Buttigieg announces rail track inspections
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called on the rail industry to take immediate steps Tuesday to improve safety after the derailment in Ohio, including speeding the adoption of new tank cars and providing workers with paid sick leave.
Buttigieg said his department also would begin a round of track inspections on routes used by trains carrying hazardous materials and study the possibility of issuing rules requiring railroads to adopt new braking technology on some trains. He reiterated a call he made in a letter to the chief executive of Norfolk Southern on Sunday for Congress to raise the $225,455 maximum on fines for violations of railroad safety rules.
“This represents an important moment to redouble our efforts to make this far less likely to happen again in the future,” Buttigieg said.
Buttigieg, and the Biden administration more generally, have faced criticism for their response to the derailment, with some lawmakers, officials and residents questioning whether the federal government has done enough to help. Federal officials in recent days have been seeking to demonstrate steps to hold Norfolk Southern accountable.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator
Michael Regan visited the derailment site in East Palestine for a second time Tuesday, and the agency said it would take control of the cleanup efforts. Buttigieg told reporters Monday that he also would make a trip to the community “when the time is right.”
“I am very interested in getting to know the residents of East Palestine, hearing from them about how they’ve been impacted and communicating with them about the state of the steps that we are taking,” Buttigieg said.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the derailment of the 149-car Norfolk Southern train, but it could be months before agency investigators establish the cause of the incident and make safety recommendations. Nonetheless, Buttigieg said
action was needed now because, at about 1,000 a year, derailments remain “far too frequent.”
Ian Jefferies, chief executive of the Association of American Railroads, said Tuesday the NTSB’s investigation into the derailment should be allowed to continue “unimpeded by politics and speculation.”
“No community should ever face the events of February 3rd,” Jeffries said in a statement. “This is why railroads are steadfastly committed to solutions-oriented steps that directly address the cause of the accident and could prevent a similar accident from occurring elsewhere.”
The high-profile incident - characterized by images of a controlled burn of vinyl chloride that left a plume of thick, black smoke over the town - has spurred new interest in making changes to safety rules, even among some Republican lawmakers, whose party has been skeptical of regulation in the recent past.
Buttigieg referred to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) in a briefing with reporters Monday afternoon. Rubio wrote to Buttigieg last week to raise the prospect that a crew of three might be insufficient for a train of the length of the one that derailed - a comment that drew the attention of labor leaders who are backing a Biden administration proposal to require at least two crew on most trains.
“I can’t help but notice that the last time this agency heard from him on rail regulation was his signature, being on a letter that was pretty obviously drafted by industry calling on us to weaken our practices around track inspection,” Buttigieg said.
The letter was signed by 23 senators in support of automated track-testing technology.
Dan Holler, a spokesman for Rubio, said it was wrong to characterize the senator as a cheerleader for the industry. Holler pointed to an article Rubio wrote in December questioning the lengths the industry had gone to cut jobs in the name of boosting profits.
Rubio also joined with Democrats and a few other Republicans last year to vote in favor of providing sick leave to rail workers amid tense labor negotiations.