Review – S 1044 Introduced – Railway Accountability Act

Last month, Sen Fetterman (D,PA) introduced S 1044, the Railway Accountability Act. The bill would address seven different rail safety issues. No spending is authorized by the legislation. The seven covered safety issues are:

• Broken rim derailments,

• Train consist,

• Brake inspections,

• Safety waivers,

• Proper functioning of emergency break symbols,

• Confidential close call reporting system,

• Required warning equipment and lookouts.

Moving Forward

Fetterman is not a member (nor are his two cosponsors) of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration. This means that there is probably not enough influence to see this bill considered in Committee. While this is probably the least burdensome bill introduce after the East Palestine derailment, there are still provisions to which the railroads would probably object. This means that there would be some level of opposition to the bill were it to be considered in Committee. I suspect the bill would receive some level of bipartisan support, maybe even enough to pass in Committee, but probably not enough to allow for sixty votes on a cloture motion.

 

For more details about the provisions of the bill, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/s-1044-introduced - subscription required.