Minnesota officials not sold on new federal rail safety law

New federal rail safety rules are getting mixed reviews from officials in Minnesota, including one state lawmaker who calls the regulations "baby steps compared to what we need to have happen."

Even those pleased that the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act was signed into law by President Barack Obama remain skeptical of its reach. Some state officials are already preparing to seek tougher rules at the state Capitol this spring.

The federal law requires all states to develop plans to improve safety at rail crossings, a concern that's become critical in recent years with the big jump in oil train traffic driven by the growth of North Dakota's Bakken oil fields.

The law also requires states to look at other safety improvement, including reducing the amount of time trains block crossings.

The law, however, doesn't come with the funding needed to make the safety improvements, said Bill Gardner, director of the freight office at the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

"The general reaction to the federal legislation seems to be positive from all sides that it's a good first step ... but there's still a lot of work to be done yet," said Gardner, who spent days poring over the new legislation.

Another concern addressed in the federal law is rail bridge safety.

The new law requires railroads to share bridge inspection reports with state and local officials. But railroads won't have to share their full reports, just a public version. Gardner's not sure how helpful that will be.

"It literally says the general condition of the bridge," he said. "So unless there's follow on rulemaking there's really no detailed listing of what that is going to include and of course the extent to which that's going to satisfy the concerns that are out there."

A rail safety issue for first responders in Minnesota is accurate information about hazardous materials on trains.

Train crews are required to carry an accurate list of hazardous materials the train is hauling. But those lists aren't always accurate and first responders have complained about not having access to the information.

The new law requires railroads to keep those train lists in electronic form and share them with first responders.

"The devil will be in the details in actually getting this thing to happen in a way that is timely and accurate," said Eden Prairie Fire Chief George Esbensen.

The federal law says train lists must be confidential and distributed through a state agency. While he's pleased by the change, Esbensen says he's concerned bureaucracy will derail the intent of the law.

The law says the information is to be shared through a state fusion center with authority to handle sensitive threat information. In Minnesota, that's the Department of Public Safety. The agency declined an interview request.

"Security of this kind of critical information is important and we don't want to do anything to lessen the security," said Esbensen, president elect of the state fire chiefs association. "It's just making sure that within those security systems there's a pathway for timely and accurate information to be passed along to first responders when they need it."

The FAST Act also sets up new hazmat training grants for first responders and state officials.

Firefighters will benefit from a new provision allowing classroom training in hazardous materials to be done through online courses, said Esbensen. That should save money and make it easier for first responders to stay current on training, he added.

The legislation also includes safety improvements for older oil tank cars, and it orders a study of crude oil volatility.

The American Association of Railroads applauded Congress for legislation it says will mean stronger safety standards.

But the law doesn't go far enough, said state Rep. Frank Hornstein, DFL-Minneapolis.

"These are steps forward and I'm pleased that the Congress has now recognized we have a problem with freight rail safety in our country. But these steps are really baby steps compared to what we need to have happen," said Hornstein, who authored Minnesota's oil transportation safety legislation in 2014.

The federal act takes too long to phase out old, dangerous oil tank cars and railroad disaster plans and liability insurance coverage were not adequately addressed, he added.

Hornstein says he plans to introduce legislation in the upcoming short legislative session to force railroads to provide more information about the movement of oil trains, and disaster response plans.

"We believe there's some room here for us to be able to hold railroads more accountable for the kinds of information they're sharing with state agencies, emergency responders and the public at large," he said.