Push to pass Railway Safety Act set to continue as congress returns from recess
The Railway Safety Act, which was proposed earlier this year in the wake of the catastrophic derailment of a Norfolk Southern train carrying toxic chemicals in East Palestine, is slowly but surely gaining some momentum as congress returns to Capitol Hill.
On Friday, Congressman Chris Deluzio (D-PA 17) held a press conference to update the community on efforts to pass the legislation, which was initially proposed in the Senate by a bipartisan delegation led by Ohio Sens. Sherrod Brown (D) and JD Vance (R) and Pennsylvania Senators Bob Casey (D) and John Fetterman (D).
In that press conference, Deluzio said the companion legislation proposed in the House had picked up a total of nine republican cosponsors, including members of the far-right Freedom Caucus, pushing the measure closer to passage in congress's lower chamber.
Deluzio's district abuts East Palestine, and many of his constituents were included in the evacuation order in the days following the derailment. Deluzio is the primary sponsor of the house legislation, which is cosponsored by Rep. Nick LaLota, a republican representing New York's first congressional district.
“The Norfolk Southern derailment was not just a headline for my constituents in Western Pennsylvania and our neighbors in East Palestine: it was a terrifying day that turned lives and livelihoods upside-down,” Deluzio said in the press conference.
He continued to criticize the railroad industry's efforts to weaken the legislation, even as they publicly express support for stricter government regulations on the rail industry.
“While Norfolk Southern and the big railroads would like Congress and the public to forget this tragedy, the scary truth is that without strong legislation to make freight rail safer, what happened in East Palestine could happen anywhere. We cannot trust the railroads to protect our communities," Deluzio said.
Following the Railway Safety Act's passage through the Senate's Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw issued the following statement:
"This is a first step toward the ultimate goal of enacting bipartisan legislation that advances rail safety and strengthens the ability of rail carriers to maintain their critical role in the nation’s economy. The Committee bill contains important advancements in accident prevention, accident mitigation, and accident response that will make our railroads, our employees, and communities safer. We look forward to continuing our engagement with Members of Congress on the issues, achieving a meaningful and effective new law, and leading on safety measures within the industry."
Despite their outward sentiments in favor of the legislation, The Intercept reported in August that Norfolk Southern had spent nearly $2 million dollars on lobbying efforts in Washington to stymie the effort.
Norfolk Southern's cash was further supplemented by millions from the rest of the rail industry, which continues to claim that many of the provisions within are misguided.
A primary target of rail industry lobbying efforts is the removal of provisions which would require most trains to operate with two-person crews, a measure which the Association of American Railroads has sued over in Ohio, citing railroad-industry funded research that claims there's no safety benefit to two person crews.
The money, it would seem, was well spent. Despite the onboarding of new GOP cosponsors in the house, the bill still faces an uphill battle in the Senate where it struggles to gain traction among Vance's republican colleagues.
After a substantial markup of the bill in May which extended the Senate legislation from 18 to over 80 pages, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said "I applaud the substantial work by Senator Cantwell, Senator Vance and their staff that’s gone into this bill. They are to be commended for their efforts and their passion. But unfortunately, at this stage, I cannot support the results."
In the months since, Cruz still has not signed on to the legislation, based primarily on the concern that the legislation would "empower Secretary Buttigieg and the Biden administration to further and aggressively restrict the movement of American energy products."
Despite the uphill battle, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is reportedly prioritizing the legislation for the fall, viewing it as a key point where he believes the GOP and Democrats can come to consensus and pass bipartisan legislation.
In a July speech on the Senate floor just days before the Senate heard testimony from Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw, Senator Schumer expressed his optimism for bipartisan agreement on the legislation, saying, "I hope that we can work together—Democrats and Republicans—to put a much-needed, long-overdue check on Big Rail and make sure another East Palestine never happens. And I commend the bipartisan legislation, led by the senators from Ohio, Senator Brown, a Democrat, and Senator Vance, a Republican, to move things forward."
The Senate bill currently has 6 GOP cosponsors. If the bill is able to obtain unanimous support from Democrats and independents, then it would still need 3 more GOP Senators to overcome a filibuster in the Senate.
In the House, full support from the 212-member democratic caucus plus the nine known republican cosponsors would push the legislation to 221 votes, three more than the 218 votes needed for the bill to pass in congress's lower chamber.
The House returns from summer recess on September 12th. The Senate, which returned from its own summer recess on September 5th, still hasn't scheduled a vote on the legislation.
