New Railroad Bill Authored

Railroads…like the one involved in last month’s fiery crash and toxic chemical release in Ohio…would be subject to a series of new federal safety regulations and financial consequences…all of this, under bipartisan legislation introduced Wednesday by the state’s two U.S. senators. The Railway Safety Act of 2023, co-sponsored by Sens. Sherrod Brown and JD Vance…and four others of both parties, responded to the fiery derailment of a Norfolk Southern freight train in East Palestine, near the Pennsylvania border, on Feb. 3, when 38 cars derailed and more burned. Though no one was injured or killed, the accident and its aftermath imperiled the entire village and nearby neighborhoods in both states. It prompted an evacuation of about half the town’s 4,000 residents, an ongoing multi-governmental emergency response and lingering worries among villagers of long-term health impacts.