Calls for tighter rail regulations, increased fines and more accountability coming from USDOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg, amid the East Palestine train disaster.

Buttigieg is pushing for new regulations to improve railroad safety, even looking to add another '0' onto the more than $225 thousand dollar maximum rail fine for negligence, capping it at more than 2.2 million. National rail experts tell 21 News they're completely on board.

"Higher fines would serve as more of a deterrent or at least provide powerful motive for there to be better inspections," said Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen Vice President, Vince Verna.

Verna says there needs to be more resources put into overall rail safety.

"I think there's a long story, a long history of regulatory enforcement that has gone back and forth over many years and I think there needs to be more consistent regulations for safety," Verna said.

On the other end of the aisle, Congressman Bill Johnson tells 21 News the focus right now needs to remain on the people and not the solutions to a problem that hasn't been identified.

"We have no idea yet the details of what caused this crash and what we would do to prevent it," Johnson said. "I think it's entirely premature to start listing out a list of policy changes before we even know what happened," he said.

Johnson says he's more interested in assuring the community he's in it for the long haul and that holding Norfolk Southern accountable is apart of that.

"They're responsible for everything," said Johnson. "They're responsible for the clean-up, they're responsible for repairing any damage, they're responsible for paying for the testing and cleaning of surface, they're responsible for any health care costs that can be attributed to the accident and the spill," he said.

Johnson says he will see this through to the finish line with the people of East Palestine.