March 7, 2022

What You Can Do to Help Advocate for

New Rail Safety Measures

The tragic events in East Palestine -- and most recently in Springfield -- have cast a brighter light on the need for rail safety measures in our communities. In fact, many local leaders with rail assets in their communities have felt unsettled about railroad-related issues for years.

The Ohio Municipal League is continuing discussions with members of the Ohio General Assembly, as well as our federal partners, to be engaged and advocate for solutions. These issues are now receiving needed attention, and our goal is to provide you with further action you can take to see such problems alleviated.

To that end, here are two calls to action for your community to consider:

Sign On to Congressional Letter

Last week, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown and U.S. Sen. JD Vance introduced the federal Railway Safety Act of 2023. View the bill text and an informational one-pager. The National League of Cities has a sign-on letter to ask Congress to act on rail safety.

We would like to get as many communities as possible to sign on to the letter as the Senate holds a hearing with Norfolk Southern’s CEO this week. A PDF of the letter with the letter sign-on link is available here.

Pass a Resolution

If your community would like to pass a resolution urging Congress to address rail safety, there is a draft sample resolution Word document available here. It will download directly to your computer at the bottom of your screen.

Thank you for your efforts to build better and safer communities.