Railroad safety

Sen. Sherrod Brown introduced the Railway Safety Act with Sen. J.D. Vance in March. It moved out of committee in May but has seen no movement since then.

Sen. J.D. Vance said the Environmental Protection Agency and Norfolk Southern need to pick up the pace in cleaning up East Palestine. Meanwhile, residents in Darlington Township are demanding the ability to provide input on how more than half a million dollars in community relief money is spent.

Three months aft the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, President and CEO Alan Shaw said the company isn't leaving the small town on the Pennsylvania border any time soon.

The Feb. 3 train derailment in East Palestine has raised questions about the safety of freight rail companies. Two bills in Congress aim to fix that and would regulate wayside defect detectors.

The Reducing Accidents in Locomotives (RAIL) Act was introduced by Reps. Bill Johnson and Emilia Strong Sykes earlier this month. It would increase inspection of trains, require freight rail companies to give advance notice of what materials trains are carrying and strengthen regulation to prevent wheel bearing failure.

The requirement is included in the Railway Safety Bill introduced in the Senate earlier this month but not the House's RAIL Act.

Senators Sherrod Brown and J.D. Vance introduced the Railway Safety Act earlier this month in response to the train derailment in East Palestine.

Gov. Mike DeWine's office said a 26,800 ton pile of contaminated soil is sitting in East Palestine, waiting to be shipped to a licensed disposal facility.

We will discuss the latest on the train derailment and the rest of the week’s news on the Reporters’ Roundtable.

The bipartisan bill would enhance safety procedures for trains carrying hazardous materials, increase rail inspections and reduce the risk of wheel bearing failures, among other measures.