The Obama administration issued a proposed rule Thursday establishing new “worst case” planning requirements for trains shipping large amounts of shale oil.
The administration has focused on the train shipments in recent years after a number of derailments caused spills and large explosions. Thursday’s rule would hold the industry accountable for taking actions to prevent the “worst case scenario.”
“Incidents involving crude oil can have devastating consequences to local communities and the environment,” Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said.
“We’ve taken more than 30 actions in the last two years to continue to address risk, and we continue to push the industry to do more to prevent derailments from happening,” he said.
The proposed rule issued Thursday “goes one step further to hold industry accountable to plan and prepare for the worst case scenario,” he said. “It would help to ensure that railroads have comprehensive plans to respond to derailments when they occur and better ensure the safety of communities living near railroads.”
The requirements likely would add to the regulatory hoops that shippers have to jump through, according to the proposal.
The proposed rule expands “comprehensive oil spill response plan requirements” under the Clean Water Act for train cargoes carrying hazardous fuels based on the amount of crude oil being transported.
The changes mean these trains will require the highest level of planning, “instead of basic plans that are currently required,” according to the Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration, which drafted the rules. The train operator would be required to prepare for an incident involving “a worst-case discharge, or the largest quantity of oil reasonably expected to be discharged during an incident.”
The increase in disasters has come because of growth in oil train traffic, spurred by a major increase in oil production in the United States and Canada.
“The substantial surge in our country’s production of crude oil is creating a serious need for improved response and communication between railroads and the communities through which they travel,” said pipeline agency Administrator Marie Therese Dominguez. “This rule would help to ensure that railroads provide vital information to first responders to help them prepare for and respond to a derailment involving crude.”
The rule is part of a string of new regulations for oil trains that followed a number of crashes, some of which resulted in devastating explosions and deaths, including the 47 people who died in Quebec in 2013.
