North Dakota Public Service Commission proposes state-run rail safety program

North Dakota Public Service Commissioner Julie Fedorchak late last week outlined a proposal for a state-run rail safety program designed to increase oversight of rail operations in the state.

The Public Service Commission's (PSC) program was included in its recent budget request submitted to Gov. Jack Dalrymple. Currently, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has sole responsibility for rail safety in North Dakota, and the state's rail safety program would supplement the FRA's efforts, Fedorchak said in a press release.

Rail traffic in North Dakota increased about 233 percent between 2000 and 2012, and the type of materials transported has changed from primarily non-hazardous products such as coal and grain to large volumes of hazardous materials, including crude oil and ethanol, she said.

"Those are two significant changes that trigger the need for added safety efforts by our state," said Fedorchak. "Rail transportation is a major engine for our economy and with the growth in agriculture, energy and manufacturing, the railroads promise to increase in importance. The fact is, the feds are stretched too thin and have responded too slowly to this vastly changing industry, and it’s time now for the state to step in and assist with this vital work."

Fedorchak's plan calls for hiring two new inspectors and a rail safety manager to oversee the state's program. The inspectors would focus on track and mechanical equipment — areas that are top priority because they contribute to the largest number of and most severe accidents in North Dakota, said Fedorchak. In the past five years, 56 track-related accidents and 22 equipment-caused accidents have occurred in the state.

The inspectors would be trained and certified by the FRA, and work in partnership with local and regional federal inspectors. All violations resulting in financial penalties would be filed with a regional FRA specialist and processed by the federal agency. The FRA currently has two track inspectors covering 3,000 miles of track, so the state program would increase track inspections by 50 percent, said Fedorchak.

"A state program run by the PSC will naturally be more nimble than a large federal bureaucracy," she said.