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EAST PALESTINE -- U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) took time out of his tour of RBS Manufacturing in East Palestine on Monday to discuss the current status of the Railway Safety Act of 2023 -- the bipartisan bill introduced by Brown and his republican counterpart J.D. Vance to improve rail safety in response to February's Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine.
"My job is to help this community and that's why I come back every month, but it's also my job to also pass the rail safety bill which will be on the floor next week," Brown said.
The bill passed out of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation May 4. It now moves to the floor for a full vote. With all 51 Democrats likely to support the legislation, nine GOP votes for the bill are needed. Brown is confident they will get those votes
"We expect to have the 60 votes we need to break the filibuster. It's touch and go but we will get to 60," he said. "We will have all 51 Democrats and Vance and I think we will have at least a dozen Republicans. The railroads are still fighting it, and we need the momentum of a big victory in the Senate to get through the House."
The bill, among other things, would mandate hotbox detectors every 10 miles as well as mandating advance notice to local officials of trains carrying hazardous cargo through towns along the rail line as well as a minimum two-person crew on every train. Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw has said that he supports some but not all changes proposed by the pending legislation. He is in opposition to the two-person crew mandate as are other railroad heads.
"I don't know anybody in the whole world except train executives who think that only one-person -- one engineer -- should be driving 250-car trains," Brown said. "There were 150 cars on the one that derailed here. The one in Springfield was 212. Out west, the trains are even longer."
And not all legislators are on board. In fact, according to Brown, it is the complete opposite.
"Some senators think we should be able to carry liquid natural gas on these trains," he said. "You don't put more hazardous materials on trains when the railroads have not lived up to their obligations."
Brown is confident the bill will be approved by the Senate. The House is a different story, as he painted Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to be a railroad sympathizer.
"The Speaker of the House is pretty close to the railroad lobby and they're powerful," Brown said. "They've also had their way too long."
Brown contends that failure of the Railway Safety Act of 2023 to become a law will lead to more derailments and more disasters like East Palestine.
According to data from the Federal Railroad Administration, 1,164 trains derailed in the U.S. in 2022. Derailments have remained on pace this year, with East Palestine doing little to slow them.
"We've seen more derailments since East Palestine. There's been another derailment here (in Columbiana County), two in Springfield, one the other day in Medina County, one the other day in Wooster, one in Ravenna and one in Steubenville. So this keep happening," Brown said.
Brown cited the railroads' history of putting profits over safety as the main reason trains keep coming off track. He also questioned the safety of wheel bearings on trains and says that wayside hotbox detectors are placed too far apart to notify the crew once those bearings become compromised.
Just last month another Norfolk Southern train derailed 30 minutes away in New Castle. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released its preliminary report on that derailment and it noted striking similarities with East Palestine. An overheated wheel bearing was identified as the likely culprit in New Castle, and the investigation determined that an improperly installed hotbox detector prevented an alarm message from reaching the crew. While the hotbox detectors that the Feb. 3 train passed through outside of East Palestine were properly installed and working, notification of a rise above ambient temperature came too late to prevent the derailment.
When asked how many derailments it will take before every lawmaker gets behind railroad safety legislation, Brown said that's a question he can't answer.
"Ask the people in the House and Senate. Ask them how many more derailments they need before they step up," he said.
Brown has said that he's seen enough and that the rail industry needs more federal mandates and more stringent safety regulations. He maintains his fellow legislators have a duty to protect communities like East Palestine and prevent other communities from suffering East Palestine's fate.
"These trains are dangerous," Brown said. "We have to make sure they are running as safe as possible. They can never be perfect, but they can be better, and we need to make them better. It's our job."
selverd@mojonews.com