The bill also takes aim at efforts by railroads to stretch their workforces. It includes a mandate that trains generally have a crew of at least two people — an idea opposed by major railroads that want to experiment with single-person crews — and a provision on standards for rail car inspections.
The Ohio derailment and the decision to burn carloads of vinyl chloride highlighted the dangers communities face when trains carrying hazardous chemicals come off the tracks. Federal regulators have issued advisories to the industry in recent weeks and launched their own efforts to tighten safety rules, but lawmakers of both parties also vowed to respond.
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), chairwoman of the Commerce Committee, said the bill would ensure that railroads are held accountable and improve safety on the tracks.
“No one should lose sleep at night worrying that the railroads are cutting corners on safety and putting their communities at risk for disasters like the one in East Palestine,” she said in a statement.
The committee is set to meet Wednesday to consider amendments to the proposal and cast a vote that could send it to the full Senate. Vance’s office announced Monday that the legislation has support from at least six Republicans, but its fate in the Senate isn’t clear.
“Their support for this bill demonstrates the widespread, bipartisan consensus building for improvements to railway safety standards across the nation,” Vance said in a statement.
Similar bills also have been introduced in the Republican-controlled House, but there are no signs they are advancing.
Cantwell sought the support of Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.), the top Republican on the Commerce Committee, but he has not endorsed the package unveiled Monday. Cruz had wanted the legislation to keep the door open to the rail shipment of liquefied natural gas, according to multiple people familiar with the negotiations.
That idea is opposed by environmentalists who say it could lead to more dangerous trains traveling the country.
Christian McMullen, a spokesman for Cruz, said he had sought a provision to implement recommendations from the National Academy of Sciences on the tank cars used for liquid gas, “with the goal of making rail transport even safer and preventing discrimination against American energy products by the Biden administration.”
Greg Hynes, national legislative director for SMART Transportation Division, a labor union, said that his team worked to secure Cruz’s support but that the gas proposal would not have been acceptable to key Democrats. Nonetheless, Hynes said he was encouraged to see the legislation moving forward.
“It is the most significant piece of legislation taken up for quite some time by the Senate, which is a great thing all in itself,” he said. “What’s important is to get this across the finish line.”
The Association of American Railroads, an industry group, did not respond to a request for comment on the updated bill. The industry has signaled openness to new rules and has imposed its own safety changes since the Ohio derailment, but it has opposed mandates on crew sizes.
The train that derailed in East Palestine was operated by Norfolk Southern. An initial investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board found that as the train approached the town, it passed three detectors designed to warn of an overheating bearing. After a gap of 20 miles between two detectors, the crew received an alert moments before a bearing failed.
Once initial fires were put out, emergency responders determined that vinyl chloride gas in one of the cars was heating up, creating the risk of an explosion. The gas was vented and burned, creating thick plumes of black smoke.
No one was hurt in the initial derailment, but residents complained of health problems and expressed concerns about the long-term risks of chemical exposure.
The legislation would mandate that detectors be placed every 15 miles, a step the railroad industry has said it will take voluntarily. It also would require railroads to share more information about hazardous shipments with local officials, allowing them to better prepare for emergencies.
The bill calls for new standards for rail car inspections, which workers say they are now expected to complete in as little as 30 seconds. The bill would ban time limits for inspections and require additional inspections at least once every five years.
