One year after disaster in East Palestine, new freight crew rules test rail industry’s influence | Wilnesh News

The Biden administration on Tuesday unveiled new rules aimed at improving freight rail safety, one year after a train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, caused an environmental disaster.

New rules finalized federal railroad administration In most cases, U.S. freight trains will be required to have at least two crew members.

Government previously established Two-person crew requirement, but a loophole allows rail companies to continue operating single-person crews without conducting rigorous risk assessments or notifying regulators.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said: “Common sense tells us that large freight trains, some of which may be more than three miles long, should have at least two crew members, and now a federal rule is in place to ensure that The train is staffed with safety personnel,” it said in a statement on Tuesday.

On average, at least one train derails every day in the United States. Buttigieg said seven railroad-related employee deaths occurred in 2023. He said the new rules would make the railways safer and prevent worker injuries and fatigue.

However, the new rules fall short of the rail safety update originally envisioned by the Biden administration and members of Congress in response to the disaster in East Palestine.

February 3, 2023 norfolk southern airways The train crash sparked a fire that burned hundreds of thousands of gallons of dangerous chemicals for two days.

Any major updates to rail safety would require funding from Congress, which has yet to be approved.

Buttigieg and union leaders plead with Congress to pass Railway Safety Act Tuesday and gives the federal government more targeted powers and funding to strengthen safety procedures on trains carrying hazardous materials. The bipartisan measure has stalled in the Senate.

“Even one year after the East Palestine derailment in Ohio, Congress has yet to take action,” said Vince Werner, vice president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Conductors and a state legislative representative. “Legislation is your job. Please do it. Do your job, or get out of the way and let someone else who’s willing to step up and do the job do it.”

The stalling of the Rail Safety Act also underscores the power of the freight rail industry’s Washington lobbying arm, the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

In 2023, industry associations will spend $4.4 million in lobbying Congress, according to data from the nonprofit Open Secrets. The bill that received the most lobbying activity was the Railroad Safety Act.

CNBC contacted CSX, union pacific and Norfolk Southern, one of the three largest U.S. railroads, for comment on the new rules. All three referred CNBC to AAR.

A spokesman for the AAR said: “This rule is not supported by data and lacks a safety rationale. Just look at the Department of Transportation’s own release, which cited ‘common sense’ as the reason for the rule.”

The AAR said railroads have invested billions of dollars to improve safety and overall train accident rates have dropped 27% since 2000, while injuries and fatalities among Class I railroad workers have dropped 63% during the same period.

Additionally, all Class 1 railways with the highest operating revenue are currently run by two people, according to an ARA spokesman.

The Department of Transportation said the new rules would close existing loopholes in crew requirements by establishing standards and oversight processes, forcing rail companies to obtain prior approval before operating trains with just one crew member.

Buttigieg said that from now on, the exemption requested by the two-person crew will be the exception, not the rule.

“Under this rule, we will allow special approval if and only if the requesting railroad can demonstrate to us that their circumstances mean there will be no safety concerns for a single crew member,” Buttigieg said. “