in the town at the edge of the Appalachian hills, the board is expected to approve its final report and will release an executive summary. The full report isn’t expected to be released until several weeks later.
The findings of the report are expected to include details about probable cause as well as safety recommendations, which is reinvigorating an effort to passto enhance rail safety standards. The bipartisan bill sponsored by Sens. J.D. Vance and Sherrod Brown , one of the most vulnerable incumbents this cycle, would impose new regulations for trains carrying hazardous materials, while also putting in place new penalties for trains that violate the new safety standards.
“Senator Brown sees the report, further underscoring the need for the Railway Safety Act,” an aide to the senator told theThere is some optimism that the report could spur some action in the upper chamber. However, several aides note that senators only have 29 legislative days left before the election. There are just three in-session weeks remaining before the August recess, and there are concerns that the bill will once again rank low on the totem pole.