SIGN ON DEADLINE: Tuesday, April 30th COB
Leads: Rep. Melanie Stansbury, and Rep. Chris DeLuzio
Dear Representative:
On behalf of our affiliated unions, the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO urges you to join Representatives Stansbury and DeLuzio in a letter to appropriators advocating for full funding for the Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS) at $8 million, matching the President’s FY25 budget request, and language urging the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to work to increase participation in the Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS), and protect the anonymity of railroad employees utilizing this system.
The Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS) is a long-standing, voluntary program through the FRA which enables workers to confidentially report “close call” safety incidents without fear of discipline from their employer or FRA, providing valuable information that can be used to prevent potentially catastrophic incidents. No Class I railroad currently is a full participant in C3RS even though Amtrak and several shortline and commuter railroads are. The lack of participation by the Class I railroads is a huge missed opportunity to improve freight rail safety.
Following public pressure from rail unions and Secretary Buttigieg after the East Palestine derailment, the industry pledged on March 2nd, 2023 that all Class I freight railroads would join C3RS. However, over a year has passed and none of the Class I railroads have permanently delivered on their promise to participate in C3RS. Per the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) own safety data, 2022 and 2023 were the two worst years in the last decade for safety across the Class I railroads, making participation in the C3RS system–and workers’ confidence in the confidentiality of the system– more necessary than ever.
TTD urges you to join Representatives Stansbury and DeLuzio in fighting for the safety of rail workers and communities by signing on to the below letter via this Quill link. If you have any questions, please reach out to maura.weaver@mail.house.gov in Rep Stansbury’s office, or alex.rajakovich@mail.house.gov in Rep DeLuzio’s office.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact TTD’s Legislative Representative, Samantha Fazenbaker, at samanthaf@ttd.org.
Sincerely,
Greg Regan
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LETTER TEXT:
Dear Chairman Womack and Ranking Member Quigley,
As you begin drafting the Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) appropriations bill, we urge you to prioritize funding the Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS) at $8 million, matching the President’s FY25 budget request. Additionally, we strongly urge you to include language urging the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to work to increase participation in the Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS), and protect the anonymity of railroad employees utilizing this system.
The toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio over a year ago brought renewed attention to the long-standing safety issues in the Class I freight rail industry that rail workers have been highlighting for years. Per the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) own safety data, 2022 and 2023 were the two worst years in the last decade for safety across the Class I railroads.
The Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS) is a long-standing program through the FRA which enables workers to confidentially report “close call” safety incidents without fear of discipline from their employer or FRA, providing valuable information that can be used to prevent potentially catastrophic incidents. Current federal data shows that approximately every three hours, there is a reportable injury in the freight rail industry. Approximately every eight hours, there is a derailment that reaches the FRA’s reporting threshold of $11,500 in damages. Since the implementation of a similar program in the aviation industry, the Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS), the fatality rate decreased 83% in less than a 10-year span.
While the program was first introduced over 20 years ago, no Class I railroad has joined as a full participant even though Amtrak, commuter railroads, and several short lines actively utilize the program successfully. Thus, we request the inclusion of the following language in the FY25 THUD appropriations bill:
The Committee was encouraged by Secretary Buttigieg’s efforts to encourage Class Is to join C3RS, yet is aware of only one that has joined to date. We request FRA to report on any additional efforts FRA has made to pilot the program for railroads that have not yet participated. The Committee further directs FRA to ensure that the Program contains meaningful protections for railroad employees reporting close calls to ensure that their identities are protected and that they are not subject to discipline by their employers for any actions associated with the close calls being reported in order to encourage employees to use the C3RS Program.
Over a year ago on March 2, 2023, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) committed in a letter to United States Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg that the Class I freight railroads would join the Confidential Close Call Reporting System. While we are pleased to see progress on two of the Class I railroads voluntarily joining C3RS through time-limited pilot programs with certain rail unions, we believe further work needs to be done to ensure that all Class Is are working to participate in C3RS.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter. We hope that with the inclusion of this language, all major Class I railroads will be encouraged to participate in C3RS. We firmly believe that full participation in this program will create a safer freight rail system and identify potential safety issues before they lead to dangerous catastrophes.