The rail safety bill, sponsored by US Senators Sherrod Brown and JD Vance in response to the East Palestine train derailment disaster, has some problems in the Senate and is likely to face a roadblock in the House of Representatives.
As for the lack of movement, Brown, D-Cleveland, told me: “I never promised you, David, nor did I promise anyone in East Palestine that this would be easy. That’s true. But I’m optimistic because we’ve done well so far.”
The legislation was introduced March 1 by Brown and Vance, R-Cincinnati, and was approved May 16-11, 2010 by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. The next step is a full Senate vote.
Brown said all 51 senators who are Democrats or caucus with that party support the bill.
Seven Republican senators are on record as supporting the bill.
But for the legislation to move through the Senate, it needs 60 votes, so the bill is now two votes shy.
“As soon as we get 60, we’ll go down and spend it,” Brown said. “I think we will have enough votes. I think we may already have it, but we haven’t had the commitments yet.”
Vance is confident the bill will pass the Senate, but wants to make sure it gets approval from the House.
“We can force a vote on the Rail Safety Act whenever we want,” he said “But what I’m trying to do is get the legislation to the place where the House supports it the most. I think we have a good chance of passing the House, even in its current form. But you want to maximize the chances that the Chamber”.
Vance is not interested in the Senate passing the bill and then having it die in the House.
“We’re trying to do as much work before we vote it out of the Senate, as much work as possible so that our colleagues in the House can take it on.” he said
Vance and Brown introduced the bill in response to the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern rail derailment in East Palestine that led to the evacuation of much of the village and the release of toxic chemicals into the environment that are still they are cleaning
The bill would improve safety procedures for trains carrying hazardous materials, expand the types of materials classified as hazardous on trains, require railroads to create disaster plans, tell emergency response boards which hazardous materials are passing through their states, it would establish requirements for path detectors every 15 miles. , increase the time for railcar inspections, increase fines for violations from up to $100,000 to $10 million, require at least two member crews, and ensure that fire departments are reimbursed for costs when they respond to major train derailments.
There are two rail safety bills in the House.
One is identical to the Brown-Vance bill, sponsored by U.S. Reps. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., and Nick LaLota, R-N.Y. He is part of a House transport and infrastructure subcommittee.
The other bill, the Reducing Accidents in Locomotives (RAIL) Act, has bipartisan support from members of the Ohio House and is sponsored by U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Marietta, whose district includes Palestine Eastern, and U.S. Rep. Emilia Strong Sykes, D-Akron.
That proposal received a hearing on March 28 by the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials Subcommittee. Johnson is the president.
But it has to go through the Transport and Infrastructure Committee to enter the Chamber.
Sykes, a member of that committee, wants a hearing now, but the Republican majority is waiting until the National Transportation Safety Board finishes investigating the derailment.
Sykes and the other Democrats on the committee sent a letter to the Republican president asking for a hearing.
Johnson told me in April that the Brown-Vance bill is “death. This isn’t going anywhere.”
He was more optimistic about his proposal.
Brown has expressed concern in the House, saying the railroad lobby is very strong and has a lot of influence over Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
Brown said: “The bill with Johnson and Sykes, it’s not as good as ours, mind you. It’s going to be hard because McCarthy is close to the railroad lobby.”
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