Thinker101
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The Obama-era brake rule would not have applied to the type of train that derailed in Ohio.
As the Lever reported, when the Obama administration was drafting new safety standards for oil trains, NTSB advocated for a broader definition of “high-hazard flammable trains” that covered Class 2 flammable gasses. Vinyl chloride falls in that category.
“We believe the definition should include a broad range of hazardous materials,” Christopher Hart, then the acting chairman of NTSB, wrote to the Department of Transportation in 2014.
The Obama administration ultimately settled on a narrow definition that applies only to trains carrying a certain amount of Class 3 flammables like crude oil and ethanol. Some environmentalists slammed the standards as “weak” and watered down.
This Is The 'Perfect Storm' That Led To Ohio's Toxic Train Derailment
As the Lever reported, when the Obama administration was drafting new safety standards for oil trains, NTSB advocated for a broader definition of “high-hazard flammable trains” that covered Class 2 flammable gasses. Vinyl chloride falls in that category.
“We believe the definition should include a broad range of hazardous materials,” Christopher Hart, then the acting chairman of NTSB, wrote to the Department of Transportation in 2014.
The Obama administration ultimately settled on a narrow definition that applies only to trains carrying a certain amount of Class 3 flammables like crude oil and ethanol. Some environmentalists slammed the standards as “weak” and watered down.
This Is The 'Perfect Storm' That Led To Ohio's Toxic Train Derailment