July 27, 2024 - TRA Newswire -

Lawmakers, led by Texas Congressman Troy Nehls who heads the House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials, are showing bipartisan support and calling for new government regulations following last year's derailment and accident in East Palestine, Ohio.

In a Capitol Hill hearing July 23rd, Nehls (R-TX) cited the Railroad Safety Enhancement Act (RSEA) that he introduced in the U.S. House along with Congressman Seth Moulton (D-MA) that Nehls said builds on bipartisan legislation that passed out of the Senate Commerce Committee. 

In his opening remarks, Nehls said that RSEA would "require all class I railroads to enroll in the Confidential Close Call Reporting System for a period of two years.  This program is run by an independent third party and allows railroad employees to report close calls and unsafe incidents."

"Our legislation requires state DOTs to notify first responders of the existence of the AskRail app, which is a tool that provides real-time data to first responders about a train consis," according to the Sub Committee Chair.  "The first responders in East Palestine had issues accessing the AskRail app due to lack of connectivity.  Our bill creates an AskRail connectivity pilot program to fill gaps in service for the app along the national freight network."

Our legislation authorizes an additional $1 billion dollars for the Railroad Crossing Elimination Grant Program, said Nehls  "I’ll quote Ms. Homendy: “Grade crossings are among the deadliest spaces in our rail system, in part, because they are where our rail and highway systems meet.  Better separating these systems would save thousands of lives and incur many other benefits.”  I believe that the American people would value federal investment in this area.  It will not only reduce congestion on the network but also save lives."

The RSEA legislation would also authorize $100 million annually for the Federal Railroad Administration to establish a grant program to install onboard freight railcar telematics systems and gateway devices.  The program would outfit new and existing freight railcars carrying hazardous materials.  The program would provide shippers with real-time data about their tank cars’ health and performance.

The RSEA legislation does not include a periodic railcar inspection included in the Senate rail safety bill. The Chairman said that after discussions from a wide variety of stakeholders, the inspections were redundant and unnecessary.

The Senate Railway Safety Act was authored by U.S. Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) but does not contain four safety components that Nehls and Moulton proposed. Those were the Confidential Close Call Reporting System; AskRail connectivity pilot program; Telematics to modernize the tank car fleet and more funding for the Railroad Crossing Elimination Grant Program.

"Taking Senator Vance’s bill, and adding these four safety provisions, makes this a very good rail safety bill, and I humbly ask for your support because it’s the right thing to do", said Nehls, addressing his collogues. "I have read every page of the East Palestine final report, and reports related to other derailments and tragic incidents across the rail network.  The idea that we do not evolve in the safety realm is indefensible."

The bill also contains compromises on the phase-out date of DOT 111 tank cars that industry has indicated they can meet.

In his remarks Nehls said "I extended invites to several of the class I railroad CEOs.  It was my intention that they would use the opportunity to discuss the positive policies their companies have undertaken in the area of safety.  Some of these railroads have good stories to tell, and I have personally visited several of them.  I visited CN’s operation in Homewood, Illinois, and it was top-tier.  The types of technologies they are deploying are state of the art and will save lives, and I commend them for their efforts.  But we can do more."

Photo credit: Federal Railroad Administration