Endorsements and editorials are made solely by the ownership of this newspaper. As is the case at most newspapers across the nation, The Spokesman-Review newsroom and its editors are not a part of this endorsement process. (Learn more.)

Editorial: New rules on oil trains may block transparency

Tue., May 5, 2015

Days after the Washington Legislature passed an oil train safety bill, the federal government released regulations that could put the public back in the dark.

On Friday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and his counterpart from Canada announced new safety requirements, one year after a train carrying crude oil derailed near downtown Lynchburg, Virginia, pitching three tankers into the James River. It’s been almost two years since a runaway train carrying crude derailed in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, killing 47 people.

Oil train traffic has grown dramatically in North America, and federal regulators have been slow to catch up. In the meantime, states have been passing laws in response to the growing threat, at least as far as their limited jurisdiction over railroads will allow.

Congress has also jumped into the fray with a rail safety bill, which both Washington senators support.

The new state law requires railroads to provide to first responders the type and volume of oil shipped. That information is supposed to be compiled on a quarterly basis and made available to the public. However, the federal rules indicate the DOT has backed away from the notification requirements it issued as part of an emergency order last spring.

Under that order, issued after the Virginia derailment, railroads were required to give states more information about their crude oil shipments. It was the first time the public became aware of how much crude had been passing through their communities. The state Department of Ecology was able to use the data to compile a long-range outlook, including a projection of up to 18 trains a day passing through Spokane by 2035.

Railroads tried to get states to sign confidentiality agreements to keep the information under wraps. Some states complied, but most didn’t. As of last October, the Federal Railroad Administration said it didn’t agree with railroads that making the information public posed a national security threat.

But DOT’s new rules show that the agency eventually capitulated. Railroads still need to inform first responders, but the information may not be considered a public record. It isn’t clear how this will play out in the states. As of Monday, the governor’s office couldn’t be sure.

Separately, DOT issued a long-overdue rule that phases out the use of old tanker cars that weren’t designed to carry the temperamental crude from the Bakken fields of Eastern Montana and North Dakota. However, the eight-year timeline is overly generous. Speed limits for oil trains are also lowered in “high urban threat” areas, but only Seattle, Bellevue and Vancouver fit that designation in Washington. Omitting Spokane, with an elevated railroad viaduct through downtown, is an unbelievable oversight. Other “low urban” cities can’t be happy either.

All sides have found plenty to dislike about the new federal rules, but they won’t be the last word. They may last only as long as the interim before the next crash. That will be the true test.