30 replies to this topic

[CNJRoss]

The Hill, Washington, DC, 5/4:
 

Schumer wants faster oil train changes than Obama

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is introducing legislation to require faster implementation of a series of regulations regarding the transportation of crude oil that were unveiled last week by the Obama administration. 

 

Schumer's legislation would require freight rail companies to phase out older rail cars that have been blamed for numerous high-profile disasters within two years, instead of the eight-year deadline that was set by the Obama administration.

 

 

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[CNJRoss]

Forbes, 5/5:

 

Crude Oil Rail Shipments Sabotage Freedom of Information Act

New regulations from the U.S. Department of Transportation declare that details about crude oil rail shipments are exempt from public disclosure (Tri-City Herald).

 

This ends DOT’s existing regulations that required railroads to share with state officials, and the public, information about shipping large volumes of dangerous crude oil by rail. These disclosure requirements were put in place last year after a Bakken crude oil train-wreck in Lynchburg, Virginia.

 

Now, railroads will only have to share this information with emergency responders who will be mum. And the information will be exempt from the Freedom of Information Act as well as public records and state disclosure laws (SSI).

 

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[CNJRoss]

The Wall Street Journal, 5/5:

 

Rail Executive Blasts Oil-Train Rules Norfolk Southern CEO says regulations could make oil-by-rail prohibitively expensive

 

Norfolk Southern Corp. Chief Executive Charles W. “Wick” Moorman said that the rail industry will challenge the federal government’s new crude-by-rail rules, adding regulators have “made some serious mistakes in the regulations.”

 

The new safety rules could make shipping crude oil by train prohibitively expensive, Mr. Moorman said in an interview on Tuesday.

 

“At a certain point, the economics are such that you can’t justify shipping the oil. The price to get it to the refinery is too high and the downside of that is that it will throttle the journey toward energy independence in this country,” Mr. Moorman said.

 

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[CNJRoss]

The New York Times, 5/1:
 

New Oil Train Rules Are Hit From All Sides

 

Ending months of uncertainty and delays, federal regulators on Friday unveiled new rules for transporting crude oil by trains, saying the measures would improve rail safety and reduce the risks of a catastrophic event.

 

But the rules quickly came under criticism from many sides. Lawmakers and safety advocates said the regulations did not go far enough in protecting the public, while industry representatives said some provisions would be costly and yield few safety benefits.

 

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[CNJRoss]

The Hill "Congress Blog," 4/7:
 

Preventing derailments is the key to crude oil shipment safety

 

By Chet Thompson

 

Not since the 1970s’ oil embargoes has there been such a loud public discussion about how fuel gets to local gas stations. But 40 years ago, the issue was scarcity. Today, the landscape looks much different because of new sources of crude oil, increasingly shipped by rail, that have helped our nation prosper and lessened consumers’ financial burden. 

 

But we must ensure the safe transport of crude by rail, otherwise, consumers may once again have reason to be concerned. That’s why we’re disappointed with the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) recently announced Enhanced Tank Car Standards. These standards fall well short of requiring the modernization of the rail infrastructure that is necessary to provide maximum safety of crude oil shipments.  

 

The refining industry, DOT, and the rail industry have a common goal of ensuring the safe transport of crude oil and other flammable liquids. According to DOT, the principal causes of derailments are track integrity and human factors. The Department, however, chose to forego establishing measures designed to prevent derailments, and instead focused almost exclusively on tank car standards and other mitigation measures. This was a missed opportunity to improve public safety.

 

SNIP

 

We’re doing our part to get rail safety right. Now it is time for DOT and the rail industry to make sure that cars carrying crude do not go off the tracks in the first place. DOT must do better than its recent rule. It needs to put together a comprehensive plan to address track improvement and reduce human error.

 

Thompson is president of the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, which represents more than 400 companies that encompass virtually all U.S. refining and petrochemical manufacturing capacity.

 

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[CNJRoss]

Plain Dealer, Cleveland, OH, 5/10:

Guest Column

 

Recent rail-safety actions will make America energy independent and 'energy safe': Anthony Foxx (Opinion)

 

At the start of 2014, the United States was No. 3 in oil production. By the end of the year, we were No. 1. In fact, thanks to new oil fields in North Dakota and Texas, last year's increase in domestic oil production was the largest since record-keeping began more than a century ago -- all of which has led to lower prices at the pump, higher rates of job growth, and an economy lifted out of recession. 

 

No one questions whether the United States can be energy independent anymore. Yet some do wonder: "Can the United States be 'energy safe'?"   

 

Oil is flammable. America's system for transporting it crosses through towns and cities where families live – including Cleveland – and some have questioned whether we could protect them from harm.  

 

On May 1, America took a big step forward.

 

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[CNJRoss]

The Hill, Washington, DC, 5/12:
 

Industry files suit to stop new oil train rules

 

The oil industry is suing to stop a number of provisions in a suite of oil-train transportation rules issued by the Obama administration.

 

The American Petroleum Institute (API) said Tuesday that it filed the lawsuit in federal court Monday in an attempt to overturn those requirements it does not believe would improve the safety of crude oil transport by rail.

 

“Improving on a 99.997 percent safety record requires data-driven efforts to prevent derailments with enhanced inspections and maintenance, upgrade the tank car fleet and educate first responders,” API spokesman Brian Straessle said in a statement.

 

“Our safety goal is zero incidents, so retrofit timelines, braking systems and other actions must all be based on facts and science to maximize the safety impact of this rule,” he said.

 

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[CNJRoss]

The Canadian Press via Edmonton Journal, 5/14:
 

Canadian Pacific Railway execs take aim at new U.S. electronic braking rules

 

CALGARY - U.S. requirements for new braking systems on trains carrying flammable liquids would mean additional costs without any guarantee of improved safety, top executives at Canadian Pacific Railway said Thursday.

 

Adding electronically controlled pneumatic, or ECP, brakes is meant to reduce the pileup effect in the event of a derailment, but railway chief operating officer Keith Creel said the notion that they must be installed is not based on "valid science."

 

"I just think that there's money better spent to get a better safety impact for the public," he told shareholders at the company's annual general meeting.

 

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[CNJRoss]

Pittsburgh (PA) Business Times, 6/1:

 

Norfolk Southern considers legal challenge to federal crude-by-rail rules

Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE:NSC) said it already has implemented safety measures that go beyond new federal rules related to crude-by-rail shipments and may challenge those rules in court, chairman and CEO C.W. Moorman wrote in a letter to Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf.

 

Responding to Wolf's request that Norfolk Southern and CSX consider following the lead of other railroads and adopt certain better-than-mandated measures and speed up its compliance with the new federal rules, Moorman said the railroad already has implemented — voluntarily — safety practices that exceed federal requirements.

 

He also wrote that the company believes the new federal rules misfire. He said they should have included new railcar standards related to their ability to withstand fires, but did not.

 

SNIP

 

Moorman wrote that five lawsuits already have been filed over the rules. He suggested that his company might be the sixth.

 

"At this early moment, Norfolk Southern is still considering its legal options," he wrote. "For our part, we are disappointed with portions of the rule. PMSHA has imposed a … requirement that will produce little safety benefit, and … it has failed to increase the pool-fire survivability standards for tank cars."

 

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[CNJRoss]

Progressive Railroading, 6/15:
 

AAR files appeal of USDOT's tank-car rule

 

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) has filed an appeal with the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to challenge its new tank-car rules, the association announced late last week.

 

"The new rule, while a good start, does not sufficiently advance safety and failed to fully address ongoing concerns of the freight rail industry and the general public," AAR officials said in a statement.

 

The association is urging the USDOT to close what it describes as a "gap in the rule that allows shippers to continue using tank cars not meeting new design specifications." The AAR is also hoping to remove the electronically controlled pneumatic braking system (ECP) requirement and "to enhance thermal protection by requiring a thermal blanket as part of new tank-car safety design standards."

 

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