WASHINGTON STATE

Washington State House Democrats

HOUSE DEMOCRATS

Federal Oil Train Regulations Proposed

US Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx announced on Wednesday a series of proposed rules and regulation to improve the safety of trains transporting oil and other flammable liquids across the United States.

The news comes after a significant increase in oil train crashes across the United States and Canada. Derailments in Quebec, New Brunswick, Alabama, Pennsylvania and Virginia wreaked havoc on local communities, while a crash in the Canadian town of Lac-Mégantic killed 47 people in an explosion that destroyed half of the downtown area.

The proposed rules include phasing out older rail tank cars, tightening speed limits and improving break standards. These new regulations would apply not just to oil but also to ethanol, another highly flammable liquid that is often shipped by rail.

House Democrats introduced legislation last session that would have required greater transparency about where oil was transported in Washington state. The measure, which would have allowed communities to better prepare for the potentially hazardous consequences of oil train traffic, passed the House but died in the Senate without a hearing.

Here’s more information about the new rules proposed this week.