Fact-Checkers Say Trump Is Off the Hook in Derailment

In the partisan back-and-forth over the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, Democrats have pointed to deregulation of the rail industry during Donald Trump's presidency. But while Trump did roll back plenty of regulations, none of the changes "at this point can be cited as contributing to the accident," according to fact-checkers at the Washington Post. Among their conclusions:

• Electronically controlled pneumatic brakes. Trump put the brakes an Obama-era rule that would have required ECP brakes on "high hazard" trains by 2021. But even if it had gone into effect, the change would have applied only to high hazard flammable trains, a designation not applied to the train that derailed in East Palestine, which was classed as a mixed freight train.

• Brake safety inspections. A Trump administration rule extended "the amount of time freight rail equipment can be left off-air (meaning parked with its air brake system depressurized) before requiring a new brake inspection," meaning fewer inspections were required, but it has not been determined that the braking system had any role in the accident, the Post reports.
• Two-person crew rule. Trump rolled back a proposed Obama-era rule requiring two-person crews on all trains, but there was a two-person crew plus a trainee on the Norfolk Southern train that derailed.
• Safety audits. The Trump administration didn't renew a program for additional safety audits along crude oil routes, but that wasn't relevant to the derailment, the Post reports. President Biden's administration launched a different Federal Railroad Administration audit program in 2021, which focused on rail companies, and Norfolk Southern was audited last year.

Many of the rules proposed or introduced under the Obama administration were brought in after the Lac-Megantic rail disaster that killed 47 people in Quebec in 2013. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who visited the site a day after Trump went there last week, has called for stricter regulations on hazardous materials being moved by rail. He has given rail companies a deadline of the end of this week to say whether they will take part in the voluntary Confidential Close Call Reporting System, which allows workers to report safety hazards without fear of reprisals, CNN reports. He said Monday that no major rail freight company currently takes part in the program. (More East Palestine stories.)