Bipartisan Cooperation Emerges With 2 Bills in Aftermath of Ohio Toxic Train Derailment

Portions of a Norfolk and Southern freight train that derailed Friday night in East Palestine, Ohio, are still on fire at mid-day, on Feb. 4, 2023. (Gene J. Puskar/AP Photo)

Since the toxic derailment of a Norfolk Southern freight train in eastern Ohio on Feb. 3, Democrats and Republicans have pointed fingers at each other about the disaster and subsequent derailments. Yet bi-partisan cooperation on railroad safety legislation has emerged in both chambers on Capitol Hill.

Following the Railway Safety Act of 2023 announced by Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) on March 1, Ohio Reps. Bill Johnson (R) and Emilia Sykes (D) introduced the Reducing Accidents in Locomotives (RAIL) Act on March 17. If passed and signed into law, the legislation would mandate new rail safety measures and charge financial penalties if railroads do not meet the requirements.

Six Republicans and five Democrats from Ohio’s congressional delegation co-sponsored the legislation.

On Feb. 3, a 151-car freight train operated by Norfolk Southern derailed in East Palestine, a village of around 4,700 residents in eastern Ohio a mile from the Pennsylvania border.

The National Transportation Safety Board reported that 11 of the 38 cars that derailed contained hazardous chemicals.

Authorities feared a major explosion that would spread shrapnel and decided to release and burn vinyl chloride from five cars into a trench on Feb. 6, sending a massive cloud of black smoke into the sky that could be seen for miles and was likened to the mushroom cloud caused by a nuclear weapon.

Vinyl chloride is a chemical used to make PVC pipes and other products. The National Cancer Institute notes that vinyl chloride has been linked to cancers of the brain, lungs, blood, lymphatic system, and liver.

A black plume rises over East Palestine, Ohio, as a result of a controlled detonation of a portion of the derailed Norfolk Southern trains, Feb. 6, 2023. (Gene J. Puskar/AP Photo/File)

Residents in East Palestine and surrounding communities were given an evacuation order by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro before the burn and release.

On Feb. 8, DeWine held a press conference in East Palestine, lifting the order and telling residents it was safe to return to their homes.

Since then, though state and federal agencies have said testing shows the air and water are safe, many residents have reported headaches, nausea, burning eyes, skin rashes, and other ailments.

Derailment ‘Upended’ Lives

“The East Palestine train derailment has upended the lives of those living in East Palestine and the surrounding region. It is imperative that Congress swiftly works to strengthen our nation’s railway safety standards,” said Johnson, whose district includes East Palestine.

“The bipartisan RAIL Act would bring forth effective and responsible changes to the way the rail industry operates to help prevent railway accidents and keep communities across America safe.”

Among other measures, the bill would direct the Federal Rail Administration to recommend operational changes based on the current NTSB investigation of the derailment.

The U.S. Transportation Department would be tasked with adding new rail car restrictions on length, weight, speed, and track standards, among other details.

The Secretary of Transportation would be required to introduce regulations regarding the detection of rail car defects on trains carrying hazardous materials.

Railroads would have to alert state emergency response authorities if their trains are carrying hazardous materials. The legislation would also mandate that rail carriers have two-person teams operating their trains.

Increased funding to train responders about how to handle hazardous materials would also be included if the bill becomes law.

Ohio has one of the country’s largest railroad networks and ranks fourth in the nation for “serious train accident accidents and hazardous materials spills,” according to a statement from Johnson and Sykes.

From 2019 through November 2022, 281 train accidents happened in Ohio, the statement added.

Multiple cars of a Norfolk Southern train lie toppled after derailing at a train crossing with Ohio 41 in Clark County, Ohio, on March 4, 2023. (Bill Lackey/Springfield-News Sun via AP)

Democrats, Republicans Unite

Since the Feb. 3 crash in East Palestine, multiple train derailments have occurred in Ohio and nationwide. Lawmakers from both parties have cast blame on one another.

Democrats have said that the deregulation of rail safety standards under the Trump administration has contributed to the disasters. Republicans have chastised the Biden administration for what they believe is a slow and inadequate response to the East Palestine derailment.

Even with the finger-pointing, members of both parties have teamed to introduce legislation intended to reduce the number of crashes.

The Railway Safety Act of 2023 is a bill aimed “to prevent future train disasters like the derailment that devastated East Palestine.”

Along with Vance and Brown, Bob Casey (D-Penn.), John Fetterman (D-Penn.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) also sponsored the legislation.

The bill takes steps to improve rail safety protocols, such as enhancing safety procedures for trains carrying hazardous materials, establishing requirements for wayside defect detectors, creating a permanent requirement for railroads to operate with at least two-person crews, and increasing fines for wrongdoing committed by rail carriers.

“It shouldn’t take a massive railroad disaster for elected officials to put partisanship aside and work together for the people we serve—not corporations like Norfolk Southern,” Brown said.

A Norfolk Southern freight train passes through Cincinnati, Ohio, in late February 2023. (Jeff Louderback/The Epoch Times)

At a Senate hearing to explore the East Palestine train derailment on March 9, Brown said, “The response to this crisis has been far too partisan. Today is an opportunity to change that. Senator Vance and I are both listening to the same Ohioans in this community—people who feel like they have no way to stand up to a company like Norfolk Southern and are worried about what will happen when the cameras pack up and leave.

“If Norfolk Southern had paid a little more attention to safety and a little less attention to its profits—had cared a little more about the Ohioans along its tracks, and a little less about its executives and shareholders— these accidents would not have been as bad, or might not have happened at all,” Brown added.

Contaminated Soil Remains

On March 17, U.S. EPA Administrator Michael Regan reported that 6.8 million gallons of liquid waste and more than 5,400 tons of solid materials have been removed from the derailment site and transported to federally designated facilities.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan left, walks with his staff through East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 16, 2023. Residents of the Ohio village upended by a freight train derailment are demanding to know if they're safe from the toxic chemicals that spilled or were burned off to avoid an even bigger disaster. (Lucy Schaly/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)

Contaminated soil remains at the derailment site. Last week, Regan said that half of the soil’s excavation was completed, including the entire south track. Excavation on the north track is expected to be finished by early April, Regan added.

“Norfolk Southern could be moving faster to remove contaminated soil from East Palestine, Regan said.

On March 13, Vance visited East Palestine. Before speaking to reporters at the village’s municipal building, he released a video with the pile of contaminated soil in the background.

Cleanup ‘Taking Too Much Time’

At a press conference that afternoon, he said that cleanup efforts are not moving fast enough, and the EPA is to blame.

“The problem is not that it’s taking too much time. The problem is we are close to, I believe, day 10, where there hasn’t been a single truckload taken out of this community. How does that make any sense?” Vance said.

“That is the issue here,” he added. “We have the dirt, we have the clean-up site. We have clean-up facilities meant to take the toxic dirt, and yet very few of those facilities are taking it, and that’s a problem.”

When the Railway Safety Act was introduced, Vance said, “Congress has a real opportunity to ensure that what happened in East Palestine will never happen again. We owe every American the peace of mind that their community is protected from a catastrophe of this kind.”

U.S. Senator J. D. Vance, Republican from Ohio, testifies at a U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works hearing on the environmental and public health threats from the Norfolk Southern Feb. 3 train derailment in Washington on March 9, 2023. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

He praised the RAIL Act, calling it “a great bill.”

“I’m very glad to see that Congressman Johnson has such a strong, bipartisan group from the Ohio delegation behind it,” Vance said in a statement. “This is a huge development for improving railway safety in this country.”

At a Senate hearing about the East Palestine train derailment on March 9, Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw did not commit to supporting the Railway Safety Act.

He did say that he could support “the legislative intent to make rail safer” and added that Norfolk Southern could back improving rail car standards, increased funding for first responders, and enhanced track technology to identify problems with trains.

Shaw has not publicly commented about the RAIL Act.