The nomination of Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) as the Republican candidate for Vice President of the United States has put the Railway Safety Act (S. 576) back into the spotlight. Meanwhile, new legislation introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives would make C3RS mandatory at all Class I railroads, among other proposed reforms to rail safety.
Sen. Vance and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) introduced the bipartisan legislation in early 2023 in response to the rail disaster in East Palestine, Ohio. While Sen. Brown has had Democratic support for some time, the legislation has stalled as Sen. Vance has failed to round up support from skeptical Senate Republicans.
BLET First Vice President Mark Wallace, in an interview with Bloomberg Government, said the pressure is now on Vance to deliver as a lead sponsor of the bill. “The spotlight is really on Senator Vance to motivate the Republicans on his side of the aisle to put public safety ahead of profit,” Wallace said. “If you look historically at other vice presidents, such as Lyndon Johnson and even Joe Biden, they were very effective in their administration roles as vice presidents, doing just that, moving bipartisan legislation.”
Wallace went on to tell Bloomberg, “If he can’t pass this legislation, it’s going to call into question how he’s going to be able to garner support for other measures on the Hill, if his ticket does win. It’s a test for Senator Vance.”
On July 15, a few days before the Vance nomination, new rail safety legislation that would mandate the C3RS safety program was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) and Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA). Called the Railroad Safety Enhancement Act of 2024 (H.R. 8996), the proposed legislation, like its Senate counterpart, would set federal limits on train length; mandate two-person train crews; place restrictions on the weight of trains; set standards for railcar maintenance, track maintenance, and wayside defect detectors; and raise standards for tank cars carrying hazardous materials.
Among the differences with the Senate bill, the Nehls/Moulton measure contains a provision for mandatory use of C3RS. In a statement released to the news media, BLET National President Eddie Hall praised the new House bill and its inclusion of C3RS and said that these safety reforms would be beneficial to railroaders as well as the general public:
“The slow adoption of C3RS along with dozens of safety lapses identified by the NTSB in its recent report on the East Palestine derailment demonstrate that the major railroads cannot be trusted to self-regulate. This is not inside baseball, it’s clear that there is a growing public awareness and anxiety caused by the misplaced priorities and irresponsible behavior of the railroads, much of it linked to the Precision Scheduled Railroading business model. PSR is stretching the limits of safe railroad operations.
“Railroad workers, along with the public, understand that the railroads cannot be trusted to get this one right on their own. Congressional action is desperately needed to keep both railroaders and the communities our members operate through safe.”