Roundtable highlights push for rail safety measure
Democrats trying to move along stalled bill
WASHINGTON — Witnesses and lawmakers at a House Democratic roundtable Wednesday pushed for passage of railroad safety legislation introduced last year after a chemical-carrying freight train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio.
The Railway Safety Act has stalled after passing the Senate Commerce Committee last May; some Senate Republicans have objected to the regulations that would be imposed on the railroad industry, and House Republicans have failed to bring it up in their chamber.
“Our experience underscores the urgent need for the comprehensive rail safety standards, despite the profit-driven efforts of the railroad companies to prevent them,” said Anna Sevi-Doss, a small business owner in East Palestine. “We advocate for not just for our town but for all the communities across the nation that are facing similar threats. We urge you to pass the comprehensive rail safety legislation ensuring that what happened here in East Palestine does not recur elsewhere.”
U.S. Rep. Donald Payne Jr. of New Jersey, the ranking Democrat on the railroad subcommittee, said he scheduled what was billed as a roundtable after he couldn’t even get the GOP majority to hold a hearing on railroad safety.
“We see continued derailments and incidents every single day,” he said.
The East Palestine derailment occurred in February 2023 when dozens of cars of a Norfolk Southern train, many of them carrying toxic chemicals, went off the tracks in East Palestine. The subsequent controlled release and burn of toxic chemicals days later prompted the evacuation of the small Ohio village, sent a plume of black smoke into the skies over Beaver County and left residents on both sides of
the border fearful of the long-term health effects.
Since then, two other trains have gone off the tracks in Ohio, said U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes, a Democrat who represents a district west of East Palestine.
“Americans across the political spectrum are concerned and continue to be concerned with the lack of action,” she said. “There has been a complete lack and utter void of rail safety conversations here in the House.”
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg this week called out the railroad industry for blocking the safety bill, which was introduced in response to the February 2023 derailment by U.S. Sens. Bob Casey and John Fetterman, D- Pa.; Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio; and J.D. Vance, R-Ohio; and by U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Aspinwall.
“The freight rail industry stands in opposition to important provisions in the bipartisan Railway Safety Act,” Mr. Buttigieg said in a letter to Ian Jefferies, president and CEO of the Association of American Railroads. “It would be a welcome, watershed moment if AAR were to change course and support the passage.”
The bill would require railroads to install equipment along tracks to detect potential flaws in train cars, such as the wheel bearings that eventually failed in East Palestine; add vinyl chloride and other toxic gases to the list of chemicals transported by rail requiring speed restrictions and spill response plans; increase inspections and maintenance; and let communities know which chemicals are being carried on trains passing by.
In addition, the legislation would require trains carrying toxic chemicals to have two crew members on board, and it would increase the maximum penalty for violating rail safety laws — from $100,000 to $10 million.
Mr. Buttigieg’s letter came in response to an earlier letter from Mr. Jefferies touting the industry’s commitment to safety.
“Freight rail is absolutely the safest mode of freight transport (in addition to having the lowest environmental impact) and is consistently getting safer,” he wrote to Mr. Buttigieg last month. “We are driving every day to find ways to continue to reduce injuries and accidents. We will not relent on this core mission.”
Mr. Jeffries said the anniversary of the East Palestine derailment “triggered renewed public interest in the event and in freight rail safety more broadly” and provided “an opportunity to correct partial truths and misinformation as well as to educate the country about how important and safe freight rail is and how committed the railroads are to enhancing safety even further.”
But at the hearing, House Democrats and union leaders bemoaned what they said was a reduced commitment to safety in favor of making more money.
“What we are seeing today are efforts to take shortcuts on labor, safety and service all in the pursuit of profits,” Mr. Payne said.
At one point in the roundtable, Mr. Deluzio asked the union leaders present, “Do you trust the railroads to regulate themselves?”
“Absolutely not,” said Peter Kennedy, international representative for Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers’ mechanical division.
“They’ve had nothing but opportunities to regulate themselves. The status quo will not suffice here ... The stubborn trend is that people are still dying at work. I want to get to a year where we have zero deaths.”
“Surprise, I don’t trust them either,” Mr. Deluzio responded. “I think we need meaningful legislation. Let’s move this legislation, and let’s give folks a chance to vote on it and protect communities like mine.”