Economy

National Academy Study Touts Oil-by-Rail Safety But Supports Weakening Regulations

By Justin Mikulka • Thursday, November 9, 2017 - 11:59

A new study by the National Academy of Sciences concludes that the rail industry should do more to improve the safety of transporting oil and ethanol by rail, which includes addressing track safety and rail tank cars. Both of these are well-known safety issues.

However, the study, “Safely Transporting Hazardous Liquids and Gases in a Changing U.S. Energy Landscape,” also cites a separate NAS study “A Review of the Department of Transportation Plan for Analyzing and Testing Electronically Controlled Pneumatic Brakes” and notes that after reviewing available data, the researchers were unable to “make a conclusive statement” on the safety technology known as electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP) brakes.* This is where things get interesting.

“The committee was unable to make a conclusive statement about the emergency performance of ECP brakes relative to other braking systems on the basis of the results of testing and analysis provided by U.S. DOT.”

Eliminating the current regulations to require ECP brakes on oil trains beginning in 2021 has been the top priority of the rail industry and its lobbyists since the regulations were finalized in 2015. This study must have been well received in the corporate boardrooms of the rail industry.

As we have noted on DeSmog, the rail industry has already tried multiple methods of removing this regulation: pushing the Senate to do it, including new research requirements in the FAST Act of 2015, and introducing a new bill in the Senate designed to attack the regulation.
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*Updated 11/10/17: This article initially noted that the NAS study “Safely Transporting Hazardous Liquids and Gases in a Changing U.S. Energy Landscape,” was unable to “make a conclusive statement” on ECP braking. That quote was actually referring to a separate NAS study “A Review of the Department of Transportation Plan for Analyzing and Testing Electronically Controlled Pneumatic Brakes” that was unable to make a conclusive statement. We regret this error.