Court Backs CSX in Striking Down D.C.'s Hazmat Ban
federal appeals court ruled Tuesday against the District of Columbia’s law banning rail transportation of hazardous materials in the nation’s capital.
The three-judge panel overturned a previous judgment and ruled in favor of CSX Transportation Inc., the U.S. Court of Appeals said in an 15-page ruling on its Web site.
It overturned an April 18 ruling by a federal judge that had upheld the city's law.
The law — which was passed in February by D.C. lawmakers concerned about a potential terrorist attack in the nation's capital — never took effect.
The appeals court said that while it “does not minimize the calamitous consequences of a terrorist attack on a rail car . . . the effect of allowing such a law “is simply to shift this risk, or at least some of this risk, to other jurisdictions.”
City officials told the Washington Post they were disappointed with the court's ruling. CSX said in a statement that the city's law "conflicts with federal law."
Washington Mayor Anthony Williams (D) was reviewing the decision and may ask the full appeals court to hear the matter, the Post reported Wednesday.
The Post also reported that the Department of Homeland Security awarded a $1 million grant Tuesday to the District to study regional rail security.
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