STEUBENVILLE, OH – Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) joined the Steubenville Mayor Jerry Barilla, Jefferson County Sheriff Freddie Abdalla and members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division (SMART-TD) to discuss his Railway Safety Act of 2023. On November 6, 2022, a Norfolk Southern train carrying trash derailed in Costonia, about seven miles north of Steubenville.

“A disaster similar to what happened in East Palestine could have happened right here in Steubenville in November, when another Norfolk Southern train derailed right up the river,” said Brown. “Railroad company lobbyists spent years fighting every effort to make our railroads safer, cutting more than 30 percent of their workers in less than 10 years. Now Ohioans are paying the price. It shouldn’t take a train derailment for elected officials to put partisanship aside and work together for the people we serve – not corporations like Norfolk Southern.”

Brown led a bipartisan group of colleagues, including Ohio Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH), to introduce his Railway Safety Act of 2023 that will improve rail safety protocols, finally standing up to railroad company lobbyists so no other community has to deal with what East Palestine and others in Ohio, including residents of Springfield, Sandusky and Steubenville, have dealt with.

“I commend Senator Brown for his bipartisan legislation of the Railroad Safety Act 2023.  Because of your efforts railroad safety and procedures for carrying hazardous will be addressed for the safety of our citizens. I’m sure you are keeping the citizens of East Palestine on the front burner to assure them of the commitment of the federal government,” said Jerry Barilla, Mayor of Steubenville.

Ohio news outlets have praised Brown’s bipartisan plan as “wise,” “commonsense” reforms that “could help keep people across the country safer.” The legislation comes after Brown worked with Vance and others to raise concerns to the NTSB about lax rail safety rules that allowed the crash to happen.

“There is much work to be done to enhance the safety of rail transport in Ohio and beyond, but the first step is to enforce safety standards on all of America’s railroads,” said John Esterly, Ohio State Legislative Board Chairman, BLET.

“We owe it to the people of East Palestine, Ohio, and to all communities that have railroad tracks running through them to now have members of Congress do the right thing and take back control of our nation’s supply chain from Wall Street’s ‘profit at any cost’ mentality,” said Jeremy Ferguson, President of the SMART, Transportation Division labor union. “I therefore urge everyone’s support of this bill and I once again thank Senator Brown for being the leader on rail safety, just as he has always been a leader for the safety of all of Ohio and our great nation.”

Last week, Brown, along with Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and John Fetterman (D-PA) introduced the Assistance for Local Heroes During Train Crises Act to support first responders on the front lines of hazardous train derailments. In East Palestine, Ohio and Darlington, Pennsylvania, local emergency responders, firefighters, and law enforcement risked their own wellbeing to protect their communities in the aftermath of Norfolk Southern’s disaster. This new legislation would create a new fund—paid for by companies that ship and carry these materials—to provide emergency responders, firefighters, and law enforcement with the financial resources needed to replace equipment, pay workers overtime, and address other urgent costs as well as compel railroads to notify local officials and emergency response groups when hazardous materials are moving through their communities.

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