[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 2 (Friday, January 5, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E4-E5]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 INTRODUCTION OF LEGISLATION TO CREATE A COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM 
                 FOR HAZARDOUS MATERIALS TRANSPORTATION

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 4, 2007

  Mr. CUMMINGS. Madam Speaker, today, I am pleased to introduce 
legislation to establish a cooperative research program for hazardous 
materials transportation capable of meeting our Nation's urgent need 
for applied research that examines hazardous materials transportation 
from a comprehensive, multi-modal perspective.
  During the 109th Congress, I introduced similar legislation and, 
although it failed to pass as introduced, provisions from that bill 
were included in the most recent federal transportation authorization, 
SAFETEA-LU. Those provisions provided a total of $1.25 million in 
federal funding per year from fiscal year 2006 through fiscal year 2009 
to support the conduct of multi-modal studies of hazardous materials 
transportation.
  While the first of these 9 studies are now being planned for 
implementation and will cover such topics as technologies to improve 
safety and security and methods for improving the utility of data 
collected from hazardous materials incidents, I believe it is crucial 
that we create a permanent research program for hazardous materials 
transportation.
  Madam Speaker, it is estimated that one million hazardous materials 
shipments move through thousands of local communities across the United 
States every single day--usually without the knowledge of residents or 
even of local officials. Between 1994 and 2003, unintentional releases 
of hazardous materials resulted in 210 fatalities and more than 3,400 
injuries.
  Unfortunately, it is our tendency to focus on mitigating the risks 
that these shipments pose

[[Page E5]]

only after an accident occurs. In 2001, such an accident occurred in my 
district in Baltimore when a train derailed in a tunnel, puncturing a 
tank car and releasing a hazardous material that subsequently ignited.
  This incident in the heart of Baltimore demonstrated to me and to my 
constituents in the most dramatic possible way the risks of hazardous 
materials transportation. Having seen first-hand these risks, I will 
never forget them--and it is for this reason that I am again 
introducing legislation to create a permanent hazardous materials 
cooperative research program.
  Under our Nation's current regime for regulating the shipment of 
hazardous materials, more than a dozen federal agencies--as well as 
literally thousands of state and local agencies--regulate some aspect 
of hazardous materials transportation.
  While each of these entities is critical and necessary to ensuring 
the safety of hazardous materials transportation, each entity is 
typically looking at hazardous materials from the perspective of a 
single mode, a single type of material, or a single travel route.
  What we now lack is a comprehensive, multi-modal perspective that can 
examine risks and develop mitigation strategies that are applicable 
across modes, material types, and travel routes.
  To fill this gap, the legislation I am introducing today will bring 
together representatives of federal agencies, private sector shippers 
and carriers, and state and local governments in a formal program to 
study cross-cutting topics in hazardous materials transportation that 
are not adequately addressed by existing mode-specific research 
programs.
  The study program will be particularly focused on completing research 
projects that yield practical results immediately applicable to 
transportation issues.
  Without the ability to adequately research and respond to issues in 
hazardous materials transportation that are multi-modal in scope and 
national in application, our ability to make informed legislative, 
regulatory, and operational decisions regarding hazardous materials 
transportation is unacceptably limited.
  Therefore, I urge you to join with me in supporting the formulation 
of a cooperative research program for hazardous materials 
transportation by co-sponsoring this critical legislation.

                          ____________________