New freight crew rule tests rail industry’s clout, one year after East Palestine disaster

One
year
after
the
East
Palestine,
Ohio
train
derailment
created
an
environmental
disaster,
the
Biden
administration
on
Tuesday
unveiled
new
regulations
intended
to
shore
up
freight
rail
safety.

A
new
rule
finalized
by
the

Federal
Railroad
Administration
will
require

freight
trains
in
the
United
States
to
operate
with
at
least
two
crewmembers
in
most
circumstances.

The
government
previously

instituted
a
two-person
crew
requirement,
but
a
loophole
allowed
railroads
to
keep
operating
one-person
crews
without
performing
a
rigorous
risk
assessment
or
notifying
regulators.

“Common
sense
tells
us
that
large
freight
trains,
some
of
which
can
be
over
three
miles
long,
should
have
at
least
two
crew
members
on
board
–
and
now
there’s
a
federal
regulation
in
place
to
ensure
trains
are
safely
staffed,”
Transportation
Secretary
Pete
Buttigieg
said
in
a
statement
Tuesday.

The
United
States
averages
at
least
one
train
derailment
every
day.
In
2023,
there
were
seven
rail-related
employee
deaths,
said
Buttigieg.
He
said
the
new
rule
will
make
railroads
safer
and
prevent
worker
injuries
and
fatigue.

Yet
the
new
rule
stops
short
of
the
kind
of
rail
safety
updates
that
the
Biden
administration
and
members
of
Congress
had
originally
envisioned
as
a
response
to
the
East
Palestine
disaster.

The
Feb.
3,
2023


Norfolk
Southern
train
crash
ignited
hundreds
of
thousands
of
gallons
of

dangerous
chemicals
in
a
massive
fire
that
burned
for
two
days.

Making
any
major
updates
to
rail
safety
will
require
congressional
funding
that
has
not
yet
been
approved.

Buttigieg
and
union
leaders
pleaded
for
Congress
to
pass
the

Railway
Safety
Act
Tuesday,
and
give
the
federal
government
more
targeted
authority
and
money
to
enhance
safety
procedures
for
trains
carrying
hazardous
materials.
The
bipartisan
measure
is
stalled
in
the
Senate.

“Congress
has
yet
to
act,
even
a
year
after
the
East
Palestine
derailment
in
Ohio,”
said
Vince
Verna,
the
vice
president
and
national
legislative
representative
at
The
Brotherhood
of
Locomotive
Engineers
and
Trainmen. “Legislating
is
your
job.
Please
do
your
job,
or
get
out
of
the
way
and
let
somebody
who’s
willing
to
step
up
and
do
the
job
do
it.”

The
stalling
of
the
Railway
Safety
Act
also
underscores
the
power
of
the
freight
rail
industry’s
Washington
lobbying
shop,
the
Association
of
American
Railroads
(AAR).

In
2023,
the
trade
association
spent

$4.4
million
lobbying
Congress,
according
to
data
from
the
nonprofit
Open
Secrets.
The
bill
that
received
more
lobbying
activity
than
any
other
was
the
Railway
Safety
Act.

CNBC
reached
out
to


CSX,


Union
Pacific
and
Norfolk
Southern,
three
of
the
nation’s
largest
railroads,
for
comment
on
the
new
regulation.
All
three
referred
CNBC
to
the
AAR.

“This
rule
is
unsupported
by
data
and
lacks
a
safety
justification.
Look
no
further
than
the
DOT’s
own
release,
which
cites ‘common
sense’
as
their
justification
for
the
rule,”
said
a
spokesperson
for
the
AAR.

The
AAR
said
railroads
have
devoted
billions
of
dollars
to
improve
safety
and
that
the
overall
train
accident
rate
is
down
27%
since
2000,
while
casualties
for
Class
I
railroad
employees
have
dropped
63%
during
the
same
period.

Additionally,
all
Class
I
railroads,
those
with
the
highest
operating
revenues,
currently
run
with
two
people,
according
to
the
ARA
spokesperson.

The
Transportation
Department
says
the
new
regulation
will
close
an
existing
loophole
in
the
crew
requirements
by
establishing
a
standards
and
oversight
process
that
will
force
railroads
to
get
a
prior
approval
before
they
can
operate
a
one
crewman
train.

Buttigieg
said
that
from
now
on,
exemptions
to
the
two-person
crew
requirement
will
be
the
exception,
not
the
rule.

“With
this
rule,
we
will
allow
special
approval
if
and
only
if
a
requesting
railroad
can
show
to
us
that
their
circumstances
mean
a
one
person
crew
will
be
no
less
safe,”
said
Buttigieg.