U.S. Sens. JD Vance, R-Ohio, and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, are cosponsors of important legislation that would impose both new regulations for the railroad industry and financial consequences for breaking them. The Railway Safety Act of 2023 may have been inspired by the East Palestine disaster, but the changes could help keep people across the country safer.

Among the necessary changes included in the act are requirements that all rail carriers with trains carrying hazardous materials — even those that do not fall under existing regulations for high-hazard flammable shipments — must create emergency response plans and provide information and advance notification to the emergency response commissions of each state through which a train will pass.

The bill would also set train crews at a two-person minimum, and require the U.S. Department of Transportation to take another look at rules on train size and weight. And it would set a requirement for installing and maintaining devices that detect overheated bearings and other mechanical problems.

Under the proposed act, the Federal Railroad Administration would be required to update inspection regulations to assure rail cars carrying hazardous materials receive regular checks by trained experts.

It sounds like a lot of “why weren’t we already doing this?” doesn’t it?

And the danger exists that industry lobbyists will again bend lawmakers’ ears to a degree the legislation will not survive. But we must hope lessons have been learned as East Palestine continues to recover; and that members of Congress understand they will be held accountable should they not do the right thing.