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A bill has been introduced by two Democrats – Ro Khanna of California and Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania – to shore up safety measures for trains carrying hazardous materials. Khanna and Deluzio hope to do this by broadening the definition of what constitutes a “high-hazard flammable train” so that trains carrying toxic materials are subject to tighter safety regulations.
Some of the rules the congresspeople are looking to put forth as reported by the New York Times are:
- High-hazard flammable trains are not allowed to travel faster than 50 miles per hour,
- They are to use special cars when transporting hazardous materials cross-country.
- They must have newer braking equipment.
Doesn’t the Department of Transportation already have these rules? The answer is yes…kind of. Currently, those rules only apply to trains with hazardous substances with a total of 35 cars. However, this new mandate would lower the threshold to only one rail car. The new legislation would also redefine what meets the qualification for “hazardous materials” and would require carriers to report to local officials, state officials, and the National Response Center within 24 hours of a train derailment of hazardous materials
Meanwhile, Democrats are calling on the CEO of Norfolk Southern to testify before Congress following the train derailment. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has asked the head of the rail company to answer questions on the disaster before a Senate panel and he's yet to respond.
Source: Axios