Date: 1990-10-25
Speaker: THOMAS A. LUKEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. if the gentleman will yield. the legislation which we are considering today relates to a subject which affects each and every American. All of us are aware of the disasters and near disasters caused by the deadly chemicals which are regularly carried by truck. train. and airplane. through every State and city in our country. Today. it is conservatively estimated that 500.000 movements of hazardous materials occur each day. with over 4 billion tons moving each year. The simple fact of the matter is that the potential for a Bhopalonwheels accident is everpresent on our Nations streets. railroads. and airways. Last year. there were over 6.000 haz mat accidents. Over 165 persons were injured and 17 were killed in these tragic accidents. These accidents caused damages of more than $21 million. But while hazardous materials transportation is increasing year in and year out. our laws have not kept pace with these developments. Fifteen years have passed since the passage of the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act. Since that time. no major revisions to the original legislati6n have been enacted. In fact. authorizations for the act expired at the end of fiscal year 1986 and no congressional action has been taken to even reauthorize these important programs since such time. Congressional committees have been talking about revising the Haz Mat Act for the last 8 years. but until now no one has been able to break the stalemate. Today we have an historic opportunity to break the deadlock and enact a comprehensive bill to improve the laws which govern how hazardous materials are transported. Last October. I introduced the Uniform Safety Amendments Act of 1990 to amend the outdated Hazardous Materials Transportation Act. This comprehensive bill was the product of many years of work and investigation. Many members of our subcommittee participated in drafting this needed bill. Our ranking minority member. Mr. WHiTTAKER. was a partner in crafting this major piece of legislation. Many members of our subcommittee and or committee. including Chairman DINGELL. are cosponsors of the bill. All of our members have worked diligently to consider and address these critical issues. Committees of jurisdiction have held many hearings and investigations during the past few years on the subject of haz mat transportation. Last year. our subcommittee heard from a wide variety of interests during our extensive hearings. Witnesses included State and local representatives. emergency responderssuch as firefighters and State policerailroads. truckers. labor organizations. environmentalists. chemical companies. and various representatives of Federal agencies. While many different points of view were stated. there was a broad consensus that the current law needs to be revised and that our bill represents a major step in the right direction. Our full committee voted unanimously in March in favor of our bill. Last summer. the Public Works Committee also reported our bill with some changes. We have since been working diligently to reach a compromise with our colleagues from Public Works. I am pleased to report that the amended bill we are considering today represents the joint efforts of both committees. This bill will take the regulation %nd enforcement of hazardous materials out of the Dark Ages: This bill increases civil and criminal penalties for violations of haz mat regulations. Thls bill requires safety permits for motor carriers who transport utlrahazardous materials. such as explosives. poison gases. and radioactive materials. Our bill prohibits the use of substandard railroad tank cars like those involved in the Miamisburg. OH accident. This bill provides for uniform Federal. State. and local laws in certain technical areas. thus ensuring the safe and efficient transportation of hazardous materials throughout the country. This bill establishes a new training program for emergency responders. like firefighters and law enforcement personnel. so that they are better able to effectively respond to haz mat accidents. This bill requires the Department of Transportation to implement a broadbased registration program for persons involved in haz mat transportation. This bill provides emergency responders with better information about how and where hazardous materials are transported and the risks of various commodities. This bill provides a mechanism for States to designate haz mat highway routes. in partnership with the Federal government. This bill provides more Federal inspectors for all transportation modes to enforce Federal haz mat laws and regulations. In short. this is an excellent bill. It is a needed bill. It combines the best work of both committees to address compelling problems which affect the publics safety and welfare. I appreciate the efforts of Chairman