CSXT wants hazmat bill overturned

CSXT wants hazmat bill overturned    CSX Transportation Inc. (CSXT) said Wednesday it has filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, asking the court to declare invalid the District of Columbia’s ban on the transportation of hazardous materials.
   CSXT wants the court to block the implementation of D.C. Bill 16-77, and also expects to seek a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction against the measure shortly.
   D.C. Bill 16-77 was passed by the D.C. City Council Feb.1, and signed into law Tuesday by Washington, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams. The bill prevents rail and truck transportation companies from transporting certain hazardous materials through the District of Columbia.
   The complaint asserts that the D.C. measure violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, as well as express preemptive provisions of the Federal Railroad Safety Act, the federal Hazardous Materials Transportation Act and the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act, CSXT said in a statement.
   CSXT said in the filing that as a “common carrier” it is required by federal law to transport the banned materials. “Federal laws require railroads to carry hazardous materials. As long as that legal duty exists, this company has a responsibility to move the materials as safely as possible for all communities,” said Ellen M. Fitzsimmons, senior vice president-law and public affairs.
   “Doubling the shipment times, the miles traveled and the handling requirements of dangerous materials, as the D.C. ordinance would require in many cases, just increases risk to everyone else. CSXT very much wants to work with federal railroad, security and commerce officials, as well as communities, producers and end-users, to create fair and balanced, long-term national solutions,” Fitzsimmons added.