Tag: southern

‘Unacceptable’: Top Dem rips Biden plan to send 1,500 more troops to southern border

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The move comes as Title 42, the public health law that permits the U.S. to deny asylum and migrations claims for public health reasons, is set to expire on May 11. Some senior U.S. officials say the end of Title 42 could entice more people seeking a better life in America to present themselves at the U.S.-Mexico border.
“The administration has had over two years to plan for the eventual end of this Trump-era policy in a way that does not compromise our values as a country,” Menendez said. “I have offered them a strategic and comprehensive plan, which they have largely ignored. Trying to score political points or intimidate migrants by sending the military to the border caters to the Republican Party’s xenophobic attacks on our asylum system.”
The service members, mainly coming from Army units, will not have a law enforcement role. They will be armed for self-defense but will be performing monitoring and administrative tasks only, freeing up Border Patrol officials to process migrant claims, officials said.
The additional troops, which are being sent to fill a request from the Department of Homeland Security, will fill “critical capability gaps,” including detection and monitoring, data entry and warehouse support. They will be there for up to 90 days, after which military reservists or contractors will do the work.
“U.S. Customs and Border Protection is investing in technology and personnel to reduce its need for DoD support in coming years, and we continue to call on Congress to support us in this task,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approved the official request from DHS, sending soldiers to join 2,500 National Guard troops already activated to assist law enforcement at the border.
The National Guard troops already at the border are deployed in active-duty status, which means their mission is funded by the federal government and not their respective states, according to the DoD official. They are assisting border agents with detection and monitoring.
President Joe Biden last week signed an executive order authorizing the administration to call up active-duty forces to address drug trafficking at the southern border, essentially preapproving the mission. DHS then asked the Pentagon for assistance.

Fox News first reported the development.
Last week, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas previewed how his agency would be stretched by the end of Title 42.
“We have been preparing for this transition for more than a year and a half. Notwithstanding those preparations, we do expect that encounters at our southern border will [be] increasing, as smugglers are seeking to take advantage of this change and already are hard at work spreading disinformation that the border will be open after that,” he told reporters. “High encounters will place a strain on our entire system, including our dedicated and heroic workforce and our communities.”
Biden admin to set up migrant processing centers in Latin America ahead of end of Title 42
While the politics of the border crisis have shifted in recent years, Biden could see similar reactions to Menendez’s. Many Democrats fiercely resisted the Trump administration’s deployment of active-duty troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, arguing the move was politically motivated, would harm readiness and service members would be quietly involved in law enforcement. The House Armed Services Committee’s first hearing after Democrats took control in 2019, for instance, was on the Pentagon’s support for DHS at the border.
But the Senate’s top appropriator on defense, Jon Tester (D-Mont.), said he wouldn’t object to the move as an emergency measure. He added that the news highlights the need to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security.
“We need a secure border, if that’s what we need to do now, do it,” Tester said. “The real issue here is that we have to empower the Department of Homeland Security, and Customs and Border Protection to do that job.”
The Senate Armed Services Committee’s ranking member, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), said he hadn’t been briefed on the matter.
He said Biden, who’d previously shown “a lack of concern about the border” might now be “reading the polls.”
“If they would begin to resume enforcement of the law, it would be the best step possible,” Wicker said. “We are told by agents along the border that their hands are tied and they’re not allowed to enforce the law as they were earlier.”
The Biden administration’s move continues the trend of presidents using troops to fill in for the personnel-strapped Border Patrol as Congress hasn’t fully funded the agency to do its work.
In 2006, then-President George W. Bush deployed 6,000 troops to the border in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas for Operation Jump Start, which lasted two years. While there, the troops assisted with more than 185,000 apprehensions of undocumented immigrants.
Four years later, then-President Barack Obama and then-Vice President Biden sent up to 1,200 troops to the border during Operation Phalanx, which stretched for about a year. Soon after, the Obama administration also deployed troops, including a Stryker unit, from Fort Bliss to the border communities in Arizona and New Mexico for two months.
In 2018, then-President Donald Trump sent some 2,100 National Guardsmen to the southwest, though they mostly stayed miles from the border and largely performed support tasks for the U.S. Border Patrol. Months later, days before midterm elections, he deployed another 5,200 troops to fortify the border, drawing backlash from former military officials and Democrats who accused Trump of abusing the military to rile up his base.
Matt Berg and Connor O’Brien contributed to this report.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

May 2, 2023
Democratic mayor becomes unlikely GOP ally in battle over Southern border

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“This administration has been asleep at the wheel on border security, and it has had a tremendous, negative impact on New York City,” Lawler said in a statement to POLITICO. “I would be more than happy to work in a bipartisan way with the mayor to force President Biden to secure our borders and reform the immigration system.”
Since spring 2022, more than 57,000 migrants — largely from Latin America — arrived in New York after crossing the southern border. Some were sent from conservative states like Texas, where Republican Gov. Greg Abbott chartered as many as eight buses a day to carry migrants to Manhattan. Others arrived on their own.
The influx has strained the resources of one of the biggest cities in the world.
Services tied to housing, feeding, educating and providing health care to the newcomers are projected to cost $2.9 billion next year alone, an amount that exceeds the New York City Fire Department’s entire operating budget. So far, Adams has mostly failed to get the White House to respond to his pleas for additional funds, easing of work requirements and better coordination at the border to resettle asylum seekers around the U.S.
Adams’ new rhetoric, which drew praise from the conservative editorial page of the New York Post and mirrored remarks by Fox News contributor Sean Duffy, was even more eyebrow-raising given the moderate Democrat is a national surrogate for Biden.
The mayor’s comments came just days before the president announced his reelection bid and at a time when Republicans are gearing up to use voter discontent around immigration in their fight for the White House, the Senate and a larger majority in the House.
This is the second time in less than a year that Adams’ message on a highly contentious political issue has overlapped with Republican talking points. In 2022, he joined GOP calls for reforms to New York’s bail laws and only changed his tune as the midterms neared and it became clear his party would take a beating over crime at the ballot box.
Though Adams’ words on immigration could now hurt fellow Democrats running for national office, particularly in New York’s swing congressional districts where Lawler is facing a competitive race, Adams may be thinking more about protecting his own reelection bid in 2025.

One mayoral adviser, granted anonymity to discuss the administration’s internal mood, noted most New Yorkers would rather see investments in schools, libraries and other city services than billions more spent to help the newcomers. Indeed, a February poll by Quinnipiac University found that 63 percent of voters — including 53 percent of Democrats — don’t think New York City can accommodate the sanctuary-seekers.
Spokespeople for Adams strongly rejected criticism that he’s parroting Republican talking points, saying he’s done more to care for tens of thousands of migrants than any other Democrat in the country.
“To personally show his support for asylum seekers, Mayor Adams has organized haircuts for migrants, book donations for kids, and clothing drives, as well as slept besides migrants at a humanitarian relief center while spending hours hearing their personal stories,” mayoral press secretary Fabien Levy said in a statement.
“Anyone falsely accusing Mayor Adams of using Republican rhetoric should stop criticizing the one person doing more than anyone else in this city for migrants and start pushing for more aid from Washington, DC and Albany,” Levy said.

Adams visits a food and clothing distribution center for asylum seekers at PS 20 in Manhattan, on Feb. 11.
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Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
But his language around the issue — saying the migrant crisis has “destroyed” the city, directly blaming Biden for the situation and saying it has prevented New York’s economic comeback — is still jarring to many members of his party.
“It’s extremely disappointing and dangerous to hear anyone feed into anti-immigrant rhetoric, particularly the highest-ranking elected city official of one of the most diverse cities that is fueled by the contributions of the immigrant community,” said Rep. Delia Ramirez, a first-term Democrat from Illinois who says her progressive stance is key to stemming GOP gains in the Latino community.
“At the federal level, we need to utilize executive authority to ensure cities like Chicago and New York have the support they need to continue providing shelter with maximal flexibility,” she said.
Added Florida state Rep. Anna Eskamani, a leading critic of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ immigration policies: “We should tone down the rhetoric and focus on solutions.”
Both Republican and Democratic strategists say Adams’ decision to amplify the right’s messaging around immigration could be a gift to the GOP.
“I think echoing Republican attacks when Biden is going to need every single resource from Democrats to back him up is not what good Democrats do,” said Bill Neidhardt, a progressive political consultant.
Republican strategist Bob Heckman said it’s surprising that other Democratic mayors of places like Chicago, D.C. and Denver, which have also faced an influx of migrants, aren’t speaking out like Adams.
“If you are the mayor of a city who’s receiving the huge influx of migrants that are pouring across the southern border, it’s hard not to talk like that,” Heckman said. “The administration needs to get serious about it. They can’t just ignore it and run on, ‘We can’t let Donald Trump get reelected.’”
A spokesperson for Biden declined to respond directly to Adams’ criticism but pointed to the president’s announcement in January about new border enforcement actions when he said “extreme Republicans” have always tried to use immigration to score political points but don’t help solve the problem.
One of those so-called extreme Republicans, Rep. Chip Roy of Texas who has advocated for conservative immigration measures, wasn’t quite ready to embrace the New York mayor.
“Eric Adams is right to blame the Biden Administration for the border crisis, but this is the same guy who campaigned on his city’s sanctuary status and extended childcare, colleague classes and other taxpayer-funded programs to illegal migrants,” Roy said in a statement.
“Texas has been bearing the brunt of this crisis for over two years — now New York is getting a taste of their own medicine.”
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 29, 2023
‘Too provocative’ mermaid statue causes stir in southern Italy

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The voluptuous statue of a mermaid placed in a square in a fishing village in Puglia, southern Italy, has caused a stir for being “too provocative”.
The statue was created by students at the Luigi Rosso art school in Monopoli before being positioned in a square named after the scientist Rita Levi-Montalcini.
The artwork, which is yet to be officially inaugurated, became a target of ridicule after photos taken during its installation were shared on social media.
The Bari-based actor Tiziana Schiavarelli wrote on Facebook that a friend in Monopoli had “rightly expressed some perplexity about this ‘monument’”.
“It looks like a mermaid with two silicone breasts and, above all, a huge arse never seen before on a mermaid. At least not any I know.”
Schiavarelli stressed that she did not have an issue with the art students or the local council, which had commissioned the work. “But I am very amused by this thing … who knows if it will become a further attraction for tourists,” she added.
Adolfo Marciano, the headteacher of the Luigi Rosso art school, hailed the statue as a ‘tribute to the great majority of women who are curvy’. Photograph: Monopoli Times
Adolfo Marciano, the headteacher of the Luigi Rosso art school, defended the statue, saying it was a “tribute to the great majority of women who are curvy”. He explained that the students were tasked by the mayor of Monopoli to create several statues for the town, including one on the theme of the sea.
“The students got together and came up with the idea of a mermaid,” Marciano said. “The council was shown the scale model and said it was good, and then decided the completed sculpture would be placed in the square.”

Marciano said he did not want to cast judgement on the students’ inspiration, but that he viewed the work “as a representation of reality, in this case of the female body”.
He added: “You see adverts on television with models who are very thin, but the mermaid is like a tribute to the great majority of women who are curvy, especially in our country. It would have been very bad if we had represented a woman who was extremely skinny.”
Beppe, who lives in Monopoli, said the sculpture, which has been kept covered until its inauguration, had caused much discussion in recent days, with some people criticising it as “too provocative”.
“It’s a shame as the art students deserve to be praised instead of criticised,” he said.
The students also created a statue dedicated to the victims of workplace accidents, which will be unveiled on Monday. “This is much more important than the mermaid,” said Marciano.
Female statues in other areas of Italy have caused similar controversy. In 2021, a bronze statue portraying a woman in a transparent dress in the Campania town of Sapri sparked a sexism row. The work, by the sculptor Emanuele Stifano, was intended as a tribute to La Spigolatrice di Sapri (The Gleaner of Sapri), written by the poet Luigi Mercantini in 1857. The statue, which was branded “an offence to women”, was unveiled during a ceremony attended by the former prime minister Giuseppe Conte.
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )

April 28, 2023
Telangana to raise post-bifurcation issues in Southern Council meet

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Hyderabad: Telangana will raise issues related to Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act in the Southern Zonal Council meeting to be held in Chennai on May 5.
The state government will also raise the issues of pending dues and clearances from the Centre.
Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari held a review meeting with officials on the issues to be taken up in the Inter-State Council/Southern Zonal Council.

She discussed and reviewed various issues in connection with AP Reorganization Act and other inter-state issues relating to irrigation, education, health, energy, industries, Singareni, panchayat raj, labour & employment and other departments.
The Chief Secretary directed the officials to submit information regarding the issues to be raised in the Southern Zonal Council meeting on pending dues, clearances, Schedule IXth and Schedule Xth of AP Reorganisation Act.
As the meetings convened by the Centre failed to address post-bifurcation issues, the government of Telangana decided to raise them in the Southern Zonal meeting.
Under the Reorganisation Act, all post-bifurcation issues have to be sorted out in 10 years.
During the meeting convened by the Centre in September last year, Andhra Pradesh demanded its share in land parcels, buildings and bank reserves of common institutions located in Hyderabad in the ratio of 52:48 between AP:TS, in proportion with their population.

The institutions listed under Schedule IX (corporations etc) and X (training institutes) of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014 are worth several thousands of crores of rupees. Telangana has opposed the demand.
Andhra Pradesh also demanded a share in Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL), evoking protest from Telangana.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 25, 2023
3,000 migrants begin walk north from southern Mexico

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But in the past, many participants in such processions have continued on to the U.S. border, which is almost always their goal. The migrants are mainly from Central America, Cuba, Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia.
Mexican authorities have used paperwork restrictions and highway checkpoints to bottle up tens of thousands of frustrated migrants in Tapachula, making it hard for them to travel to the U.S. border.
Argueta said that when migrants look for work in Tapachula, “they give us jobs, perhaps not humiliating, but the one the Mexicans don’t want to do, hard work that pays very little.”
Organizer Irineo Mújica said the migrants are demanding the dissolving of the country’s immigration agency, whose officials have been blamed — and some charged with homicide — in the March 27 fire. Mújica called the immigration detention centers “jails.”
The roots of the migrant caravan phenomenon began years ago when activists organized processions — often with a religious theme — during Holy Week to dramatize the hardships and needs of migrants. In 2018 a minority of those involved wound up traveling all the way to the U.S. border.
This year’s mass walk began well after Holy Week had ended, but Mújica, a leader of the Pueblos Sin Fronteras activist group, called it a “Viacrucis,” or stations of the cross procession, and some migrants carried wooden crosses.
“In this Viacrucis, we are asking the government that justice be done to the killers, for them to stop hiding high-ranking officials,” Mújica said in Tapachula before the long walk began. “We are also asking that these jails be ended, and that the National Immigration Institute be dissolved.”
Some migrants carried banners or crosses reading “Government Crime” and “The Government Killed Them.”

The migrants made it only as far as the town of Alvaro Obregon, about 9 miles (14 kilometers) from Tapachula, before stopping to settle down and rest for the remainder of the day, after having walked from around dawn.
The migrants stretched out under a covered athletic court and under trees at a park in Alvaro Obregon. There was no sign at the start of any police attempt to block them.
Mexican prosecutors have said they will press charges against the immigration agency’s top national official, Francisco Garduño, who is scheduled to make a court appearance April 21.
Federal prosecutors have said Garduño was remiss in not preventing the disaster in Ciudad Juarez despite earlier indications of problems at his agency’s detention centers. Prosecutors said government audits had found “a pattern of irresponsibility and repeated omissions” in the immigration institute.
The fire in Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, began after a migrant allegedly set fire to foam mattresses to protest a supposed transfer. The fire quickly filled the facility with smoke. No one let the migrants out.
Six officials of the National Immigration Institute, a guard at the center and the Venezuelan migrant accused of starting the blaze are already in custody facing homicide charges.
Migrants, especially poorer ones who cannot afford to pay migrant smugglers, have often seen such mass walks, or caravans, as a way to reach the U.S. border. Successive caravans grew to massive size in 2018 and 2019 before authorities in Mexico and Central American began stopping them of highways.
The Covid-19 pandemic also played a role in quashing the caravans, as countries instituted health restrictions.
The heat and sheer effort of walking 750 miles to Mexico City usually forces migrants to start walking in the pre-dawn darkness and stop in the early afternoon in towns along the way.
Many of the migrants — some carrying infants or babies in strollers — also look to catch rides from passing trucks. In the past, authorities have sometimes allowed that to happen, and sometimes prohibited it. But sheer desperation drives many of the migrants.
Venezuelan migrant Estefany Peroez was walking with her three daughters. In Tapachula, they had been sleeping in the streets.
“We don’t have anything to eat, the authorities don’t help us, we are doing this to give my daughters a better life,” Peroez said.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 24, 2023
House Republicans bash Mayorkas over Southern border

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Harsh words were expected at the hearing. For months, Republicans have vocally criticized Mayorkas for his handling of the border and have called for his removal. DHS’ bill would allow the agency to hire another 1,400 personnel to secure the border and earmark over $800 million for new technology to protect the border and fight fentanyl trafficking.
At the center of much of the debate was Mayorkas’ previous comments to Congress that the border is secure. Republicans have charged that he lied under oath when he said that to Congress, though Mayorkas said he interprets “operational control” in a different way.
If it’s seen as preventing all unlawful entries into the United States, as the Secure Fence Act states, then “no administration has ever had operational control,” Mayorkas said during a Senate hearing in late March.
Ranking Member Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said during the hearing that Republicans have acknowledged in the past that the “operational control” definition is “unreachable” or “impossible” to achieve, citing comments made by former committee chairs Peter King and Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas).
“Republicans are criticizing you for not achieving something that no secretary has ever achieved. It seems like their standard changes dependent on the administration,” Thompson said.
Mayorkas, who has visited the border 16 times since taking the post, emphasized during the hearing that the border situation has been an issue for decades and a bipartisan approach is needed to fix the current crisis.
“If our budget were reduced … it would seriously, gravely harm our ability to apprehend individuals who are attempting to cross our border illegally,” as well as the ability to disrupt drug trafficking, Mayorkas said, adding “this is a challenge that we all have to work together to address. We’re dealing with a broken system and we need reform.”
A DHS spokesperson added in a statement to POLITICO that “instead of pointing fingers and pursuing baseless attacks, Congress should work with the Department and pass legislation to fix our broken immigration system, which has not been updated in over 40 years.”

Democrats attempted to quell the flames by praising Mayorkas for his efforts despite the difficult situation, which several members blamed on the Trump administration.
The Biden administration inherited a DHS that had been “beleaguered by four years of political polarization and mismanagement,” Thompson said. “Among Secretary Mayorkas’ predecessors were so-called leaders, often unqualified and sometimes unlawfully appointed, who did the former president’s bidding.”
Later in the hearing, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) was blocked from participating further after she called Mayorkas a “liar” while questioning him.
“While you live in denial and sit over there with this attitude that you’re doing everything right … you are killing Americans with your policies,” she said.
Thompson then interrupted her questioning, asking for her words to be “taken down.”
“We can disagree, but just the fact that we have people watching, you don’t have to call a witness a liar,” he said.
When asked by McCaul if she would modify or withdraw her remarks, Greene stood firm “because the facts show the proof.”
Green, the chair, then interjected: “It’s pretty clear that the rules state you can’t impune someone’s character. Identifying or calling someone a liar is unacceptable on this committee, and I make the ruling that we strike those words.”
The members then clarified the motion, barring Greene from speaking further.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 19, 2023
DOJ sues Norfolk Southern over East Palestine derailment

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The DOJ is seeking injunctive relief, cost recovery and civil penalties to “ensure it pays the full cost of the environmental cleanup,” according to the lawsuit.
“As a result of this incident, hazardous materials vented into the air and spilled onto the ground. These substances contaminated local waterways and flowed miles downstream,” the prosecutors wrote in the suit.
The derailment, involving a freight train traveling near a small town along the Pennsylvania-Ohio border, sent 38 cars off the track, spilling hazardous chemicals. Some of the tank cars had been compromised and required a controlled release of toxic vinyl chloride, which was burned off and forced the town’s evacuation.
Federal officials have insisted that the area and its water are safe now, but residents continue to complain of foul smells and worry about long-term health concerns, as well as depressed home values.
Earlier this month, Alan Shaw, the railroad’s CEO, appeared before Congress to apologize for the derailment and promise accountability, telling lawmakers that “we won’t be finished until we make it right.”
The company has come under intense scrutiny from the industry and lawmakers, who have pressed for more stringent safety precautions as they suspect an overheating wheel caused the derailment. Norfolk Southern has since announced a handful of new safety measures, as has the industry as a whole.
Lawmakers from both parties, including a heavy contingent from Ohio and Pennsylvania, are pressing forward with legislation intended to shore up rail safety, but so far have yet to gain broad traction.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

March 31, 2023
Rocket fired from Gaza hits southern Israel amid heightened tension

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Jerusalem: A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit an open area landed in southern Israel, according to the Israeli military.
There were no immediate reports of injuries and claim of responsibility for the attack, Xinhua news agency reported, citing Israeli media reports.
The rocket attack comes at a time of heightened tensions between Israelis and Palestinians, with over 80 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces and 14 Israelis died in Palestinian militants’ attacks since the beginning of this year.
Earlier this week, four Palestinians, including a teenager, were killed in an Israeli military raid in the West Bank city of Jenin, according to Palestinian health officials. After the raid, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad vowed revenge.
Tensions are expected to escalate in the coming days when the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish weeklong holiday of Passover overlap in April.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 19, 2023
Norfolk Southern CEO to apologize to Senate for East Palestine wreck

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The top Democrat and Republican on the committee — Chair Tom Carper (D-Del.) and ranking member Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) — said Wednesday that they want to hear more about what’s being done to help East Palestine. Carper said that he expects “straight answers” and “accountability.” And Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he expects Shaw to “own up to his company’s spotty safety culture, particularly the increasingly apparent pattern of negligence”
Shaw also plans to urge an “industry-wide comprehensive approach, including railcar owners, car manufacturers, leasing companies, equipment makers, and the railroad companies” — suggesting regulators should cast a net much wider than his own company, or even his own industry. He’ll specifically call for changes to certain types of railcars, which the railroads do not directly own.
Shaw will also highlight Norfolk’s new focus on moving away from “efficiency” and profits, and toward something he will call “a more balanced approach to service, productivity, and growth”— which he called a “significant departure from the railroad industry’s recent past.” (These moves were first announced on a December earnings call, where he also assured investors that “other important financial measures, such as earnings per share, Return on Invested Capital, and revenue” would still be paramount.)
Capito made it clear that she’ll also focus on the adequacy of the Environmental Protection Agency’s response to the environmental disaster that the derailment caused. “Personally, I think the EPA failed on risk communication,” she said Wednesday. “There was confusion, there was delayed data and a sense that nobody really cared.”
The committee will also take testimony from Ohio Sens. Sherrod Brown (D) and J.D. Vance (R) as well as Pennsylvania Democrat Bob Casey, who are part of the group of lawmakers pressing forward with a bipartisan rail safety bill.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

March 9, 2023
Norfolk Southern to clash with Congress on toxic derailment

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The plan gives Norfolk Southern President and CEO Alan Shaw something to present to senators when he appears before the Senate EPW Committee Thursday — but it’s not likely to satisfy Democrats on the panel.
Most of the six-point plan to be announced Monday involves improving the equipment Norfolk Southern uses along tracks to help sense when a train’s wheels are overheating, including boosting the number of detectors and reviewing how far apart they’re spaced. The railroad also says it wants to seek industry consensus on standards for this equipment, which now are determined by individual companies. And it says it wants to accelerate research on a new automated inspection technology.
In a statement accompanying the plan, Shaw said the preliminary findings of the National Transportation Safety Board, an independent agency probing the disaster, made it clear that “a comprehensive industry effort” was needed to improve safety and that Norfolk Southern is “not waiting to take action.”
But that list of actions falls far short of the changes the Biden administration is seeking — such as upgrading to a faster braking system, providing more notification to communities about hazardous materials traveling through their areas and paying workers sick leave.
The Department of Transportation has said it also doesn’t just want railroads to upgrade their automated track inspection equipment. It also wants them to stop seeking to cut back on human inspections.
The Biden administration has asked Congress to make a series of additional changes as well, including increasing the current $225,000 cap on fines for safety violations.
Raising the cap is one of the provisions included in a bill introduced last week by a bipartisan group of senators, including the delegations from Ohio and Pennsylvania where the impacts of the derailment were felt. That bill would also subject more trains that carry hazardous materials to safety regulations designed to protect communities, and would require at least two crew members on board each train — changes the railroads have fought hard to prevent.
The bill also would mandate that railroads have detectors for overheating wheels every 10 miles of track — not every 15, as included in Norfolk Southern’s action plan.

Norfolk Southern hasn’t specifically discussed the bill or DOT’s requests beyond saying that the “rail industry needs to learn as much as we can from East Palestine,” as the company said in a statement to POLITICO.
“Norfolk Southern has committed to working with industry to develop practices and technologies that could help prevent an incident like this in the future,” the statement read. “This incident requires a broad industry response, and we will also work with the owners of the rail cars on the integrity and safety of the equipment we use.”
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

March 6, 2023