Please click here to download the CSB follow-up letter to DOT regarding emergency shutdown systems for chlorine railcars.
After investigating two incidents involving uncontrolled releases from chlorine railcars, the CSB issued a safety bulletin, Emergency Shutdown Systems for Chlorine Transfer, in June 2007. At that time, the Board also recommended that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) regulate chlorine railcar operations and require remotely operated emergency isolation devices capable of isolating leaks during railcar unloading operations.
Because this recommendation is now more than five years old, CSB Chairperson Dr. Rafael Moure-Eraso wrote recently to the DOT requesting that the agency inform the CSB by January 6, 2014 of its plans to address this recommendation. A copy of the Chairperson’s letter was also submitted to the DOT in response to its September 6, 2013
Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (RIN 2137–AE91, 78 FR 54849).