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Casey continues push for training for derailments

4 min read

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Friday continued his push for legislation that would provide new resources and training for first responders who are located in communities near railroad tracks.

During a news conference in Pittsburgh, Casey, D-Pa., who was joined by emergency managers from Allegheny, Beaver and Westmoreland counties, discussed the Response Act, omnibus legislation that would convene a first-ever special task force on derailments to create a new set of recommendations for training and resources with regard to handling train derailments occurring in increasing numbers in the Keystone state.

Recent derailments occurred in McKeesport, Vandergrift, Uniontown and Philadelphia.

“Derailments have increased at an alarming rate. It’s time for a comprehensive, coordinated approach that aids our first responders,” Casey said in a news release. “This is commonsense legislation that would work to ensure our first responders and emergency managers are getting the training and resources they need to respond to potential derailments.”

According to the release issued by Casey’s office, the bill would establish a subcommittee under the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Advisory Council to address training of first responders, particularly in smaller communities.

The Response Subcommittee would be tasked with bringing together all the relevant agencies, emergency responders, technical experts and the private sector for a review of training, resources, best approaches and unmet needs related to emergency responders to railroad hazmat incidents. All flammable hazmat response to railroad incidents would be within the scope of the subcommittee, which would have a focus on the potential increased risk associated with a derailment involving delivery of crude oil.

The subcommittee would provide recommendations to Congress within 12 months on emergency responder training and resource allocation. These will include addressing effectiveness of current funding levels related to training local emergency responders, strategy for integration of commodity flow studies, mapping and access platforms for local emergency responders.

Also included would be recommendations on how to increase the rate of access to the individual responder in existing or emerging communications technology; the development of a train incident database; and the need to increase access to relevant, useful and timely information for the local emergency responders.

In late February, a week after a fiery derailment of a crude oil tanker train in Mount Carbon, W.Va., Casey sent a letter to the Shaun Donovan, director of the Office of Management and Budget, which is reviewing new rail safety measures from a proposal by the U.S. Department of Transportation. In the letter, Casey noted crude oil shipments by rail increased drastically over the past several years, largely because of the rise in oil production from North Dakota’s Bakken shale region. He said large quantities of the oil travel through Pennsylvania and other states on a daily basis and are shipped on older rail cars that are prone to rupture.

In addition to seeking a rail safety rule to put new, stronger oil tankers on the country’s railroad and increasing resources for first responders, he sought a review of speed limits for shipping the volatile fuel.

In pursuing the safety legislation, Casey also sought the following in the response bill:

• Money to hire 15 new rail and hazardous materials inspectors and retain 45 rail safety positions created in 2014;

• $3 million to expand the use of automated track inspections to ensure proper track maintenance on crude oil routes;

• Support for the establishment of a Short Line Safety Institute to perform safety compliance assessments and safety training for short line railroads that transport crude oil;

• And proper classification that ensures emergency responders understand the hazards of the products being shipped and the correct way to respond in the case of an accident.

Shortly after the letter was sent in February, the Transportation Department and freight rail industry reached a compromise on reforms to improve the safety of transporting crude oil. The reforms included slower speeds for trains operating in urban areas, increased emergency responder training and increased track inspections.

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