[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11399]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   COMPREHENSIVE DOT RAIL REGULATIONS

  (Mr. TONKO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, on Sunday, I attended a vigil in remembrance 
of the 47 people that lost their lives in the Lac-Megantic railway 
tragedy in Quebec last July. This event drew a tremendous crowd, 
particularly from Albany's South End residents, who see dozens of oil 
tank cars move and idle outside their homes on a daily basis before 
entering the Port of Albany.
  My constituents are concerned about the potential for another fatal 
accident in one of our communities, as the trail of oil cars crosses 
over many communities that I represent. That is why I have been urging 
DOT all year to implement comprehensive regulations to address these 
safety concerns.
  We need a higher safety standard on new tank car orders and an 
aggressive phaseout of the old DOT-111s, which have no business 
transporting hazardous materials. The rail industry has taken voluntary 
steps to account for the DOT-111's inadequacies, but higher Federal 
standards are still needed.
  We also need to make sure shippers and oil producers are properly 
handling, degasifying, and classifying hazardous materials, 
particularly volatile Bakken crude, before it is even loaded into a 
tank car.
  I continue to urge DOT to make these much-needed, commonsense, and 
meaningful steps as quickly as possible. Inaction is inexcusable.

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