The Competitive Enterprise Institute and Rio Grande Foundation sent out a a coalition letter with a litany of cosigners to the United States Congress expressing serious concerns with the Senate’s Railway Safety Act (S. 576).
The most glaring problems with the legislation include:
- A mandate for two-person crews in perpetuity is overly prescriptive and denies rail companies the flexibility to adjust future operations;
- A section on movement of hazardous materials avoids essential cost-benefit analysis, like a survey of likely risks generated by regulations that spur railroads and shippers to alter their procedures;
- Prescriptions on use of trackside detectors that threaten to lock in specific technologies at the expense of innovation and flexibility.
Railroads play a crucial role in the nation’s supply chain efficiency. Congress should avoid rushed policymaking that caters to specific interests and instead address the issues at hand thoughtfully and in a cost-effective manner.
Read the full letter with a list of signatories below.
Source : USPOLICY
