Two proposed legislative bills referred to a Senate committee last year may ultimately become law this year. Both are aimed directly at improving safety of petroleum transport by rail, an effort bolstered in large part by increasing transport of a particularly volatile type of oil harvested in the Bakken region of Montana and North Dakota.

The Hazardous Materials Rail Transportation Safety Improvement Act of 2015 creates incentives for companies to remove out-of-date and potentially dangerous tanker cars, replacing them with newer, safer models. The legislation would impose fees on the most dangerous tank cars used to ship crude oil and revenues from those fees would provide grants for emergency preparedness, first responders and additional inspectors.

With a similar goal in mind, the Crude-By-Rail Safety Act is designed to establish new federal safety standards for rail cars that transport oil and other flammable liquids and require the phasing out of dangerous tank cars. The bill mandates an increase in the number safety inspections of rail carriers and oil producers, tougher penalties for noncompliance, improved spill response plans and prior notification to local authorities when these materials are shipped through their communities.

“There has been an exponential increase in the number of oil trains crisscrossing the country in the past several years,” said Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who is cosponsoring both bills. “We learned the hard way that oil tank cars can easily rupture.”

The efforts toward legislation were spurred in part by the July 5, 2013 incident in which 63 crude oil-carrying cars rolled from a hill in Nantes, Quebec into the downtown area of Lac-Mégantic, causing a devastating explosion. Forty-two people were confirmed dead, with five more missing and presumed dead. More than 30 buildings — roughly half of the downtown area — were destroyed, and all but three of the thirty-nine remaining downtown buildings were ordered demolished due to petroleum contamination of the site.

Several other oil-carrying train derailments have since occurred in the US and Canada and the potential for more such disasters remains high. The number of oil train cars moving on US rails ballooned from fewer than 10,000 in 2008 to more than 500,000 in 2014, according to data from the US Department of Transportation.

We here at Rail Justice will keep you updated on legislative efforts to improve rail safety. If you suffer an injury or loss, or if you’ve reported a potentially dangerous rail-related situation that is not being remedied, call 888-519-RAIL to speak with a railroad injury attorney today.