In the news: The U.S. Department of Transportation is proposing a new rule to improve rail safety by requiring railroads to maintain real-time information about hazardous materials shipments.
Why it matters: This rule would enhance public safety and help first responders better prepare for hazmat incidents, ultimately protecting communities and improving emergency response.
The proposal would require railroads always to maintain — and update in real-time — accurate, electronic information about rail hazmat shipments in a train consist that would be accessible to authorized emergency response personnel. Railroads would also be required to proactively “push” that information to authorized local first response personnel as soon as the railroad is aware of an accident involving hazardous materials.
“On-demand access to key information about hazmat shipments coupled with proactive information sharing will enable first responders to better prepare for the risks present at the scene of an incident BEFORE they arrive on the scene,” said PHMSA Deputy Administrator Tristan Brown.
PHMSA and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) have taken several additional actions to improve freight rail safety. That includes making more than $25 million in funding available to help train first responders and strengthen safety programs, issuing safety advisories to railroad companies about replacing tank car covers and urging a faster transition from DOT-111s to DOT 117s rail cars.