Deluzio, Carey Push for Hearing on East Palestine Derailment Health Monitoring Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, Congressmen Chris Deluzio (D-PA-17) and Mike Carey (R-OH-15) sent a letter to the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman and Ranking Member, calling for a hearing and swift committee review of the East Palestine Health Impact Monitoring Act of 2024. 

This proposal, introduced a few weeks ago by Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur and Congressman David Joyce of Ohio, would authorize funding through Fiscal Year 2028 to conduct a study of the long-term health impacts of the 2023 East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment. Both Congressman Deluzio and Congressman Carey are co-sponsors of the East Palestine Health Impact Monitoring Act of 2024. Congressman Deluzio represents constituents in Beaver County who live close to the derailment site, some of whom were evacuated. 

"We write today to request you hold a legislative hearing and markup on H.R. 8537, the East Palestine Health Impact Monitoring Act, which we have both cosponsored,” write the congressmen in a joint letter. “The residents of Darlington, Pennsylvania; East Palestine, Ohio; and the surrounding areas need to understand the long-term impacts of this disaster on their health, and the East Palestine Health Impact Monitoring Act will help achieve this. To ensure the assessment is a success, we support the Department of Health and Human Services technical assistance to the legislation to allow for appropriate time and resources to fully understand the impact of the spill to the surrounding community’s public health.”

The full letter is available here.

Following the derailment, Congressman Deluzio made multiple visits to the site of the derailment and nearby Beaver County communities in his congressional district. He commissioned a report on the proximity of freight rail to the constituents of his district and introduced several pieces of legislation on rail safety, including the DERAIL Act, the Assistance for Local Heroes During Train Crises Act, and the Railway Safety Act.  

Congressman Deluzio’s bipartisan Railway Safety Act was introduced in March of 2023. The bill is a comprehensive measure to make rail safer, and is supported by the Biden Administration, former President Trump, several rail worker unions, and has both Democratic and Republican House co-sponsors, including members from across the political spectrum. President Joe Biden highlighted the importance of this bill as a part of his visit to Ohio and Pennsylvania in February. Despite the widespread, bipartisan support for the Railway Safety Act, the House Republican leadership has not taken any action on the bill, and the Senate version has not yet come up for a floor vote after passing out of committee.  

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