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Feds Weigh New Oil Train Rules

Comment period on proposed oil train rules came to end on Sept. 30

By Justin Franz
An oil train is seen near Whitefish. Beacon file photo

Federal officials are jumping headfirst into more than 2,000 comments submitted about a series of proposed regulations to safeguard the movement of crude oil by rail.

The rules, proposed earlier this year by the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration, call for phasing out the more puncture prone DOT-111 tank car and reducing the speed of oil trains to 40 miles per hour if they do not have enhanced brakes and are traveling through a populated area.

The proposed rules come as the movement of crude oil by rail is coming under more scrutiny following a series of high-profile oil train derailments in the last year, including one in Quebec that killed 47 people and leveled 30 buildings. The number of oil trains on America’s rails has skyrocketed in recent years as production in North Dakota’s Bakken oil patch continues to boom. In 2013, the rail industry moved more than 400,000 carloads of oil, a massive increase over previous years.

The number of oil trains coming through Northwest Montana is also rising. According to information provided by BNSF Railway and released by the state of Montana earlier this month, an average of 14 to 18 loaded oil trains were traveling through the Flathead Valley every week, a 25 percent increase over the number previously reported by the railroad this summer.

The rail industry’s lobbying group applauded some of the proposed rules while suggesting that others would be a hindrance and are unnecessary. While the Association of American Railroads’ comments encouraged the use of speed restrictions in urban areas and tougher tank car standards, it stated that enhanced brake systems, called electronically controlled pneumatic brakes, were too costly and not effective. The AAR said that using distributed power, a practice that puts locomotives at the beginning, middle and end of the train, made more sense.

“Requiring the use of (electronically controlled pneumatic) braking systems on flammable liquid trains is neither justified by federal and industry safety data, nor practical given the industry’s intense focus on improving network fluidity to better serve our customers and delivering for America’s growing economy,” AAR President and CEO Edward R. Hamberger said. “The safety data simply isn’t there to justify implementing this complex and costly system – not to mention significant potential efficiency downsides.”

Among the groups that also submitted comments to the PHMSA about the proposed rules was the National Parks Conservation Association. The conservation group urged the federal agency to enhance tank car standards and reduce train speeds to 40 miles per hour not just in urban areas but also in areas that are historically and environmentally significant, including national parks. The NPCA noted that at least a dozen national parks that are located near busy rail corridors, including Glacier National Park.

“Our nation’s railways are inextricably linked to our national parks. Rail lines that were once crowded with passenger trains taking visitors to national parks are now major oil routes,” NPCA Landscape Conservation Program Manager Nicholas Lund wrote. “Today, the proximity of so many national parks to major rail links is as much a threat as a benefit.”

The NPCA recommended reducing train speeds to 40 miles per hour and only raising them to 50 miles per hour when additional safety measures are met by the railroads. AAR has stated that railroads have already put in place a self-imposed 50 mile per hour speed limit on all trains with 20 or more cars carrying hazardous materials.

Any rules put forward by the federal government would impact oil trains in Northwest Montana, but rules regarding speed may not apply anyway. According to BNSF Railway spokesperson Matt Jones, the maximum speed of all trains along Glacier’s southern boundary is 40 miles per hour because of grades and curves in the area. From Essex to the summit of Marias Pass trains travel at a maximum speed of 25 miles per hour.

PHMSA spokesperson Joe Delcambre said that once the comment period ended on Sept. 30, government staffers began to comb the thousands of letters and emails the agency received on the proposed rules. In the coming months the agency will take those comments into consideration when they draft the final set of rules. It’s unclear when new rules would take effect, but previously federal officials said they wanted to implement new rules as soon as possible.