Washington, DC – Yesterday, Congressman Donald Norcross (NJ-01) introduced his first bill, H.R. 2074, the Toxics by Rail Accountability and Community Knowledge (TRACK) Act, to improve hazmat-by-rail safety by implementing a series of recommendations made by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) following the 2012 train derailment in Paulsboro, New Jersey. Since being sworn in to Congress in November of last year, Rep. Norcross has worked closely with Senator Bob Menendez and local officials on legislation designed to avoid catastrophes like the one that occurred in Paulsboro, while working to benefit from the lessons learned from this accident. 

On November 20, 2012, a freight train derailed in Paulsboro, New Jersey, causing several tanker cars to crash and spill toxic vinyl chloride into the atmosphere. Thanks to the efforts of the local first responders, State Office of Emergency Management, U.S. Coast guard, and countless others, the risk of injury was minimized. However, an estimated 1,500 people were forced to evacuate their homes.

In the wake of the accident, the NTSB conducted an independent investigation into the cause of the derailment and toxic chemical spill. The legislation introduced by Rep. Norcross addresses a number of the public safety concerns raised by the NTSB, while working to implement their recommendations into law. 

“As Representatives in Congress, our top duty is to ensure the safety and security of our residents, which is why I have chosen to pursue these common-sense rail safety reforms in my very first piece of legislation,” said Congressman Norcross. “Following the 2012 train derailment in Paulsboro and other preventable public safety emergencies, we must ensure that rail users take steps to minimize the risk of an accident and provide recourse to those affected when companies fail to do so. These NTSB-supported recommendations will improve rail safety and expand protections for first responders and residents who live along train routes.”

“After years of study, the NTSB found that Conrail’s actions after the Paulsboro derailment endangered the train crew, local residents and first responders.  But, the report also gave us a roadmap for how to improve the safety of shipping hazardous materials by rail—and this bill turns those recommendations into action,” said Sen. Menendez, who introduced the companion bill in the Senate.  “No legislation can change the events of that day, or fully bring back peace of mind to the residents of Paulsboro, but I hope this legislation can be one step towards righting the wrongs that occurred and to forcing the railroads that operate in our communities to put public safety at the forefront.”

The TRACK Act will:

•    Create strong penalties for railroads that violate safety standards, to ensure that safety lapses aren’t viewed as an acceptable cost of doing business;

•    Require up-to-date, accurate, and standardized hazardous materials information to better support first responders and emergency management officials;

•    Establish new safety procedures and qualifications to improve moveable bridge crossing safety;

•    Improve risk assessment and decision-making tools for railroads to ensure that safety is always the top priority; and

•    Enhance public education along rail routes that carry hazardous materials to ensure communities are prepared to respond in the event of an emergency.

Attached is the complete text of the TRACK Act and below is a description of each section of the bill:

Section 1. Short Title

Section 2. Chemical Exposure Right-to-Know.
This section requires that a railroad carrier found to be at fault for a hazardous material release periodically monitors public health assessments conducted by federal, state, or local agencies following the accident, and report relevant health information to impacted individuals. It requires railroads, in the instances where they have made legal settlements to individuals impacted by the hazmat leak, to offer to renegotiate such settlements if additional information comes out about long-lasting or irreversible health consequences. It establishes a civil penalty for a failure to offer to renegotiate a legal settlement in this circumstance.

Section 3. Commodity Flow Transparency 
(Corresponds generally with NTSB Recommendation R-14-14)
This section requires the Department of Transportation (DOT) to issue a rulemaking requiring railroad carriers to disclose hazardous material commodity flow data to first responders, emergency response officials, and law enforcement personnel in the communities through which the hazardous material is transported, and to assist communities with the development of emergency response plans. It allows DOT to consider which hazmat information would be most relevant to be included in the commodity flow data, taking into account the volume of such hazardous materials and their threat to public health.

Section 4. Moveable Bridge Inspection Before Train Movement  
(Corresponds generally with NTSB Recommendation R-14-15)
This section directs DOT to issue a rulemaking establishing a formal procedure for a railroad carrier to safely permit a train to pass a red signal at a moveable bridge, including a training and qualification program for employees. It establishes a civil penalty for a failure to adhere to such regulation.

Section 5. Route Risk Assessment
(Corresponds generally with NTSB Recommendations R-14-16, R-14-17, R-14-20, and R-14-21)
This section directs DOT, in collaboration with the Department of Homeland Security, and the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association, to develop a route risk assessment tool for short line and regional railroads that allows for safety and security risk assessments to be performed by these carriers when alternative routes are not available. It establishes a program of audits to ensure that proper route risk assessments are carried out by short line and regional railroads.

Section 6. Railroad Safety Risk Reduction Program Amendments 
(Corresponds generally with NTSB Recommendation R-12-03)
This section revises the railroad safety risk reduction program in 49 USC 20156 to include the use of safety management systems within railroad risk reduction safety programs. Key elements of safety management systems include top-down ownership and policies, analysis of operational incidents and accidents, and continuous evaluation and improvement programs.

Section 7. First Responder Right-to-Know
(Corresponds generally with NTSB Recommendation R-07-02, R-07-04 and R-14-18)
This section requires DOT to issue a rulemaking requiring railroads to deliver accurate and real-time train consists that identify the location of hazardous materials on the train to first responders, emergency response officials, and law enforcement in the event of a hazmat emergency. This section prohibits a railroad or their employee from withholding train consist information from first responders during an emergency, and establishes a civil penalty for doing so. This section also requires that emergency response information carried by train crews transporting hazardous materials is at least as protective as the information in the Emergency Response Guidebook issued by DOT.

Section 8.  Public Education
(Corresponds generally to NTSB Recommendation R-14-19)
This section requires DOT to issue a rulemaking requiring railroads transporting hazardous materials to develop, implement, and periodically evaluate a public education program for the communities along railroad hazardous materials routes.

Section 9. Inflation Adjustments
This section provides for inflation adjustments of the civil penalties included in the Act.