90.5 WESA | By Riona Duncan
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is gathering feedback on whether to adjust existing federal rules in an effort “to eliminate undue burdens on the identification, development, and use of domestic energy resources and to improve government efficiency.” The comment period is open until August 4.
The agency released an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking in June to solicit comments about potentially rolling back regulations of hazardous materials, including potentially allowing liquefied natural gas (LNG) and ethylene to be transported by rail.
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania Congressman Chris Deluzio is continuing to push for legislation that would increase rail safety measures.
Pennsylvania has 65 operating railroads, the most of any state.
Recent rail-safety rulemaking
In 2020, President Trump issued an executive order allowing LNG to be carried by rail. In 2023, the Biden administration suspended this permission, and in 2025, a federal court threw out the rule, claiming the safety of transporting these products by rail wasn’t adequately explored.
The judge noted that “a group of environmental organizations asserted that the amount of energy contained in 22 tank cars of LNG would be equal to that of the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II.”
Soon after that ruling, Deluzio reintroduced a bill to increase rail safety regulations. The Railway Safety Act of 2025 would mandate more inspections, higher maximum civil penalties for safety infractions, and a required minimum crew size of two people. It’s a revised version of a 2023 bill that was introduced after a train carrying hazardous materials derailed in East Palestine, but never made it to a vote.
“I’ve heard the way the Vice President and President have talked about not letting the people of East Palestine or Beaver County be left behind, but I’ve not seen them do anything to force congressional Republicans to pass our bill,” said Deluzio. The Vice President was a co-sponsor of the Railway Safety Act of 2023.
Deluzio said there’s been a lot of pushback from the railroad industry as well.
“Railroads are powerful. There are politicians in Washington who carry their water and would be fine to turn a blind eye to my constituents and people like us being at risk if it meant protecting railroad’s profits,” he said.
Last week, Congressman Chris Deluzio and Congressman Mike Rulli held a roundtable in Ohio with railroad workers and union leaders, where they spoke about the importance of passing the rail legislation.
Local concerns
Pittsburgh group Rail Pollution Protection Pittsburgh is also pushing for increased rail safety. In 2024, they hired a bridge inspector and structural engineer to survey 20 local bridges, which found nine in poor condition and two in serious condition.
Most of these bridges are owned by Norfolk Southern, which is on the verge of a merger with Union Pacific to create a coast-to-coast railway.
“There’s a push for longer trains, double stack trains, all these things that could put more pressure on this already aging infrastructure,” said Matt Kelso, the manager of data and technology at FracTracker. “There’s a lot of people who live in close proximity to trains, and all of those people are theoretically at risk, particularly if they have trains carrying hazardous materials, such as what went through East Palestine.”
In 2023, FracTracker estimated that more than 14 million people live within a mile of train tracks in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
“Rail safety is something that can be prioritized, but I’m not sure whether it’s going to be prioritized in the current environment,” said Kelso.
16 train derailments have been reported so far this year in Pennsylvania.
