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Yesterday, CSX Transportation announced the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a stay, preventing the Council of the District of Columbia from instituting a temporary 90-day ban on hazardous material shipments today.

On Monday, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia upheld the council’s ban, which would prohibit certain haz-mat shipments from moving within two miles of the nation’s capitol. CSXT immediately appealed the decision through the appellate court, seeking to overturn the district court’s ruling.

In its order, the appellate court stated that the stay “should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits of [CSXT’s] motion,” according to a prepared statement.

“The lower court ruling rejected the requests and arguments of several federal agencies that have jurisdiction over U.S. railroads, including the U.S. departments of Justice, Homeland Security and Transportation, and the Surface Transportation Board,” CSXT officials said. “The filings by CSXT and others point out that safe transport of these materials will be extraordinarily difficult if other cities and the state of California are successful in their efforts to take up similar legislation.”