Congress responded to the fiery train derailment in eastern Ohio earlier this year with bipartisan alarm, holding a flurry of hearings about the potential for railroad crashes to trigger even larger disasters. Both parties agreed that a legislative response was needed.
Yet six months after life was upended in East Palestine, little has changed.
While Joe Biden and Donald Trump have praised a railroad safety bill from the Ohio senators Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, and JD Vance, a Republican, the Senate proposal has also encountered resistance. Top GOP leaders in Congress have been hesitant to support it, and the bill has faced some opposition from the railroad industry, which holds significant sway in Washington.
As a result, it remains an open question whether the derailment that shattered life in East Palestine will become a catalyst for action. And for Republicans, the fight poses a larger test of political identity, caught between their traditional support for industry and their desire to champion voters in rural America.
\u201cThese rail lines pass frequently through Republican areas, small towns with a lot of Republican voters,\u201d Vance told the Associated Press. \u201cHow can we look them in the eye and say, we\u2019re doing a good job by you? If we choose the railroads over their own interests, we can\u2019t.\u201d
In East Palestine, a village of approximately 5,000 people near the Pennsylvania state line, the railroad has reopened both its tracks in the area but the cleanup continues. Norfolk Southern estimates that its response to the derailment will cost at least $803m to remove all the hazardous chemicals, help the community and deal with lawsuits and penalties related to the derailment.
But residents still worry about the long-term health effects. Many are looking to Congress to act, hoping it will prevent another community from enduring the trauma, fear and upheaval they have endured.
Jami Wallace, who has lived in East Palestine for 46 years along with her extended family, has helped lead a community group called the Unity Council to represent residents\u2019 concerns and push for government action.
\u201cIf our legislators don\u2019t take East Palestine as an example of some of the reforms that need to be in the regulations that need to be put on, you know, the railroad industry, then they\u2019re fools,\u201d Wallace said. \u201cAgain, we don\u2019t want to suffer for nothing.\u201d
Rail labor groups say the widespread cuts the industry has made in the name of efficiency in recent years have made railroads riskier, so they believe reforms are needed to reduce the more than 1,000 derailments that happen every year because just one can be disastrous.
\u201cThere have been more than 60 high-profile derailments since East Palestine, including multiple in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Montana,\u201d said the Transportation Trades Department coalition that includes all the rail unions. \u201cThrough it all, freight rail companies have maintained their fundamental disregard for public safety. Safety is just a buzzword to the railroads.\u201d
Vance, a freshman senator, said he was counting on a few more Republican senators to back the bill before it comes to a vote. The majority leader, Chuck Schumer, has already placed the bill at the top of the agenda for the fall.
But Vance and Brown acknowledge their legislation faces an even steeper climb in the Republican-controlled House. GOP leaders there want to wait until the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) completes its investigation of the derailment \u2013 which will probably not happen until next year \u2013 before taking action. The NTSB in a preliminary report on East Palestine found fault with an overheated wheel bearing.
But a contingent of Ohio House lawmakers, led by Democratic Representative Emilia Sykes and Republican Representative Bill Johnson, whose district includes East Palestine, want action now.
\u201cLet\u2019s hit while the iron is hot,\u201d Johnson said.
Both the House and Senate bills would increase fines for safety violations, require more inspections and increase the number of trackside detectors that monitor for overheated wheel bearings. In one significant difference, the Senate bill would require that most freight trains have two-person crews, while the House bill would not.
Railroads have spoken out against the two-person crew requirement and urged Congress to wait for the final NTSB investigation to pass any new regulations.
The industry has also stepped up its lobbying this year. In the first three months of 2023, industry groups spent a combined $7.1m on lobbying \u2013 a roughly $1.8m increase from the $5.3m it spent in the previous three months.
The railroads say there is no data to show one-person crews are riskier than two-person crews.
Railroads have a long history of resisting new regulations, and an industry group has already filed a lawsuit challenging some new state rules Ohio passed after the derailment. It maintains that any new regulations should be based on data that proves the rules would actually make railroads safer.
As the bill proponents make a push in the coming months, Brown said he was counting on help from residents directly affected by the February derailment.
\u201cThe area of the state this happened in is a very conservative, Republican part of the state. But I am their ally. They know it. They\u2019re my allies in this,\u201d said Brown, who is expected to face a tough reelection race next year. \u201cThey put pressure. They don\u2019t care about partisan politics.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n