News: DOT announces new rail safety rule as NTSB returns to East Palestine

Monday, June 24, 2024

DOT announces new rail safety rule as NTSB returns to East Palestine

Jun 24, 2024

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By Chris Marquette

Presented by Norfolk Southern

With help from Doug Palmer

QUICK FIX

— The Biden administration announces new requirements for freight railroads to send hazmat information to first responders ahead of the East Palestine NTSB board hearing.

— What happened in East Palestine? The NTSB will try to lay that out starting today with a community meeting ahead of Tuesday’s board hearing.

— China skips the first chance to ask the World Trade Organization to hear complaints against the Inflation Reduction Act.

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Rail remains the safest way to move freight over land, and we’re committed to making our railroad even safer. Learn about Norfolk Southern’s commitment to becoming the gold standard of safety: NSABetterWay.com

Driving the day

DOT ANNOUNCES NEW RAIL RULE: DOT's PHMSA on Monday unveiled a final rule that would make railroads proactively give first responders real-time information about rail hazmat shipments and incidents involving hazardous materials. Railroads would need to send a notification to a 911 call center or through an emergency responder app such as AskRail.

The rule — announced as the NTSB is on the ground in East Palestine for community meetings and a board hearing — is a response to the derailment that happened in that eastern Ohio community in February 2023.

It mandates that all railroads generate the following information (in both hard and electronic copies) for shipments containing hazardous materials: the quantity and position of the materials on the train, where the train started and is headed to, emergency response information and a designated emergency point of contact at the railroad.

PHMSA Deputy Administrator Tristan Brown: "We heard first-hand from firefighters that were responding to the Norfolk Southern derailment in East Palestine that they and other first responders need [hazardous materials information] as soon as an incident occurs."

Brown said the rule "will ensure the heroes that are responding to an incident can prepare for what they will encounter instead of waiting until after they get on scene.”

This latest effort follows the $2 billion in rail safety measures that DOT announced through the 2021 infrastructure law, including a rule that established minimum safety requirements for train crew size and a rule that requires locomotive video recording devices be installed on passenger trains.

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Rail

NTSB BACK TO EAST PALESTINE: The independent investigations agency is returning more than a year after a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, causing noxious fumes to tear through the town, making some sick and prompting long-term questions about whether it's a safe place to raise a family.

First, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy will attend a community meeting from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. tonight at East Palestine High School, where she'll take questions from the community about the agency’s role in the investigation.

On Tuesday, starting at 9:30 a.m., the NTSB board will hold its final meeting on the derailment. The investigative staff and five-member board will discuss their draft final report, recommendations and findings as well as the accident's probable cause.

The agency will release an executive summary of the final report after the meeting — though the full final report won't post online until weeks later — and will hold a subsequent community meeting.

In NTSB’s preliminary report, issued weeks after the wreck, the agency found that the train passed three detectors designed to alert the crew of physical issues, before it derailed.

The engineer controlling the train had attempted to stop it after being alerted to an overheating wheel — but at that point, cars had already been jostled from the tracks.

Altogether, 38 cars derailed and 12 were damaged in the fire.

Former NTSB chair weighs in: Robert Sumwalt told POLITICO that he expects the agency to focus on a few critical points.

1. He said the railroad industry has been working to improve track inspections through technology and to ensure the mechanical integrity of rail cars, particularly tank cars.

2. He noted how the industry worked to promulgate new regulations after crude oil spills in 2013 and 2014 and said, "it will be interesting to see why the spills occurred in East Palestine."

3. Sumwalt added that first responders "need to know what chemicals they are dealing with," pointing to the use of the AskRail app as a good starting point to improving emergency response.

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trade

CHINA CURRENTLY NOT ASKING FOR PANEL: China skipped its first opportunity to ask the World Trade Organization to establish a panel to hear its complaint against provisions of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, according to an agenda of the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body.

The issue is not listed on the items to be discussed and “panel requests aren't something you can slip on at the last minute,” one Geneva-based trade official said.

China could still ask for a panel at a future DSB meeting. However, the country has still not requested a panel in a dispute over U.S. export controls that it initiated in December 2022 — so it’s possible Beijing’s IRA complaint could languish in a similar manner.

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On The Calendar

— Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will be in Northeast Ohio to highlight the Biden administration’s infrastructure investments. Buttigieg will tour a local workforce development facility with Rep. Emilia Sykes (D-Ohio) and participate in a roundtable discussion with local labor leaders and apprentices.

— 11 a.m. Virtual Press Event to Launch IBTTA’s Global Road Safety Week with Pat Jones, Executive Director of IBTTA, Shailen Bhatt, Administrator, Federal Highway Administration, Stacey Stewart, CEO, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Bill Halkias, President, IBTTA, and President Emeritus, HELLASTRON, Ferzan Ahmed, Executive Director, Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission and Malika Seddi, Secretary General and CEO, ASECAP.

— 6 p.m. Community meeting about the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, with NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy and area residents at East Palestine High School, 360 West Grant Street, East Palestine, Ohio. In person attendance only.

Know of an event we should have on our calendar? Let MT know at transpocalendar@politicopro.com.

A message from Norfolk Southern:

We’re working together with our employees, unions, and third-party safety advisors to enhance our culture and processes. We’re investing $2 billion in safety and infrastructure improvements each year. Norfolk Southern is committed to A Better Way for the rail industry. Learn more at NSABetterWay.com.