Bipartisan Cooperation Emerges With 2 Bills in Aftermath of Ohio Toxic Train Derailment

After the derailment of a Norfolk Southern freight train in eastern Ohio on Feb. 3, Democrats and Republicans have pointed fingers at each other about the disaster and subsequent derailments. Yet bi-partisan cooperation on railroad safety legislation has emerged in both chambers on Capitol Hill.

The Reducing Accidents in Locomotives (RAIL) Act was introduced on March 17 by Ohio Reps. Bill Johnson (R) and Emilia Sykes (D). If passed and signed into law, the legislation would mandate new rail safety measures and charge financial penalties if railroads do not meet the requirements.

Among other measures, the bill would require railroads to alert state emergency response authorities if their trains are carrying hazardous materials and mandate that rail carriers have two-person teams operating their trains. The legislation would also direct the Federal Rail Administration to recommend operational changes based on the current NTSB investigation of the derailment and the U.S. Transportation Department would be tasked with adding new rail car restrictions on length, weight, speed, and track standards, among other details.

The Railway Safety Act of 2023 was also announced by Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) on March 1. Along with Vance and Brown, Bob Casey (D-Penn.), John Fetterman (D-Penn.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) also sponsored the legislation. The bill takes steps to improve rail safety protocols, such as establishing requirements for wayside defect detectors, creating a permanent requirement for railroads to operate with at least two-person crews, and increasing fines for wrongdoing committed by rail carriers.

CEO Alan Shaw of Norfolk Southern, the company responsible for the derailment, did not commit to supporting the Railway Safety Act. He did say that he could support “the legislative intent to make rail safer” and added that Norfolk Southern could back improving rail car standards, increased funding for first responders, and enhanced track technology to identify problems with trains.

Since the Feb. 3 crash in East Palestine, multiple train derailments have occurred in Ohio and across the nation. Lawmakers from both parties have cast blame on one another. Democrats have said that the deregulation of rail safety standards under the Trump administration has contributed to the disasters. Republicans have chastised the Biden administration for what they believe is a slow and inadequate response to the East Palestine derailment. Even with the finger-pointing, members of both parties have teamed to introduce legislation intended to reduce the number of crashes.

Ohio has one of the country’s largest railroad networks, and from 2019 through November 2022, 281 train accidents happened in Ohio, which ranks fourth in the nation for “serious train accident accidents and hazardous materials spills,” according to a statement from Johnson and Sykes.

On March 17, U.S. EPA Administrator Michael Regan reported that 6.8 million gallons of liquid waste and more than 5,400 tons of solid materials have been removed from the derailment site and transported to federally designated facilities. Contaminated soil remains at the derailment site. Last week, Regan said that half of the soil’s excavation was finished, and excavation on the north track is expected to be finished by early April.

Cleanup efforts have been criticized for not moving quickly enough by Ohio Senator Vance. He praised the RAIL Act, calling it “a great bill.”