(Source: Press release from the office of Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), July 6, 2023)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Bob Casey (D-PA), and John Fetterman (D-PA) backed a new proposed rule from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) that will require railroads to make real-time information regarding the contents of train cars available to emergency responders and to proactively push this information to emergency responders in the event of a derailment or other accident.
In a letter to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and Deputy Administrator of the PHMSA Tristan Brown, the Senators pointed to the disastrous Norfolk Southern train derailment along the Ohio-Pennsylvania border as an example of why this policy change is needed to keep firefighters and first responders safe in times of crisis.
Following the derailment, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) held hearings in East Palestine, OH which highlighted how insufficient information-sharing policies put emergency responders in harm’s way during the derailment this past February. Hearing testimony revealed that while Norfolk Southern was able to notify contractors about the specific contents of the derailed train within minutes, it took hours for some emergency response agencies to get correct consist information. This resulted in firefighters arriving at the scene without knowing what materials were involved in the fire they had to fight, as shown by harrowing footage played during the hearing.
The Senators wrote, “The brave first responders who put their lives on the line to protect their communities during train derailments should not have to deal with both hazardous conditions and an intentional lack of critical information…we owe it to the first responders of East Palestine, Darlington Township, and the surrounding areas in Ohio and Pennsylvania to ensure that the information-sharing failures of this derailment, which put first responders needlessly and irresponsibly in additional danger, do not happen again. While Congress considers additional legislative action on this issue, including the bipartisan, bicameral Railway Safety Act, we are glad to see administrative action on this issue and give this effort our full support.”
Earlier this year, Brown, Casey, and Fetterman introduced the Assistance for Local Heroes During Train Crises Act to support first responders on the front lines of hazardous train derailments. The Senators also joined a bipartisan group to introduce the Railway Safety Act to prevent future train derailments by improving rail safety protocols and holding rail companies accountable for these disasters by increasing fines.
Full text of the letter is below and the PDF can be found at the link below.
Full story: www.brown.senate.gov