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An in-depth examination of nationwide freight rail policy is on a House committee’s agenda before lawmakers leave Washington for the August recess.
Transportation and Infrastructure’s Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee will convene July 23 for a hearing specific to train safety. Senior lawmakers intend to press stakeholders on industry best practices as well as call for bipartisan support for legislation that would further promote safety and freight connectivity.
The hearing comes more than a year after a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. A recent National Transportation Safety Board report examined the firm’s immediate response to the derailment.
Ahead of the hearing titled, “Examining the State of Rail Safety in the Aftermath of the Derailment in East Palestine, Ohio,” Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas), the subcommittee’s chairman, introduced a measure meant to boost safety requirements for trains transporting hazardous materials. Months before the bill’s introduction, the chairman championed bipartisanship with regard to freight policy.
“I have been working in a bipartisan manner with fellow committee members to address the root causes of the East Palestine, Ohio, derailment in [February] 2023,” Nehls said, “and I have also visited sites around the country with my Democratic counterparts to hear directly from the good men and women who work in our nation’s rail industry.”
Shortly after the derailment, Rep. Emilia Sykes (D-Ohio) introduced the Reducing Accidents in Locomotive (RAIL) Act. House Republican leaders have yet to schedule consideration for either measure.
“My bipartisan RAIL Act addresses many of the concerns outlined in this report, including strengthening regulations to prevent wheel-bearing failures,” Sykes said recently. “Now, the House Majority must immediately pass the RAIL Act to protect Americans and prevent a similar derailment from happening again.”
The Biden administration has criticized congressional Republicans for what they describe as legislative inaction.
“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 the U.S. Department of Transportation on June 25.
Cantwell
On the other side of the Capitol, last year a Senate committee approved the bipartisan Railway Safety Act. Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) said it “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.”
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), former President Donald Trump’s pick for vice president, is a co-sponsor. He has called 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.”
In NTSB’s final report published June 25, the independent agency determined a railcar’s defective wheel bearing caused the derailment on Feb. 3, 2023.
“Our agency doesn’t wait for death or injury to occur,” NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said. “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.”
The Association of American Railroads reacted to NTSB’s findings: “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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