(The following story by Sandra T. Molina appeared on the Whitier Daily News website on October 19.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The House of Representatives, by a vote of 377-38, passed the Federal Railroad Safety Improvement Act of 2007.
If the bill’s companion passes the Senate and is signed into law by President Bush, it will mark the first time since 1994 that a rail-safety program has been authorized by the federal government.
Rep. Grace F. Napolitano, D-Norwalk, authored HR 2095 in response to Union Pacific Railroad derailments in north Whittier in October 2004 and in Commerce on a track running through Montebello and the unincorporated area near Whittier in June 2003.
“There were five derailments in or near my district that damaged homes and businesses, threatened public safety, and caused fear and anxiety along the Alameda Corridor East,” she said.
She said HR 2095 “will make communities located near railroad lines much safer.”
Napolitano’s office said it sees no hurdle in the Senate passing the companion bill.
The bill contains provisions regarding training standards for inspectors, a public-safety program and the prevention of outsourcing train inspections to Mexico.
In the 2004 incident, Union Pacific train cars smashed into a home in the 3800 block of Croton Avenue in unincorporated Whittier bordering Pico Rivera.
People in the neighborhood at the time said the 380-car train sent a huge cloud of dust into the air and the train cars were folded like an accordion.
They also described the sound of the train as if an airplane were rumbling through their neighborhood.
Authorities said one person suffered minor injuries and about 200 people were evacuated.
It also cut off electricity to 1,700 people and brought traffic on the San Gabriel River (605) Freeway to a halt.
The bill’s major provisions include doubling the number of Federal Railroad Administration safety inspectors and the approval of $6 million for Operation Lifesaver, a nonprofit public education program to end collisions, deaths and injuries at highway-rail grade crossings and on railroad rights of way.
“This bill addressed deficiencies by improving track safety, grade-crossing safety and whistle-blower protections, railroad fatigue and ensuring enforcement,” said Napolitano, a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials.
In June 2003, 31 runaway cars were intentionally derailed by Union Pacific in Commerce after the cars got loose in a switching yard in Montclair and began down the track toward Los Angeles.
The freight cars carrying lumber and paper careened off the tracks and several of them slammed into houses on the street then called Davie Avenue.
No one was killed, but 13 people were hospitalized with injuries.
Three houses were destroyed and five others were damaged.
About 150 people were evacuated because of broken gas and water lines.
Authorities estimated the derailment caused $2.4 million in damages.
Residents and officials from nearby Montebello demanded Union Pacific increase safety measures.
Lawsuits from more than 40 people were resolved last June, but no monetary award was disclosed.
The next step in the process is for the Senate to take up S 1889, which is the companion bill to HR 2095. After passage of the Senate version, both bills will be referred to a Conference Committee to resolve differences between the two.