Washington, D.C. – Today, Ranking Member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter DeFazio (D-OR) issued the following statement after the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued urgent recommendations that would improve safety of rail tank cars transporting hazardous materials.

“For nearly 25 years, NTSB has been pushing to increase safety standards for rail tank cars carrying hazardous materials. The recommendations issued today to replace the outdated, unsafe rail cars moving hazardous materials through our communities are just common sense. I am very happy to see that they recommended thermal protection for cars carrying hazardous materials, an aggressive retrofit or replacement schedule, and a transparent, publicly available reporting mechanism to report tank car replacement. I applaud these suggestions and urge OMB to expedite the rule to increase safety and protect our communities as soon as possible.”

To view the NTSB recommendation, click on the following link:
https://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-recs/recletters/R-15-014-017.pdf