Derailed regulations, Office of Railway Safety | Western Colorado

Colorado will be the 31st state in the United States to create its own rail regulatory agency in response to growing safety and environmental concerns.

The Bureau of Rail Safety will be an important step toward preventing derailments, hazardous material spills, violations of railroad workers’ rights, and emergency vehicle delays due to blocked rail lines; But according to state Sen. Lisa Cutter, a Democrat from Jefferson County, heavy resistance from railroad lobbyists limited the scope of steps lawmakers could take.

“We had to eliminate a lot of existing safety regulations and create an Office of Railroad Safety,” Cutter said. “We negotiated quite hard with the railway companies and, frankly, they didn’t come to the table. The House sponsors made repeated attempts… but the railroad companies refused to negotiate and were not big players in the whole affair.”

Still, Cutter said the bureau’s regulations and the railroad workers’ rights bill would move the needle in the right direction.

The bill requires railway companies to report certain data to the office by the end of the year, including the length of the train and the number of trackside sensors (monitoring devices that can prevent derailment) on each train. This data will potentially inform and justify future state decisions regarding regulation and enforcement.

The Colorado Office of Rail Safety will be managed by the state’s Public Utility Commission (PUC). This fiscal year, the PUC received $391,057 in funds; must determine the bureau’s long-term operational logistics by December, which will be presented to the state Legislature in January along with information from the rail companies.

Colorado PUC Director Rebecca White said the company will hire about three full-time employees over the next few months to meet year-end goals: estimate the number of staff needed to effectively monitor and regulate railroads statewide; calculate the budget they can justify to the legislature; generate plans to secure financing.

White added that by August, the PUC will also establish two safety advisory groups: the Community Railroad Safety Advisory Committee and the Railroad Industry Safety Advisory Committee. One committee will be made up of railway employees, a trade union representative and stakeholders concerned with the environment and communities affected by the railway, while members of the second committee will be directors and representatives of railway companies.

“(The idea is) no one will feel like his speech was cold because he’s sitting in a room with the person who wrote out his monthly paycheck,” Cutter said.

The PUC will also work closely with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to provide delegation as the state’s safety inspection group. White said this delegation would provide the state railroad authority with the authority to work with and on behalf of FRA; the goal is to secure FRA delegation before the January deadline.

RAILWAY RESISTANCE

The Office of Railroad Safety is a big step for the state, but it is difficult to compare it to the original requirements of the act; according to Cutter, many of these regulations needed to be changed due to lack of cooperation and even legal threats from Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF Railway.

“They really held us back in terms of train length (restrictions) and (rules against) blocking railroad crossings, and those are really basic safety issues,” Cutter said. “(including the opposition) threats to sue the state and potential impact on negotiations in which they participated regarding passenger rail.”

The original bill also required each railroad transporting hazardous materials through the state to carry adequate insurance against rail accident costs and liability. Under the Act, there is no longer a requirement to have insurance.

In response to a request for comment, Union Pacific emphasized that every aspect of the industry revolves around safety:

“The goals and objectives of HB-1030 are already subject to federal regulatory oversight, as well as vigilant operational practices, inspections, maintenance programs, and first responder training and coordination in the rail industry,” Union Pacific said in a statement.

Cutter said she disagreed because there have been several serious train accidents since the bill was introduced in January 2024; She added that there is a clear need for such an office, given that 30 other states have already established one.

According to FRA’s 2018-2021 incident review report, there were 14 fatalities, 28 injuries and 87 accidents (collisions, derailments and other accidents) at railroad crossings in Colorado. Excluding level crossings, the total number of serious injuries or fatalities over the same time period is two, but the number of incidents is 114.

However, compared to all modes of transportation, rail fatalities accounted for only 0.9% of all transportation-related deaths in 2019, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

“Any way you look at it, (rail) is generally a very safe mode of transportation, but we have an opportunity to improve our record in Colorado and make sure we are prepared for any incidents,” White said. “It’s our job as regulators to be prepared for the absolute worst that could happen and ensure Colorado is protected.”

SEPARATION OF RAILWAYS AND RIVERS

According to White, the main motivation behind the bill was the 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, and its impact on the surrounding environment. She and Cutter said much of Colorado’s rail lines run along the Colorado River and other important waterways – intended for drinking, recreation and wildlife.

“There is always a risk of fire or some other type of disaster,” Cutter said. “If it happens in the mountains near major waterways and in heavily forested areas, it’s a whole different level of ‘sacred cow.’ A lot of damage can be done.”

While the Grand Junction Water District does not draw water from the Colorado River, Clifton does. The Ute Water District also gets some of its water from the river, but not all of its supply like Clifton.

“The Colorado River is our primary source of water, so obviously water quality is a concern,” said Ty Jones, manager of the Clifton Water District. “But we have options if something happened: if there was pollution in the river, we would close the intake to the river so that we don’t put any of that water into our treatment plant.”

Jones said they are communicating with water districts further upstream to determine the rate at which contaminants are moving, which can be calculated using an equation from the U.S. Geological Survey. Water abstraction is then suspended “long before” the expected appearance of contaminants. The District maintains a diversified supply of raw and treated water, which may be treated or distributed when withdrawals are suspended.

He added that there are agreements in place between Clifton, Grand Junction and Ute Water Districts to share water during emergencies.

Under the new law, rail companies must immediately report the status of any (environmental) disasters, and rail companies transporting any hazardous materials must coordinate emergency and spill response plans with the state Department of Public Safety.

“These people (in state government) are professionals at what they do and they know that no matter what they do in terms of rail development, they face a lot of obstacles,” Jones said. “I know they understand the importance of water quality, so I hope they will keep us informed when something happens. If something bad happens, we simply need to remain vigilant so that we can respond appropriately.