VIDEO: REP. JENKINS QUESTIONS FEDS ABOUT RAIL SAFETY

WASHINGTON – U.S. Representative Evan Jenkins (R-W.Va.) questioned the acting administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration today about how to keep West Virginians safe in light of the Mount Carbon trail derailment last month. Please click here to watch the questioning.

The acting administrators of the Federal Railroad Administration, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration appeared before the House Appropriations Committee’s Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, which Rep. Jenkins joined yesterday.

In its fiscal year 2016 budget request, the Federal Railroad Administration identifies the five main energy shipping corridors, none of which include the line through Mount Carbon. That line also saw a derailment near Lynchburg, Va., in 2014.

“None of these routes have the route we’re familiar with and the route we’ve had two horrific incidents,” Rep. Jenkins said, asking Acting Administrator Sarah Feinberg if she plans to modify the plans to include this line.

“Being very familiar with the crude that’s moving through West Virginia, having spent six days there with the most recent derailment, as you know, it’s obviously a route that’s getting a lot of crude and we should take a look at it,” Feinberg said, adding that the agency has asked for additional inspectors.

He also urged Feinberg to complete work on a comprehensive rule addressing rail tank car standards for hazardous materials – a rule in the works since 2011. Rep. Jenkins wrote to U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and Office of Management and Budget Director Shaun Donovan in February asking them to finalize the rule. Please click here to read the letter.