House Bill Seeks $100M Annual Grant for Rail Safety Upgrades
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WASHINGTON — Senior members of the U.S. House Transportation Committee recently introduced legislation to enhance safety requirements for trains carrying hazardous materials.
Reps. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) and Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) unveiled the Railroad Safety Enhancement Act of 2024, which comes about a year and a half after a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio.
The bill would authorize a $100 million annual grant program through fiscal 2028 at the Federal Railroad Administration to help railcar manufacturers install onboard freight telematics systems. It also would create an FRA pilot program to develop onboard sensors and require Class 1 freight railroads and Amtrak to enroll for two years in FRA’s Confidential Close Call Reporting System.
“As chairman of the Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials subcommittee, I am proud to introduce the Railroad Safety Enhancement Act of 2024,” Nehls said July 23. “This bipartisan legislation will help modernize our nation’s rail network and invest in crucial programs that will enhance our rail network’s safety. I applaud my Republican Senate colleague, Republican vice-presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance for introducing the Railway Safety Act of 2023, which is a core component of this legislation. Thank you to my colleague, Rep. Seth Moulton, for working with me on this legislation, and I look forward to working with all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to get this legislation across the finish line.”
Moulton echoed the sentiment from Nehls.
Moulton
“For too long, the Class 1 railroads have prioritized profits over all else. It’s time for that to end. This bill is a true bipartisan and bicameral effort, and it has the backing of key unions,” Moulton said. “Freight rail is the most efficient and safest way to transport goods across our country, and it provides over 160,000 American jobs, but these improvements are overdue. This bill would ensure that this $80 billion industry operates more safely and efficiently for years to come.”
Rep. Michael Rulli (R-Ohio), a co-lead sponsor, said, “This legislation is imperative to ensure that tragedies like the derailment we saw in East Palestine never happen again.”
Rep. Emilia Sykes (D-Ohio), who introduced the Reducing Accidents in Locomotive (RAIL) Act after last year’s derailment, is also a co-lead sponsor.
“This bipartisan legislation contains many of the same provisions that were in my RAIL Act, and will similarly improve rail safety, hold negligent rail corporations accountable, and keep our communities safe. This legislation is long overdue, and I hope to see this bill move quickly through the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee,” Sykes said.
NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg News)
House leaders have yet to schedule votes on the measure. In the Senate, Vance (R-Ohio) joined Democrats in pushing for passage of the Commerce Committee-passed Railway Safety Act.
“The derailment and subsequent chemical explosion were preventable tragedies resulting from a series of errors made by Norfolk Southern and its contractors,” Vance said. “The NTSB findings also call the [President Joe] Biden Department of Justice’s premature settlement into serious question. Had they waited for these findings to be revealed, they could have secured more for the people of East Palestine.”
Last month, the National Transportation Safety Board published a report on the East Palestine derailment response. NTSB determined a railcar’s defective wheel bearing caused the Feb. 3, 2023 derailment.
NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy on July 23 told House lawmakers, “We strongly believe that continued vigilance and improvement are needed in our rail system. We recognize the progress that has been made; yet there will always be room for more when it comes to safety. We stand ready to work with the committee to continue improving rail safety, which includes ensuring that the NTSB has the resources needed to carry out our essential mission.”
The Association of American Railroads acknowledged the independent agency’s report.
“NTSB investigators have spent over a year analyzing the derailment’s causes to inform recommendations aimed at preventing similar accidents,” Michael Rush, senior vice president of AAR safety and operations said June 25. “Railroads implemented substantial, industry-wide 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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