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Safety

Chlorine Shippers Lose Bid To Halt Rail Rule

by Glenn Hess
June 24, 2013 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 91, Issue 25

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Credit: Union Tank Car Co
This new model of rail tank car will transport chlorine and can better withstand side impacts and head-on collisions.
This is a photo of a new model of rail tank car that will transport toxic chemicals and can better withstand side impacts and head-on collisions.
Credit: Union Tank Car Co
This new model of rail tank car will transport chlorine and can better withstand side impacts and head-on collisions.

A U.S. appeals court has dismissed a lawsuit challenging federal regulations that require railroads to install crash-avoidance systems. The Arlington, Va.-based Chlorine Institute argued that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) rule calling for implementation of so-called positive train control technology by the end of 2015 would “severely limit or eliminate” the ability of chlorine producers to ship their products by rail. Toxic chemicals will be transported only on lines where the equipment is deployed, shrinking the size of the available rail network. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., threw out the case because no shipper has yet been harmed by FRA’s proposed implementation plan. Rerouting rail traffic “does not necessarily” harm chlorine shippers, wrote Judge Karen L. Henderson in the court’s decision. “The impact is at most speculative.”

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