Bills Introduced – 2-10-11

Yesterday there were 75 bills introduced in the House and Senate. Just three of those bills may be of specific interest to readers of this blog:

HR 830 To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to reauthorize the predisaster hazard mitigation program. Rep. Carson, Andre [D-IN-7]

HR 844 To require a plan approved by the Surface Transportation Board for the long-term storage of rail cars on certain railroad tracks. Rep. Kline, John [R-MN-2]

S 443 A bill to prohibit the long-term storage of rail cars on certain railroad tracks unless the Surface Transportation Board has approved the rail carrier's rail car storage plan. Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN]

HR 844 and S443 probably have to deal with the storage of unused crude oil tank cars. With the decreasing price of crude oil due to the current world oversupply a number of these cars have been temporarily taken out of service. They have to be put somewhere and a common place has been unused rail lines in rural areas. There have been concerns expressed about the safety and security of such rail cars and I expect that these bills will attempt to deal with the issue.