Highlights:
Trump Administration Reversed Obama-Era Rule That Required Braking System Upgrades For “High Hazard” Trains That Hauled Flammable Liquids. According to the New York Times, “Over four years, the Trump administration dismantled major climate policies and rolled back many more rules governing clean air, water, wildlife and toxic chemicals. In all, a New York Times analysis, based on research from Harvard Law School, Columbia Law School and other sources, counts nearly 100 environmental rules officially reversed, revoked or otherwise rolled back under Mr. Trump. More than a dozen other potential rollbacks remained in progress by the end but were not finalized by the end of the administration’s term. […] 93. Reversed an Obama-era rule that required braking system upgrades for ‘high hazard’ trains hauling flammable liquids like oil and ethanol.” [New York Times, 1/20/21]
Electronic Pneumatic Brakes (ECP) Work On All Cars Simultaneously. According to the Associated Press, “Unlike other systems where brakes are applied sequentially along the length of a train, electronic pneumatic brakes, or ECP, work on all cars simultaneously. That can reduce the distance and time a train needs to stop and cause fewer cars to derail.” [Associated Press, 12/20/18]
ECP Can Reduce The Distance And Time A Train Needs To Stop And Cause Fewer Cars To Derail. According to the Associated Press, “Unlike other systems where brakes are applied sequentially along the length of a train, electronic pneumatic brakes, or ECP, work on all cars simultaneously. That can reduce the distance and time a train needs to stop and cause fewer cars to derail.” [Associated Press, 12/20/18]
2015: Obama Rule Required Certain Trains “Carrying Large Volumes Of Flammable Liquids” To Be Equipped With ECP Brakes. According to the Federal Register, “On May 8, 2015, PHMSA issued the HM-251 final rule (80 FR 26644). In the final rule, PHMSA amended the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR parts 171 through 180) by codifying new definitions for trains carrying large volumes of flammable liquids, ‘high-hazard flammable trains’ (HHFTs) and ‘high-hazard flammable unit trains’ (HHFUTs),[3] and by implementing additional operational restrictions (e.g., requirements related to speed, braking systems, and routing) for such trains. Specifically, as it relates to this final rule, HM-251 included amendments requiring all tank cars in HHFUTs operating under certain conditions to be equipped with ECP brake systems.” [Federal Register, 9/25/18]
September 2018: The United States Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) And The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Published A Final Rule “To Remove Requirements Pertaining To Electronically Controlled Pneumatic Brake Systems On High-Hazard Flammable Unit Trains.” According to the Federal Register, “AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Department of Transportation (DOT). ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, in coordination with the Federal Railroad Administration, is issuing this final rule to remove requirements pertaining to electronically controlled pneumatic brake systems on high-hazard flammable unit trains..” [Federal Register, 9/25/18]
The Department Of Transportation Determined That The Requirement Was Not “Economically Justified.” According to the Federal Register, “AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Department of Transportation (DOT). ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, in coordination with the Federal Railroad Administration, is issuing this final rule to remove requirements pertaining to electronically controlled pneumatic brake systems on high-hazard flammable unit trains. This final action is based on the Department of Transportation's determination that the requirements are not economically justified.” [Federal Register, 9/25/18]
PHMSA And FRA Cited A Regulatory Impact Analysis Associated With The ECP Brake Provisions. According to the Federal Register, “In October 2017, PHMSA and FRA published a notice of availability and request for comments (82 FR 48006) on a revised RIA updating the original RIA associated with the ECP brake provisions. As mandated by the FAST Act, DOT updated the RIA and made a determination regarding whether the applicable ECP brake system requirements are economically justified. Based on that revised analysis, the Department determined that the expected benefits, including safety benefits, of implementing ECP brake system requirements do not exceed the associated costs of equipping tank cars with ECP brake systems, and therefore are not economically justified. For this reason, PHMSA is issuing this final rule to remove the ECP brake system requirements from the HMR.” [Federal Register, 9/25/18]
Trump’s DOT Said They “Determined That The Expected Benefits, Including Safety Benefits, Of Implementing ECP Brake System Requirements Do Not Exceed The Associated Costs Of Equipping Tank Cars With ECP Brake Systems.” According to the Federal Register, “In October 2017, PHMSA and FRA published a notice of availability and request for comments (82 FR 48006) on a revised RIA updating the original RIA associated with the ECP brake provisions. As mandated by the FAST Act, DOT updated the RIA and made a determination regarding whether the applicable ECP brake system requirements are economically justified. Based on that revised analysis, the Department determined that the expected benefits, including safety benefits, of implementing ECP brake system requirements do not exceed the associated costs of equipping tank cars with ECP brake systems, and therefore are not economically justified. For this reason, PHMSA is issuing this final rule to remove the ECP brake system requirements from the HMR.” [Federal Register, 9/25/18]
The Trump Administration Miscalculated Potential Benefits Of Better Brakes For Trains That Haul Explosive Fuels. According to the Associated Press, “President Donald Trump’s administration miscalculated the potential benefits of putting better brakes on trains that haul explosive fuels when it scrapped an Obama-era rule over cost concerns, The Associated Press has found. A government analysis used to justify the cancellation omitted up to $117 million in estimated future damages from train derailments that could be avoided by using electronic brakes. Revelation of the error stoked renewed criticism Thursday from the rule’s supporters, who called the analysis biased.” [Associated Press, 12/20/18]
Government Analysis Omitted Up To $117 Million In Estimated Future Damages. According to the Associated Press, “President Donald Trump’s administration miscalculated the potential benefits of putting better brakes on trains that haul explosive fuels when it scrapped an Obama-era rule over cost concerns, The Associated Press has found. A government analysis used to justify the cancellation omitted up to $117 million in estimated future damages from train derailments that could be avoided by using electronic brakes. Revelation of the error stoked renewed criticism Thursday from the rule’s supporters, who called the analysis biased.” [Associated Press, 12/20/18]
Trump DOT Economists Left Out Most Common Type Of Derailments, Where Equipping Fuel Trains With Brakes Would Reduce Damages By Between $48 Million And $117 Million. According to the Associated Press, “Transportation Department economists said in their analysis that the change was prompted in part by a reduction in oil train traffic in recent years. Even as ethanol shipments on U.S. railroads have continued to grow, reaching about 500,000 carloads annually, crude shipments peaked in 2014 and fell to about 200,000 carloads last year. But in making their cost-benefit calculations, government economists left out the most common type of derailments in which spilled and burning fuel causes property damage but no mass casualties, the AP found. Equipping fuel trains with electronic brakes would reduce damages from those derailments by an estimated $48 million to $117 million, according to Department of Transportation estimates that were left out of the administration’s final tally.” [Associated Press, 12/20/18]
Trump DOT Admitted To The Error. According to the Associated Press, “Department of Transportation officials acknowledged the mistake after it was discovered by the AP during a review of federal documents. They said a correction will be published to the federal register.” [Associated Press, 12/20/18]
Trump DOT Spokesman Said The Rule Would Stand Despite The Error. According to the Associated Press, “Department of Transportation officials acknowledged the mistake after it was discovered by the AP during a review of federal documents. They said a correction will be published to the federal register. But transportation spokesman Bobby Fraser said the decision not to require the brakes would stand under a Congressional act that said the costs couldn’t exceed the rule’s benefits.” [Associated Press, 12/20/18]
Norfolk Southern Said Its Response To The East Palestine Derailment Would Cost At Least $803 Million. According to the Associated Press, “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 $803 million to remove all the hazardous chemicals, help the community and deal with lawsuits and penalties related to the derailment.” [Associated Press, 8/3/23]
Trump DOT Sidelined Regulation That Would Have Required “Railroads To Operate Trains With At Least Two Crew Members.” According to the Associated Press, “In response to this and similar crashes, the government in 2016 proposed requiring that new heavy trucks have potentially life-saving software that would electronically limit speeds. But now, like many other safety rules in the works before President Donald Trump took office, it has been delayed indefinitely by the Transportation Department as part of a sweeping retreat from regulations that the president says slow the economy. An Associated Press review of the department’s rulemaking activities in Trump’s first year in office shows at least a dozen safety rules that were under development or already adopted have been repealed, withdrawn, delayed or put on the back burner. In most cases, those rules are opposed by powerful industries. And the political appointees running the agencies that write the rules often come from the industries they regulate. Meanwhile, there have been no significant new safety rules adopted over the same period. The sidelined rules would have, among other things, required states to conduct annual inspections of commercial bus operators, railroads to operate trains with at least two crew members and automakers to equip future cars and light trucks with vehicle-to-vehicle communications to prevent collisions. Many of the rules were prompted by tragic events.” [Associated Press, 2/26/18]
The Trump Administration Published A Notice Of Proposed Rulemaking Withdrawal For A March 2016 Proposed Rule On Minimum Train Crew Staffing Size. According to the Federal Register, “AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of Transportation (DOT). ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM); withdrawal. […] FRA has the authority to regulate train crew staffing pursuant to its broad authority to, ‘as necessary, . . . prescribe regulations and issue orders for every area of railroad safety supplementing laws and regulations in effect on October 16, 1970.’ [1] On March 15, 2016, FRA issued an NPRM which proposed regulations establishing minimum requirements for the size of train crew staffs depending on the type of operation (referred to herein as train crew staffing). The proposed rule was not statutorily mandated, but rather, arose out of two rail accidents in 2013 (Lac-Mégantic, Quebec and Casselton, North Dakota).[2] Following the Lac-Mégantic and Casselton accidents, the rail industry, Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB of Canada), and DOT undertook a variety of investigations and actions [3] to address rail safety and hazardous materials issues highlighted by those accidents, including FRA's submission of a task to the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC).[4]” [Federal Register, 5/29/19]
2019: Federal Railroad Agency “Finds That No Regulation Of Train Crew Staffing Is Necessary Or Appropriate At This Time.” According to the Federal Register, “While FRA continues to monitor the potential safety impact of train crew staffing, for the reasons provided below, FRA finds that no regulation of train crew staffing is necessary or appropriate at this time. FRA believes that current safety programs and actions taken following the Lac-Mégantic and Casselton accidents are the appropriate avenues for addressing those accidents. Moreover, despite studying this issue in-depth and performing extensive outreach to industry stakeholders and the general public, FRA's statement in the NPRM that it ‘cannot provide reliable or conclusive statistical data to suggest whether one-person crew operations are generally safer or less safe than multiple-person crew operations’ still holds true today. Accordingly, FRA withdraws the NPRM.” [Federal Register, 5/29/19]
The Trump Administration Reversed Federal Policy To Approve Transportation Of Natural Gas By Rail Anywhere In The Country. According to NPR, “In an effort to boost natural gas exports, the Trump administration has reversed longstanding federal policy and approved transport of gas by rail anywhere in the country. Opposition has come from Hollywood stars, state attorneys general and local residents who worry about the danger this poses. But plans are moving ahead for a New Jersey project that calls for one of the longest such transport routes in the country: 200 miles through densely populated areas of the East Coast.” [NPR, 12/29/20]
The Trump Administration DOT Withdrew A Rule To Require Screenings For Engineers. According to the Associated Press, “Some rules that were in the works have been abandoned entirely. After four people died when a New York commuter train derailed while speeding around a curve in 2013, investigators determined that the engineer had fallen asleep. He had undiagnosed sleep apnea, a disorder that causes pauses in breathing and prevents restful sleep, and had made no effort to stop the train. The National Transportation Safety Board blamed the crash in part on federal regulators for not requiring medical screening of engineers for sleep disorders. Yet last summer, DOT withdrew a rule the government was in the early stages of writing to require screening for engineers and truck and bus drivers.” [Associated Press, 2/26/18]
The Trump Administration Said Safety Programs Addressed The Problem. According to the Associated Press, “The government said current safety programs either address the problem or it will be addressed in a rulemaking to reduce fatigue risks in the railroad industry. But the fatigue rule is years overdue with no timetable for completion. The NTSB has cited sleep apnea as a cause of 13 rail and highway accidents it has investigated, including two more commuter train crashes in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 2016, and Brooklyn, New York, in 2017.” [Associated Press, 2/26/18]
The Trump Administration Said The Problem Would Be Addressed In Rulemaking For Fatigue. According to the Associated Press, “The government said current safety programs either address the problem or it will be addressed in a rulemaking to reduce fatigue risks in the railroad industry. But the fatigue rule is years overdue with no timetable for completion. The NTSB has cited sleep apnea as a cause of 13 rail and highway accidents it has investigated, including two more commuter train crashes in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 2016, and Brooklyn, New York, in 2017.” [Associated Press, 2/26/18]
The Obama Administration Said It Planned To Propose New Rules To Address “Dangerous Track Conditions And Defects.” According to Reuters, “Train track safety inspections were another focus of the Obama administration, which said it planned to propose new rules to address ‘dangerous track conditions and defects’ in order to prevent train derailments. The Trump administration said in a document posted last week that the previous administration’s initiative had been moved to the ‘long-term action’ list, meaning it does not plan any additional action for at least 12 months on the proposal and could abandon it completely.” [Reuters, 12/21/17]
The Trump Administration Said It Had Moved The Track Safety Rules To A “Long-Term Action” List. According to Reuters, “Train track safety inspections were another focus of the Obama administration, which said it planned to propose new rules to address ‘dangerous track conditions and defects’ in order to prevent train derailments. The Trump administration said in a document posted last week that the previous administration’s initiative had been moved to the ‘long-term action’ list, meaning it does not plan any additional action for at least 12 months on the proposal and could abandon it completely.” [Reuters, 12/21/17]
Under The 2015 Rule, Trains Would Have Been Required To Upgrade By 2023. According to a column by Will Bunch in the Philadelphia Inquirer, “With the investigation into the East Palestine wreck still in its early phases, it’s not clear if the modern brakes — originally required for installation by 2021 — could have prevented the toxic derailment or whether the specific Obama rule would have applied. But experts do believe the new brakes could have mitigated the wreckage — and thus the release of so many hazardous chemicals. And the rule reversal wasn’t the only time that Team Trump sided with Big Rail over the forgotten Americans who live on the wrong side of their tracks.” [Column - Will Bunch, Philadelphia Inquirer, 2/19/23]
While It Is Uncertain Whether Modern Brakes Would Have Prevented The Wreck, Experts Believed It Would Have Mitigated The Damage. According to a column by Will Bunch in the Philadelphia Inquirer, “With the investigation into the East Palestine wreck still in its early phases, it’s not clear if the modern brakes — originally required for installation by 2021 — could have prevented the toxic derailment or whether the specific Obama rule would have applied. But experts do believe the new brakes could have mitigated the wreckage — and thus the release of so many hazardous chemicals. And the rule reversal wasn’t the only time that Team Trump sided with Big Rail over the forgotten Americans who live on the wrong side of their tracks.” [Column - Will Bunch, Philadelphia Inquirer, 2/19/23]