Proposed Bill To Limit Rail Power Over Solid Waste Facilities

Saying he realizes “the Surface Transportation Board (STB) must have broad jurisdiction over rail transportation, but that jurisdiction should not be interpreted in a way that puts our environment at risk,” Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) introduced a bill that would curtail the STB’s control over solid waste facilities operating along railroad lines.

The bill is in response to the solid waste rail haul facilities that have sprung up in New Jersey, and are planned or proposed for other states. These facilities claimed to be governed by the STB broad authority over rail activity, and are exempt from all federal, state, and local control, especially regarding solid waste and environmental regulations.

Writing in the Federal register, Lautenbach says,”Although transporting solid waste by rail can reduce the number of trucks hauling solid waste on public roads, handling this waste without careful planning and management presents a danger to human health and the environment. These transfer operations create thick dust, which is potentially hazardous and is breathed in by local residents and business owners. Some transfer facilities don’t have proper drainage on site, leading to the potential contamination of surface and groundwater and nearby wetlands.

In addition, these facilities raise serious concerns about the safety of their workers and the exemptions they claim from strong State worker protection laws.”

William Turley, executive director of the Construction Materials Recycling Association (CMRA), which was one of the groups that strongly opposed the application to STB to set up one of these sites in Massachusetts, applauded SB 1607 but says the bill will have a tough fight. “The railroads and STB enjoy the sweeping powers granted them by government, and even though this is the right thing to do, both from an environmental and a common sense standpoint, those entities are not going to give up any of their power without a fight.” But until these facilities are brought under local environmental regulations and the loophole closed, they will enjoy an unfair economic advantage over legitimate disposal and recycling facilities, he says.