Rep. Payne, Jr. Encourages Federal Officials to Act Quickly to Prevent Future Train Derailments  

Washington, D.C. — Rep. Donald M. Payne, Jr., Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials for the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, wrote a letter today to Amit Bose, Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), and Tristan Brown, Deputy Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Organization (PHMSA), to encourage them to act immediately on any investigation findings of a train derailment on February 3, 2023 in East Palestine, Ohio.  The letter was co-signed by 70 members of Congress.

“The failure of the previous administration to establish strong safety regulations has led to train derailments and accidents nationwide, such as the one in East Palestine, Ohio,” said Ranking Member Payne, Jr. “The Biden Administration is working to ensure better passenger and worker safety on all trains across the country.  That is why we encourage the FRA and PHMSA to issue new safety regulations if they discover any general problems with train operations instead of the usual process of waiting until a final report.  These new regulations could prevent future accidents and save lives.”

The letter stated the Congressional members request the agencies to issue safety advisories as soon as possible if “the ongoing investigation identifies concerns that warrant immediate action.”  Such action would “address any immediate needs” to improve safety before the agencies issue a final report.

The full letter is below.

Dear Administrator Bose and Deputy Administrator Brown,

Thank you both for your rapid and thorough response to the February 3 derailment of Norfolk Southern freight train 32N in East Palestine, Ohio. With your agencies’ participation in the NTSB investigation, as well as industry and labor’s, we hope this investigation will be thorough and professional and will answer our questions about how to protect other communities from similar accidents.

We understand the NTSB’s investigation is a deliberate process. As your agencies continue their participation in the investigation into the derailment, its causes, the subsequent fire, and the response, we respectfully request that, if the ongoing investigation identifies concerns that warrant immediate action, that your agencies use their authorities to issue safety advisories, directives or the like to respond as soon as possible to ensure safety, rather than waiting for the NTSB to issue its final report. The sooner we address any immediate needs the better we can improve safety.

Thank you for your attention to this matter, and we look forward to working with you to improve freight rail safety.

Sincerely,