After East Palestine derailment, Sykes, Johnson introduce RAIL Act to improve railroad safety

Two U.S. representatives from Ohio have introduced a bipartisan bill to try to improve railroad safety in light of last month’s train derailment in East Palestine.

U.S. Representatives Bill Johnson (R-6) and Emilia Sykes (D-13) on Friday introduced the Reducing Accidents in Locomotives (RAIL) Act.

Under the act, the secretary of transportation would be directed to issue new rules to improve safety based on the findings of the NTSB investigation, in conjunction with the Federal Railroad Administration.

The act would increase inspections on all trains, including those carrying hazardous materials; increase maximum penalties for violations of rail safety regulations; and audit federal rail inspection programs.

The act would also strengthen regulations to prevent wheel bearing failures, which caused the East Palestine train derailment, and strengthen requirements for safety placards that would have helped emergency responders in identifying the hazardous materials in the rail cars on-site, as well as increase funding for hazardous materials training for first responders.

It would also require railroad corporations to provide advance notification to state or tribal emergency response commissioners or commissions or any other state or tribal agency about the transportation of hazardous materials.

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“The East Palestine train derailment has upended the lives of those living in East Palestine and the surrounding region. Since the East Palestine train derailment, two additional trains have derailed in Ohio. It is imperative that Congress swiftly works to make much-needed changes to our nation’s railway safety standards,” Johnson said in a statement. “The bipartisan RAIL Act would bring forth effective and responsible changes to the way the rail industry operates to help prevent railway accidents and keep communities across America safe. I look forward to working with Rep. Sykes to get our critical legislation across the finish line.”

According to Sykes’ office, Ohio has one of the country’s largest railroad networks and ranks third-worst in the nation for serious train accidents and hazardous materials spills, with 281 train accidents in Ohio from 2019 through November 2022.

“Public safety transcends politics and district boundaries, which is why I am proud to work with Rep. Johnson on bipartisan, commonsense legislation to prevent future train derailment disasters like we have seen in East Palestine and across the United States,” Sykes said in a statement. “The RAIL Act will implement effective measures to keep our communities safe, hold railroad corporations accountable, and ensure that no American living close to our 140,000 miles of railroad track has to worry about the threat of a toxic derailment in their backyard. This is a good first step towards better rail infrastructure, but we know there is still more to be done to protect our communities.”

Eleven members of the Ohio delegation are co-sponsors of the RAIL Act: Reps. Max Miller (R-7), Greg Landsman (D-3), Troy Balderson (R-12), Marcy Kaptur (D-9), Mike Carey (R-15), Joyce Beatty (D-3), Dave Joyce (R-14), Shontel Brown (D-11) and Mike Turner (R-10) .

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Emilia Sykes, Bill Johnson introduce RAIL Act for railroad safety