Crude-by-railNew rail safety rule appears to allow railroad companies to keep oil shipment info secret

Some railroad companies are arguing that a clause in a new federal rule meant to improve outdated tanker car designs, allows rail companies  not  to share shipment information publicly except for of emergency services personnel.

As the San Angelo Stand-Times reports,  the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is now insisting that the 1 May  ruling properly defines the new tank car design specifications and does not support the railroads’ position. The vague guidelines of the ruling have even led some to challenge that the department was undermining transparency with the language.

In recent court filings in Maryland, two major haulers — CSX and Norfolk Southern — cited the new rule to justify their argument that no one except for emergency responders had to know how many trains run through each state and the volume of oil carried each week. While there have been efforts to make all information accessible to the public, the right of emergency responders to the data has been in effect for a year.

Though the DOT acknowledged that there had been significant public demand for total transparency, the language in the final ruling was vague enough to allow for the hauler’s interpretation.

“The justification was not consistent with the comments given,” said Denise Krepp, a former senior counsel for the House Homeland Security Committee and chief counsel for the U.S. Maritime administration. “They’re supposed to be the same.”

Facing criticism from Capitol Hill, DOT secretary Anthony Foxx assured lawmakers in a 28 May letter that the legislation was not meant to aid the interpretations of the haulers and that “we fully support the public disclosure of this information to the extent allowed by applicable state, local and tribal laws.”

The documents from the Maryland court reveal, however, that the final rulings for the legislation provide “clear and unequivocal guidance” that information about oil train routes are security and commercially sensitive, supporting the stance of the haulers, according to railroad attorneys on 5 May at the Circuit Court for Baltimore City.

The classification, as argued, would allow for an exemption from that state’s Public Information Act.

The changes would affect the original DOT emergency order from last year which required railroads to notify states of any shipments of Bakken crude oil following a series of deadly train derailments, including on that killed forty-seven people in Quebec, Canada in 2013.

Previously, some railroad companies had asked state governments to sign non-disclosure agreements to keep the information secret.

A trial is set for August in the Baltimore Circuit Court to challenge the charge.