3/26/2023 0 Comments Railroad spike art![]() ![]() If we want to get train derailments much closer to zero, the rail industry must evolve.Sales Tax : 6.75% - Sales tax applied to invoice total, including Internet Premium. It shouldn’t take a chemical cloud over a community in the American heartland to compel the government to protect its people. Vance of Ohio and Marco Rubio of Florida. Those demands are being echoed by three Republican senators, Ted Cruz of Texas, J.D. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, both Democrats, are pressing for a re-evaluation of current rail safety rules to ensure they prevent future derailment disasters. Shapiro also said lawmakers should “revisit the need for regulation requiring high-hazard flammable trains to carry more advanced safety and braking equipment.” Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, a Democrat, have called for federal officials to consider expanding the definition of “high-hazard flammable trains” to make sure trains like Norfolk Southern’s are better regulated. ![]() That would lessen the burden on communities, and create a financial incentive for these industrial giants to avoid such disasters in the future.Įven in America’s polarized politics, these measures could have bipartisan support. Meanwhile, Congress can launch an investigation examining the rail industry’s safety procedures and the Environmental Protection Agency can make sure that the rail companies pay all cleanup costs for derailments. can also mandate railroads’ participation in a currently voluntary and unevenly used system that lets rail workers and railroads report near misses as they occur, helping regulators track risky practices.Īnd regulators can listen to rail workers and finalize a rule mandating minimum two-person crews on trains, as well as ensure expanded paid sick leave and other measures to reduce burnout on the rails. The sensors do not currently fall under federal regulation. The agency can require rail companies to deploy heat sensors known as hot-box detectors to warn train crews of overheated bearings before derailments happen. The Department of Transportation can finalize and implement a rule repealing the Trump administration’s reckless decision to allow the transport of highly explosive liquefied natural gas by rail, a move that triggered a lawsuit from 16 attorneys general. Buttigieg, the Biden administration and lawmakers should not stop there. The Biden administration should consider bringing back the electronic brake rule - either through executive action or by demanding Congress pass a version of an earlier Republican-authored bill that would make it the law of the land.īut Mr. This change would help ensure that first responders are prepared and affected communities are better informed in the event of future disasters. Other dangerous chemicals had already spilled or burned in the initial crash.įirst and foremost, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg can direct his agency to expand the definition of “high-hazard flammable trains” to include all trains carrying any compound that could explode and poison communities, including those released and burned in East Palestine. Three days later, crews had to release and burn five tank cars of the toxic gas, creating a black plume of smoke easily visible from passing passenger jets. ![]() even though the fire was hazardous enough to require local evacuations. 3 in East Palestine, Ohio: The roughly 150-car train carrying flammable carcinogens, such as vinyl chloride and benzene, wasn’t classified as a “high-hazard flammable train,” or H.H.F.T. campaign coffers, President Donald Trump repealed the brake rule, and the Biden administration has failed to restore it.Īll of this happened as rail company owners took home nearly $200 billion in stock buybacks and dividends and reduced their work force by nearly 30 percent as part of a so-called “precision scheduled railroading” strategy, despite workers’ warnings that understaffing has made it more difficult to maintain safety and maintenance standards.įlash forward to Feb. But the rail industry turned around and began lobbying against the requirement, saying that the brake mandate would “impose tremendous costs without providing offsetting safety benefits.”Īfter a 2016 campaign in which rail industry donors poured more than $6 million into G.O.P.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |