(Photo Provided with Release Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Harrisburg, PA) According to a release in Harrisburg yesterday from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC), they took a step in the state yesterday to advance a rulemaking that begins the process of enhancing railroad safety in Pennsylvania. The PUC voted 5-0 to adopt a motion by Commissioner Kahryn L. Zerfuss which would enhance the Commission’s rail safety requirements, the first such update to these regulations since 2013.  The motion acknowledges that as the third anniversary of the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment is marked, communities in Pennsylvania continue to face risks associated with the transportation of hazardous materials through population centers, amid ongoing uncertainty surrounding federal rail safety reforms.