To their credit, the Republican-led House and Democrat-led Senate committees of jurisdiction have resisted attempts by Members to react to the East Palestine, Ohio derailment by quickly passing legislation. Instead, they have been steadfast in their resolve to wait to act until after the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) votes to adopt and release the final findings, cause, and recommendations.
Unfortunately, several states have adopted legislation, without knowledge of the root cause of the incident or the recommendations that the Board ultimately made, based on its scientific investigations. Unsurprisingly, these laws are riddled with requirements that will not affect safety, and in some cases, may decrease safety as well as the competitive edge enjoyed by the railroads.
In an unusual and perhaps unprecedented move, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy brought the Board to East Palestine for the second time since the incident for public hearings and an official meeting at which the Report was adopted.
The NTSB’s analyses are always thorough, and the reports include recommendations for not only the regulated modes of transportation but also for the Agencies responsible for modal safety. While some Members are pushing to impose overly burdensome regulations, it would be a mistake for Congress to try and rush to pass a bill in an election year that won’t improve rail safety but will make rail less competitive.
It's the inevitable push for quick action that concerns me. Since first being elected to the Alaska State Legislature in 1984, I’ve been a legislator, a federal regulator, and a lobbyist and strategist. I have learned that moving quickly for the sake of a campaign ad is rarely conducive to producing an efficient and effective rule, regulation, law, or license.
The Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) mission is safety – they are responsible for you and/or your cargo getting from point A to point B without incident and by any appropriate mode. As reported by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the safest land-based method of moving large quantities of hazardous chemicals over long distances is by rail. And, more than 99.99 percent of all hazardous materials (HazMat) moved by rail in the US reach their destination without a release caused by a rail incident. In fact, railroads have reduced incidents involving HazMat by 75 percent since 2000.
For decades, railroads have been working with government and industry partners to train first responders to respond to a hazmat rail incident safely and quickly. In 2023 alone, freight railroads trained more than 20,000 first responders in local communities nationwide. Industry trained another 2,000 first responders at the Security and Emergency Response Training Center (SERTC) – a world-class research facility used by industry, railroads, and other modes to develop safety enhancements that are being constantly implemented.
Responding to the concerns of emergency responders, various rail association groups came together to create the AskRail App in 2014. The app provides first responders with immediate access to accurate, timely data about what type of hazmat an individual railcar is carrying so that they can make an informed decision about how to respond to a particular emergency. Almost 2.5 million first responders have access to AskRail today.
You may be surprised to learn that federal agencies don’t blindly follow the NTSB’s recommendations. There are often negotiations and, in some cases, agencies have satisfactorily demonstrated that a particular recommendation was not prudent, would not be cost-effective, would not prevent incidents, or would compromise safe operations.
Congress should take the time to hear from not only the NTSB but also from the agencies responsible for rail and hazmat transportation safety, the railroads, their shippers, and the public, before passing legislation. They should focus on those recommendations that would improve safety rather than enacting legislation that will impose overly burdensome regulations and make one of the safest modes of transportation less competitive.
Instead, Congress and the regulators should work with the rail industry to implement the NTSB recommendations that will enhance safety in a cost-effective manner while also working together to find other innovative ways to make rail transportation safer.
By working together, legislators, regulators, and industry can focus on proven technologies and innovation to keep everyone safe.
Drue Pearce served as Deputy Administrator of the Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) at the USDOT, as a senior advisor to U.S. Department of the Interior Secretaries Gale Norton and Dirk Kempthorne, and as the Federal Coordinator at the Office of Federal Coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects. She is currently the Director of Government Affairs at Holland and Hart.
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