Wyden And Merkley Introduce MOSIER Act

Oregon Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden have introduced legislation to require the National Transportation Safety Board to conduct investigations of major oil train derailments.  Merkley says under the Mandate Oil Spill Inspections and Emergency Rules, or MOSIER, Act, railroad investigations would be conducted in a third party manner similar to the airline industry.  This bill follows another bill introduced by the pair that would provide a tax credit to railroads for using new state of the art cars for oil transport, while also imposing a fee for the use of older cars.  Both Merkley and Wyden applauded an announcement by the U.S. Department of Transportation it will require railroads to provide more notification about shipments of crude oil and other flammable liquids.  On Thursday Oregon Congressmen Greg Walden, Peter DeFazio, and Earl Blumenauer introduced legislation require railroads to inspect on foot certain tracks in high consequence areas, such as near waterways.  It also calls for creation of a new trust fund to help communities prepare for accidents involving rail cars transporting flammable liquids, including crude oil and ethanol by collecting an annual fee for rail cars that do not meet Department of Transportation standards.

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