen
“Following the Norfolk Southern derailment last year, the administration has mobilized a comprehensive, cross-agency effort to support the people of East Palestine, Ohio. And, while the president has been pushing to increase rail safety, House Republicans have actively worked against this progress by voting to cut rail safety measures,” according to a statement June 25 from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
In NTSB’s final report published June 25, the independent agency determined a railcar’s defective wheel bearing caused the derailment Feb. 3, 2023, as well as the subsequent release of hazardous material. The bearing on a hopper car failed and overheated, according to investigators.
Homendy
“Unfortunately, some have sought to minimize the wide-ranging impacts of this derailment, pointing to the fact that there were no fatalities or injuries. For this, we are certainly grateful, but the absence of a fatality or injury doesn’t mean the presence of safety,” NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said. “Our agency doesn’t wait for death or injury to occur. Instead, we objectively analyze the facts and evidence to make recommendations that, if implemented, will ensure this never happens again. Thanks to the hard work of our world-class investigators, we now have a road map to do just that.”
In a statement directed at the Association of American Railroads, NTSB recommended developing a “database of bearing failures and replacements and make it available to railroads, regulators and investigators to help determine and address failure risk factors.”
Freight railroads’ mission every day is to safeguard employees and communities. Since 2023, railroads have translated lessons learned into swift action to enhance safety.🧵1/5 https://t.co/bSw6ByyNrO — AAR (@AAR_FreightRail) June 25, 2024
AAR touted ongoing industry efforts and safety campaigns meant to guarantee safety and efficiency. The group insisted commercial railroads continue to strengthen their portfolio of safety operations.
“NTSB investigators have spent over a year analyzing the derailment’s causes to inform recommendations aimed at preventing similar accidents,” said Michael Rush, senior vice president of AAR safety and operations. “Railroads implemented substantial, industrywide improvements in response to the NTSB’s initial findings. With the final report, railroads will carefully evaluate key learnings and determine next steps to meaningfully advance safety.”
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