U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Aspinwall, has called on Vice President JD Vance to help pass rail safety improvements, which Mr. Vance himself supported as an Ohio senator, ahead of the two-year anniversary of the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine.
Mr. Deluzio renewed his push to pass new safety legislation Thursday at an event in Tarentum — where he was joined by local officials to discuss efforts to make improvements to a rail crossing in the borough — calling on President Donald Trump’s administration to use the Republican-controlled Congress to pass a bill he plans to introduce that builds off the Railway Safety Act he introduced after the 2023 derailment.
“It’s been two years since Norfolk Southern’s disastrous derailment in East Palestine. If President Trump and Vice President Vance are serious about protecting our communities, now’s the time for them to step up. The White House has a chance to pressure Congressional Republicans to finally pass the Railway Safety Act, and I stand ready to work with them in this effort,” Mr. Deluzio said.
Mr. Deluzio has been a vocal advocate for improving rail safety since the Norfolk Southern freighter carrying cancer-causing chemicals derailed in East Palestine, resulting in a $600 million settlement on behalf of those impacted by the incident.
“We know we cannot trust the big railroads to regulate themselves,” he said. “That’s why this Congress we have to pass strong rail safety requirements and implement the safety recommendations from the NTSB. I refuse to let communities like ours in Western PA get treated like collateral damage in the way of corporate profits.”
Both Trump and Mr. Vance previously supported Mr. Deluzio’s railway safety efforts.
Trump endorsed Mr. Deluzio’s bill, the Railway Safety Act, ahead of his most recent election and Mr. Vance co-led the Senate version of the bipartisan bill, which stalled in the committee process after was introduced in the House last year by Mr. Deluzio and Republican New York Rep. Nick LaLota.
The legislation would increase fines on rail carriers found to have committed wrongdoings, enhance safety procedures for trains carrying hazardous materials, and establish requirements to operate with crews of at least two people.
Mr. Deluzio said he also planned to introduce the DERAIL Act, which would direct the head of the Department of Transportation to change the definition of a “high-hazard flammable train.”
Currently, the federal government considers only trains with either 20 continuous tank cars filled with flammable liquids, or 35 non-consecutive tank cars with flammable liquids dispersed throughout the train, a “high-hazard flammable train.”
However, under Mr. Deluzio’s bill, that definition would be changed to include any train transporting one or more cars of flammable materials.
The Norfolk Southern freighter that derailed in East Palestine was not considered a high-hazard flammable train and instead was considered a general merchandise, because 11 of the 38 cars that veered off the track were carrying flammable and hazardous materials.
Under Mr. Deluzio’s DERAIL Act, that train would have been considered a high-hazard train and stricter regulations would have been imposed on it and other freighters with similar loads.
First Published: January 30, 2025, 5:33 p.m.
Updated: January 31, 2025, 6:00 p.m.