Two Pennsylvania state senators announced this week they are introducing a companion bill to a house-passed measure designed to improve rail safety.
Senate action on the bill sponsored by State Senators Katie Muth (D-Royersford) and Lindsey Williams (D-Pittsburgh) would advance the legislation toward Governor Josh Shapiro’s (D) desk. The house version passed that chamber 141-62 earlier this month with the support of all Democratic representatives and a sizable minority of Republicans.
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State Representative Jessica Benham (D-PA-Carrick) is asking colleagues to cosponsor her new bill to pay rail-safety inspectors at the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) more and hire more of them.
Benham’s is the latest in a profusion of measures offered by Keystone State lawmakers to address freight-rail concerns in light of the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio that occurred two months ago. A memorandum she authored describing her bill suggests the commonwealth needs more than its current 10 rail-safety inspectors who oversee more than 5,600 miles of track.
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A Republican Pennsylvania lawmaker is urging colleagues to cosponsor state-level legislation to limit a freight train’s length to no greater than 8,500 feet.
State Representative Louis Schmitt, Jr. (R-Altoona) reasoned in a memorandum describing his proposal that the February 3 derailment in East Palestine, less than half a mile from Pennsylvania’s western border, shows current rail-safety requirements are inadequate.
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Two Pennsylvania state lawmakers representing areas affected by the February train derailment less than a mile beyond the Ohio border are drafting legislation to enhance railroad-safety rules.
The emerging bill by Representatives Jim Marshall (R-Beaver Falls) and Rob Matzie (D-Ambridge) would tighten maintenance and oversight standards for wayside hotbox detectors, limit the length of trains, set a minimum number of train staff, toughen supervision of railroad-safety compliance and facilitate reporting of violations. The legislators also say their measure will create a mechanism for better communication regarding the transportation of toxic substances.
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Alongside fellow lawmakers at the Darlington Fire Company on Tuesday, Pennsylvania state Representative Eric Nelson (R-Greensburg) asked Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency Acting Director Randy Padfield who has final say over what to do with a wrecked train carrying toxic chemicals: the rail company or state government?
At the hearing of the Pennsylvania House Bipartisan Policy Committee, Nelson said he wanted to know whether Pennsylvania emergency and environmental officials could decide whether to approve or quash plans to incinerate a certain number of rail cars on such a train if it crashed in the Keystone State.
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Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s opposition to Norfolk Southern Corp.’s handling of its East Palestine, Ohio train derailment contrasts strongly with his initial satisfaction with the controlled vent and burn of the rail vehicle’s toxic cargo.
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