First rail safety measure advances in Pa. House following East Palestine disaster

Jun. 6—HARRISBURG — A strong bipartisan vote in the Pennsylvania House advanced a legislative proposal seeking to tighten safety protocols on freight trains — a bill inspired by the disastrous derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, just a quarter-mile across the state line four months ago.

House Bill 1028 from Democrat Robert Matzie and Republican Jim Marshall seeks to restrict the length of trains operating on main tracks and branches to 8,500 feet, or 1.6 miles, and require at least two rail workers on each freight train.

It passed 141-62 on Monday and now moves to the state Senate.

The bill is one of at least five concerning rail safety introduced in both chambers of the General Assembly following the Feb. 3 derailment in East Palestine that risked environmental disaster and public safety. Cleanup efforts and environmental monitoring continue.

Both Matzie and Marshall represent Beaver County which borders the derailment site. Though questions persist about state authority to regulate much of the rail industry, the lawmakers cite Pennsylvania's Public Utility Code, which they say authorizes them to make changes to the Federal Rail and Safety Act with state-specific provisions.

The bill contains penalties for violating its varied provisions including $10,000 for blocking crossings on roads and highways. It also looks to create a reporting system for rail companies to inform emergency management agencies at the federal, state and local levels of transport of hazardous materials.

"The overriding theme in all of those objections was for us to wait, to wait for some other entity ... for action. We believed the issue was too important, the stakes too high to wait any longer," Matzie said of the limited resistance he encountered in moving the bill through the lower chamber.

Rep. Dallas Kephart, R-Cambria/Clearfield, spoke in opposition to the measure. He noted that many freight trains exceed the limit sought in the bill. That sets the stage for rail companies to reset their trains when entering or exiting the commonwealth.

He framed the measure as one adversely impacting both employees and companies in the rail industry and other natural resources like coal and gas. And, he said, it's essentially a hidden consumer tax.

"Multiple operators contacted me before February to say they can't get rail cars yet we're going to make it more difficult on people in our districts who use railroads to transport their goods," Kephart said. "This is a bad bill on policy."