Editorial: Transporting Hazardous Materials
he U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia did a good thing for all freight haulers last week, preventing the local Washington, D.C., government from banning the shipment of certain hazardous materials within 2.2 miles of the U.S. Capitol building.
The court overturned a lower court ruling and issued an injunction preventing D.C. from attempting to enforce the new local law, saying opponents of the bill “had a very high likelihood of success on the merits” of their suit.
While the injunction applied to the enforcement of the portion of the law banning rail shipments, the law also includes provisions to eventually bar certain truck shipments of hazardous goods. American Trucking Associations had joined the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Association of American Railroads in supporting the suit brought by CSX Transportation, whose tracks run near the Capitol.
Opponents said — and the appeals court agreed — that federal law governs the interstate shipment of goods, and specifically the operation of railroads.
While the D.C. government’s concern about the safety of hazmat shipments is understandable in these times, it is clear that letting local governments restrict such shipments would lead to chaos.
Surely, no government would want to expose its residents to potential danger. But the hazardous materials in question are vital to industry. For instance, chlorine, one of the materials that would be covered by the D.C. law, is used by most water-purification plants around the nation.
In fact, federal law requires railroads to carry the hazardous materials, to ensure an adequate supply around the nation.
One must also question the sincerity of the D.C. government’s concerns in this matter, since it became known during the legal proceedings that local agencies’ representatives failed to attend several meetings the federal government held to discuss these movements.
Let us hope that less energy is spent enacting narrow-minded laws that federal courts are sure to overturn, and more is spent in cooperative efforts between communities and freight carriers in devising ways to better safeguard the shipment of hazardous materials that are necessary in the course of our lives.
This story appeared in the May 9 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.