What to watch at the Senate hearing on the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment

A strong Senate panel will maintain a listening to Thursday on the East Palestine, Ohio, prepare derailment as lawmakers on each side of the aisle name for solutions and motion within the wake of the catastrophe.

The listening to is going down after the derailment of a Norfolk Southern prepare on February 3 that launched poisonous chemical substances into the air, water and soil of East Palestine – an incident that has acquired nationwide consideration and fueled outcry amongst residents who’ve reported complications, coughing and different illnesses after the fiery crash.

The Senate Atmosphere and Public Works committee will convene the listening to at 10 a.m. ET. The panel has introduced a slate of witnesses, together with Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw in addition to a number of senators who characterize Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Essentially the most high-profile witness on the listening to is predicted to be Shaw.

Senate Majority Chief Chuck Schumer on Wednesday mentioned in remarks on the ground that on the listening to he expects, “Mr. Shaw to put out exactly what steps Norfolk Southern is taking to forestall future disasters like East Palestine.”

Citing the “quantity and significance of latest Norfolk Southern accidents,” federal investigators mentioned Tuesday they are going to open a particular investigation into the railway’s security tradition.

The corporate and different main freight railroads have vowed new security measures in response to the poisonous prepare wreck that ravaged the city of East Palestine. The railroads say they are going to revamp a sizzling bearing detector community. “Scorching bearing” or “sizzling field” detectors use infrared sensors to file the temperatures of railroad bearings as trains move by.

Whereas Norfolk Southern has pledged greater than $21 million thus far in assist for the communities affected by the derailment, that’s solely a small fraction of its earnings, and the billions it’s giving to shareholders via dividends and share repurchases. Shaw is prone to face questions concerning the firm’s continued share repurchase plans within the wake of the catastrophe, questions that he dodged at a latest CNN City Corridor on the crash.

Shaw informed CNN in February that “Norfolk Southern is dedicated to the group and residents of East Palestine.”

“We’re going to be right here at the moment, we’re going to be right here tomorrow, we’re going to be right here a 12 months from now and we’re going to be right here 5 years from now,” he mentioned.

The listening to may also function a number of senators as witnesses: Ohio Sens. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, and J.D. Vance, a Republican, and Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, a Democrat.

It’s uncommon, although it does occur, for members of Congress to testify at a congressional listening to. The senators could possibly present perception into what they’re listening to from their constituents and communities affected by fallout from the incident.

In line with the committee, the opposite witnesses are: Debra Shore, regional administrator for the Environmental Safety Company Area 5, Anne Vogel, director of the Ohio Environmental Safety Company, Richard Harrison, government director and chief engineer of the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Fee, and Eric Brewer, director and chief of hazardous supplies response for Beaver County Division of Emergency Companies.

Within the wake of the East Palestine crash, a bipartisan group of senators has proposed a brand new invoice geared toward shoring up rail security.

The Railway Security Act of 2023 has been launched by Vance and different Republican Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Josh Hawley of Missouri, in addition to Brown, Casey and fellow Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania.

Brown informed CNN’s Erin Burnett on “OutFront” that he has mentioned transferring the invoice with Schumer, in addition to spoken with Senate Commerce Chairwoman Maria Cantwell and Sen. Gary Peters, who chairs the Commerce subcommittee overseeing floor transportation coverage.

The invoice contains plenty of provisions to spice up security procedures to forestall future incidents, together with “new security necessities and procedures for trains carrying hazardous supplies like vinyl chloride,” a requirement for advance discover from railways to state emergency response officers about what their trains are carrying, necessities to forestall blocked railway crossings and new guidelines for prepare measurement and weight, in keeping with an announcement from the senators.

The laws would additionally require two individual crews on most long-distance freight trains. There are not any such laws or legal guidelines requiring that presently, solely provisions of present labor agreements with the unions representing crew members. The railroads say they are going to oppose that change within the regulation and that they are going to proceed to push to have solely the engineer, and never a conductor, driving within the cab of locomotives.

Along with Thursday’s Senate listening to, CNN reported final week {that a} sequence of Home Republican committees are plotting to launch investigations into the poisonous prepare catastrophe in East Palestine, in keeping with a number of committee aides.

GOP lawmakers are vowing to make use of their oversight energy to dig into what they describe because the Biden administration’s flawed response to the prepare wreck. They’ve additionally left the door open to holding hearings on the topic, together with probably bringing in Environmental Safety Company Administrator Michael Regan and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to testify publicly, the aides mentioned, although such selections haven’t but been made.