"Making our railways safer:" Wisconsin Rep. Ron Kind introduces Crude-by-Rail Safety Act

LA CROSSE (WITI) -- Representatives Ron Kind (D-WI), Jim McDermott (D-WA), and Doris Matsui (D-CA) on Wednesday, April 15th introduced the Crude-by-Rail Safety Act to help protect communities living along America’s extensive railway networks.

“This bill takes a big step towards making our railways safer,” said Rep. Kind “The investment in our brave first responders will go a long way to giving them the training and resources they need to keep us safe. I’ve been calling for a comprehensive approach to protecting our cities and towns from hazardous material rail accidents, and I’m pleased that we’ve been able to move this bill forward.”

Explosive growth in crude-by-rail transport has led to increased rail traffic and an unprecedented rise in rail accidents—sometimes with fatal results. This issue has affected communities and cemented the need to increase safety standards and accountability.  Four derailments in the US and Canada in under a month earlier this year underscored the urgency of action to curb the risks of transporting volatile crude oil.

The Crude-by-Rail Safety Act would establish new, commonsense federal safety standards for rail cars transporting oil across the country.  This legislation:


    A similar version of this legislation was filed in the Senate by Senators Cantwell, Baldwin and Feinstein in March 2015.