PRINTER'S NO. 1434
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE RESOLUTION
No.
247
Session of
2015
INTRODUCED BY RAFFERTY, YAW, GREENLEAF, BARTOLOTTA, MENSCH,
SABATINA, YUDICHAK, WHITE AND FOLMER, NOVEMBER 20, 2015
REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION, NOVEMBER 20, 2015
A RESOLUTION
Urging the United States Department of Transportation to work
with tank car manufacturers and owners, crude oil shippers
and the rail industry in adopting a higher pool fire
survivability standard and assisting with additional Federal
funds to sustain the training of emergency first responders
to ensure communities across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
and the rest of the United States benefit from the safe
transportation of Crude by Rail shipments.
WHEREAS, The volume of Crude by Rail (CBR) shipments has
significantly increased in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as
well as the rest of the United States by major Class 1 Railroads
such as CSX transportation (CSX) and Norfolk Southern (NS) due
to technological advances in oil and natural gas extraction in
the Bakken Shale region of North Dakota; and
WHEREAS, The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reports
that railroads carried over 11.5 billion gallons of fuel in 2013
and 99.99% of carloads reached their destination without a
release caused by an accident; and
WHEREAS, The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration and the Federal Railroad Administration under the
United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) have primary
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jurisdiction over the regulation and oversight responsibilities
of hazardous materials transported by rail under the Hazardous
Materials Transportation Act and the Federal Rail Safety Act;
and
WHEREAS, The USDOT announced a final rule to strengthen safe
transportation of flammable liquids by rail on May 1, 2015,
that:
(1) requires a new, enhanced tank car standard and an
aggressive, risk-based retrofitting schedule for older tank
cars carrying crude oil and ethanol;
(2) requires a new braking standard for certain trains
that will offer a superior level of safety by potentially
reducing the severity of an accident and the "pile-up
effect";
(3) designates new operational protocols for trains
transporting large volumes of flammable liquids, such as
routing requirements, speed restrictions and information for
local government agencies; and
(4) provides new sampling and testing requirements to
improve classification of energy products placed into
transport;
and
WHEREAS, Tank cars that transport crude oil, ethanol and
other flammable materials are not owned or maintained by
railroads; and
WHEREAS, The Senate Transportation Committee and the Senate
Environmental Resources and Energy Committee held a joint
hearing on June 9, 2015, to collect testimony from various
stakeholders, including CSX and NS on the safe transportation of
CBR shipments; and
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WHEREAS, CSX and NS testified that they must address the
opportunities to reduce the risk of tank cars failing in an
accident and improved tank car construction standards for new
builds and retrofits are vital; and
WHEREAS, AAR also recommended a thermal conductivity standard
for a thermal blanket that prior modeling shows would generally
achieve 800 minutes of survivability in a pool fire as compared
to the 100 minute pool fire survivability standard specified in
the final rule; and
WHEREAS, CSX and NS testified that they trained emergency
first responders in this Commonwealth as a result of a meeting
with USDOT through a rail operations safety initiative that
instituted various new voluntary safety operating practices
regarding the movement of crude oil by rail that included
training and tuition assistance for local first responders and
creating local emergency response resource inventories;
therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
strongly urge the United States Department of Transportation to
work with tank car manufacturers and owners, crude oil shippers
and the rail industry in adopting a higher pool fire
survivability standard and provide additional Federal funds to
sustain the training of emergency first responders to ensure
communities across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the rest
of the United States benefit from the safe transportation of CBR
shipments; and be it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
the Secretary of the United States Department of Transportation
and every member of Congress from Pennsylvania.
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