Buttigieg calls for higher maximum fines for railroad safety breaches
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a letter Sunday to Norfolk Southern chief executive Alan Shaw that he would call on Congress to raise the cap on fines for railroad safety breaches, saying an increase was needed to serve as a deterrent to the huge companies that dominate the industry.
The current maximum fine is $225,455, according to federal rules. Norfolk Southern’s revenue last year was $12.7 billion.
Buttigieg said the Biden administration would also propose in coming days other railroad safety measures in the wake of the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine, Ohio.
“Norfolk Southern and your industry must demonstrate that you will not seek to supercharge profits by resisting higher standards that could benefit the safety of workers and the safety of American communities,” Buttigieg wrote.
Past rail disasters have spurred efforts to tighten federal oversight of the industry, steps that major railroads have typically lobbied against and often been able to resist, including rules on braking systems and crew size requirements. Buttigieg pointed to that record in his letter Sunday, saying it was time for Norfolk Southern to take a leadership role on safety.
He called on the company to adopt “a posture that focuses on supporting, not thwarting, efforts to raise the standard of U.S. rail safety regulation.”
Norfolk Southern said it had received the letter and was reviewing it. The Association of American Railroads, an industry group, has said it is premature to talk about any changes to regulations while the
National Transportation Safety Board investigation into the derailment is in its early stages.
Shaw visited East Palestine on Saturday and said in a statement that he had inspected the ongoing cleanup work.
“In every conversation today, I shared how deeply sorry I am this happened to their home,” Shaw said. “We are going to do the right things to help East Palestine recover and thrive again.”
The derailment in East Palestine and the controlled burn of vinyl chloride that left a plume of black smoke over the village has put Norfolk Southern’s safety record - and the business practices of the industry more generally - under scrutiny. But at the same time, the Biden administration has been criticized for its own response, with some residents and lawmakers questioning whether the federal government is doing enough to aid the community.
The White House has said in the face of that criticism that federal agencies were there within hours of the derailment.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is expected to send a crew of workers to the site after Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) and Thomas C. Sivak, the agency’s regional administrator, reached an agreement, DeWine announced in a Saturday news release.
“FEMA and the State of Ohio have been in constant contact regarding emergency operations in East Palestine. U.S. EPA and Ohio EPA have been working together since day one,” DeWine said.
In the letter Sunday, Buttigieg underscored that the Federal Railroad Administration was conducting its own analysis of the derailment and will seek to use its own authorities to hold Norfolk Southern accountable for any safety violations.
That could include fines, which the FRA’s guidelines typically set in the range of several thousand dollars although each day a rule is broken can count as a separate violation.