KEY POINTS OF LEGISLATION
- Offer a tax credit available to companies that upgrade to newer tank cars — called CPC-1232s — in 2016, 2017 or 2018.
- Establish a fee on older tank cars — referred to as DOT-111s — used to transport crude oil, ethanol or other flammable liquids.
- Require fees to pay for cleanup costs of flammable liquids; training for first responders; hiring state railroad inspectors; and relocating tracks that carry large volumes of flammable liquids or gases.
- Require railroads to establish education programs for communities along hazardous materials routes; improve information made available to emergency workers responding to railroad accidents involving hazardous materials; and strengthen track inspection standards.
Source: The office of Sen. Sherrod Brown.
Watch video from the 1986 Miamisburg train derailment and read the Dayton Daily News special report on deadly cargo traveling by rail cars through Ohio at MyDaytonDailyNews.com.
A push for stiffer hazardous chemical rail transportation standards was made Wednesday near the site of a train accident that caused the largest evacuation in Ohio history.
Local officials — recalling the 1986 Miamisburg train derailment — joined Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, as he stressed the need to pass a bill that would require higher national safety standards for rail movement of hazardous materials.
“We’re better prepared than we used to be. (But) there’s still some things we need to do,” Brown said.
Similar sentiments were expressed by industry groups that said the future of rail safety includes better tank car design, a measure the U.S. Department of Transportation instituted this spring.
The legislation has retired Miamisburg Fire Capt. Mike Sennet optimistic. He was the first responder to the CSX accident 29 years ago that caused the evacuation of about 30,000 people after igniting a fire that burned for days, sending phosphorous smoke plumes across the region.
“I can only hope,” he said, “… that if we make (rail cars) safer and (they) are in an accident carrying hazardous materials that there would be less chance of a dangerous situation for first responders, that the residents of a community will be much safer and there will be less negative impact on our environment.”
Safer rail cars are a key point in the issue, according to an executive with the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers Association.
But the group’s vice president of regulatory affairs, David Friedman, stated the issue “requires a holistic approach” that also involves improved rail operations.
He also noted, “DOT’s proposed schedule to phase out or retrofit older tank cars is based on a thorough evaluation and input from tank car manufacturers, repair facilities and industry to ensure that the cars are retired, repurposed or retrofitted in a timely manner, while not adversely impacting transportation capacity.”
Although not addressing the legislation specifically, the Association of American Railroads also noted the need for safer rail cars.
In an email, Ed Greenberg said that federal statistics show rail safety has been dramatically improving over the last three decades. However, he said, “The freight rail industry recognizes, as a shared responsibility with shippers and regulators, continuous improvement is needed to advance safety even further, including calling for tougher tank car standards for years.”
The bill introduced this spring by Brown and a handful of other Democratic senators aims to build on the Transportation Department’s call for safer rail cars by providing tax credits for those who comply and adding fees for those who do not.
It would also beef up training for emergency responders, and improve rail inspections and notifications to local officials regarding hazardous chemicals coming through their areas, according to Brown’s office.
“One of the things we are urging the Department of Transportation to do is make sure emergency management in every county knows what trains are going through in their communities and what those trains are carrying and roughly the time they’re going (through).”
Ohio ranks third in the nation in hazardous materials incidents, trailing California and Texas, an analysis by this newspaper found last year. From 2005 to June 24, 2014, the state had 12,867 incidents, of which 256 were serious, the analysis found.
The legislation will help the area prepare for future incidents, said Montgomery County Emergency Management Director Jeff Jordan, head of a group that coordinates regional hazardous material emergency planning and response.
“Additional funding for training and equipment,” he said, “will enhance our communities’ ability to mitigate the impact of and protect our citizens from one of the most potentially devastating disasters we can face.”
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