Jesús Garcia Questions Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg On East Palestine, Ohio Train Derailment

last year

Last month, Rep. Jesús Garcia (D-IL) questioned Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on the train derailment in Ohio.

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Transcript

00:00The gentleman yields back, Chair recognizes Mr. Garcia for five minutes.

00:04Thank you Madam Chair and a ranking member and thank you Secretary Buttigieg

00:11for being here today. From the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs

00:16Act in 2021 to today, there's been an immense amount of investment and steady

00:23sometimes slow progress towards our infrastructure goals for the country. As

00:28we look to fiscal year 2025, I'm hopeful that we can build on this progress and continue to make

00:35transportation safer, equitable, and cleaner. Chicagoland is home to the nation's largest

00:42rail network. All the class one railroads as you know traverse through Chicago and my district has

00:49countless rail grade crossings, rail yards, and rail workers. As such, rail safety is a huge

00:56priority for my constituents and with the recently released NTSB report on the East

01:01Palestine derailment, it's a reminder that we must continue to press this issue. Secretary

01:08Buttigieg, I know that rail safety has been a focus for DOT in recent years, but there's yet

01:14to be a comprehensive rail safety changes at the federal level. In addition to the recommendations

01:21for more inspections, infrastructure improvements, and better emergency plans, what's being done to

01:28ensure that rail workers aren't put in harm's way? Thank you for the question. As you noted,

01:33this is a central focus for us. We've sought to do everything that we can do short of an act of

01:40Congress in order to enhance rail safety. Two recent measures I would point to that we think

01:45are particularly important is our rule on minimum crew size. Most Americans would probably be shocked

01:52to discover that until we acted, there was no rule saying that you had to have more than one person

01:57even on a two-mile long train, and the class one rail corporations seem to prefer it that way. We

02:04thought it was very important to do this. We also recently finalized a rule requiring emergency

02:09escape breathing apparatus to be available for train crews and other employees as they're

02:14transporting hazardous materials and cleared up the information railroads need to provide to

02:19community first responders about hazardous materials. But we urgently need legislation

02:26from this chamber and the Senate in order to raise the bar and give us more capabilities. A lot of

02:32people in this chamber had a lot to say about rail safety a year and a half ago in the wake of East

02:38Palestine. I hope that they will end their silence on this topic now and join you and others in

02:45insisting that there be action because with the NTSB report now complete, there is really, in my

02:53view, no remaining excuse for inaction when we need that legislation. Thank you and I'm

03:02going to try to do two more questions so brevity would be appreciated. How is the FRA encouraging

03:08participation in its confidential closed call reporting system and what can we do to get more

03:15rail lines to participate? In short, there's been a lot of phone calls, a lot of letters, and a lot

03:21of pressure to urge the class one railroads to honor their commitment to join that system.

03:28So far we have brought Norfolk Southern on board with a pilot covering approximately a thousand of

03:33their employees at several sites and BNSF in April agreed to join as well with an agreement covering

03:40about 650 of their employees represented by the Dispatchers Association. But we would like to

03:46see participation at 100 percent and would welcome opportunities to work with you to drive that up.

03:51Thank you. Fiscal cliff that transit agencies are facing nationwide. Our local

04:00Metropolitan Agency for Planning, also known as CMAP, has developed a visionary plan for action.

04:06Transit, as you know, is a fundamental cog that keeps communities like mine moving.

04:12Cutting service would have disproportionate impacts on those who rely on it. Secretary,

04:18what is US DOT, how are you supporting metropolitan planning organizations to rethink

04:24public transit and commuter rail systems as the funding cliff approaches? Transit is so important

04:31to so many Americans. It provided 7.1 billion trips in 2023 and we've got to make sure they

04:36can stay ahead of these looming fiscal challenges. In addition to engaging MPOs, as you mentioned,

04:42I also want to note that the President's 2025 budget proposes flexibilities that would allow

04:48transit agencies to use urbanized area formula funds and flex funds for operating expenses. We

04:54think that that flexibility may be helpful for certain agencies as they try to bridge that gap.

05:00Thank you very much. I yield back, Madam Chair.

Jesús Garcia Questions Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg On East Palestine, Ohio Train Derailment

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