Jeff Denham: “I thank Mr. DeFazio and Mr. Capuano for working with us on title VII of this bill, the Hazardous Materials…”

“I thank Mr. DeFazio and Mr. Capuano for working with us on title VII of this bill, the Hazardous Materials Transportation Safety Improvement Act of 2015. Hazardous materials are the backbone of our industrial society, and these products are transported by all modes, used in every State, and distributed worldwide. This title will significantly enhance the safety of moving these products. First, the title will significantly strengthen the safety of crude- by-rail shipments. After pushing DOT for years to update their regulations to make these train movements safer, DOT finally issued final regulations in May. However, the rule fell short in several areas, and, therefore, we have included several provisions to fix their shortcomings. We require all new tank cars carrying flammable liquids to have a thermal blanket, something DOT failed to do, something that is new in this bill. We also require the railroads to create oil spill emergency response plans similar to what pipeline operators are required to do. Additionally, we ensure that railroads continue to provide States and local emergency responders with information on crude-by-rail shipments within their States. Further, we included a provision at markup that fixes a loophole that would allow more than 35,000 legacy DOT-111 tank cars to remain in service in perpetuity. This provision will require those cars be upgraded to increase the safety of our railroads.…”