(CSX issued the following news release on April 18.)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation today released the following statement on the District Court’s decision:
CSX Transportation (CSXT) disagrees with the District Court’s decision to uphold the District of Columbia’s Act and will file an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit as quickly as possible. Today’s ruling rejects the legal opinions of the U.S. Departments of Transportation, Justice and Homeland Security, and an order from the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) declaring this law invalid.
CSXT is required by federal law to transport materials — including hazardous materials — properly tendered to it by customers. Rail transportation is widely recognized to be the safest way to transport hazardous materials.
Today’s decision sets up a clear conflict for CSXT between the Court’s decision, which would require CSXT to abide by the District’s law, and the contrary legal positions of the U.S. Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Transportation, and an order from the U.S. Surface Transportation Board declaring the District’s law invalid.
Moreover, CSXT believes that left unchallenged, the District’s law could establish a precedent that could lead to a patchwork of similar laws that could virtually shut down rail transportation of critical commodities in the United States. The city of Baltimore is already moving forward on similar legislation, and other cities are considering similar bans as well.
CSX Corporation, based in Jacksonville, Fla., owns one of the largest rail networks in the United States. CSX Transportation Inc. and its 32,000 employees provide rail transportation services over a 21,000-mile route network in 23 states, the District of Columbia and two Canadian provinces. CSX Corporation also provides intermodal operations through another subsidiary.