The bill includes requirements that trains have crews of at least two people, expands the classification for highly hazardous flammable trains and increases fines for safety violations.
Both Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Commerce Committee peppered Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw with questions about what enhanced safety measures he would support. At times they aggressively questioned the CEO of one of the nation’s largest railroads on what could be done to prevent future derailments like the one that has upended life in the Ohio village of East Palestine.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is also behind the Railway Safety Act. And in the House, a bipartisan group of Ohio lawmakers has also introduced a similar proposal, though top Republicans have also urged caution on enacting fresh regulations. Misti Allison, an East Palestine resident, testified at the hearing that the company has lost the trust of a deeply traumatized community. State and local officials decided to release and burn toxic vinyl chloride from five tanker cars after the Fed. 3 derailment, prompting the evacuation of half of the roughly 5,000 residents.
“The bottom line is that what happened in East Palestine could have just as easily happened in Illinois,” Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth said of her home state.
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