Bipartisan Senate group introduces rail safety bill in response to East Palestine derailment
CBSN
Washington — A bipartisan group of six senators, including the two from Ohio, introduced rail safety legislation Wednesday aimed at preventing future derailments following the toxic train disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, that sparked serious health and environmental concerns for the area's residents.
Called the Railway Safety Act of 2023, the plan would require rail carriers to give advance notice to state emergency response officials about what they're transporting, increase rail car inspections to ensure those carrying hazardous materials are inspected at regular intervals and require crews of at least two people for every train.
The bill would also bolster the monitoring of wheel bearings, which the National Transportation Safety Board found overheated in the Feb. 3 derailment of a Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine. It would impose new safety requirements and procedures for trains carrying hazardous materials like vinyl chloride, which was in five of the tank cars that derailed, and heighten fines for rail carriers for wrongdoing.
