INFLUENCE GAME: Shaping railroad safety rules

[Omaha Steve]

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140713/us--oil_trains-high_stakes-c0d0ddddde.html

By JOAN LOWY

WASHINGTON (AP) — A string of fiery train derailments across the country has triggered a high-stakes but behind-the-scenes campaign to shape how the government responds to calls for tighter safety rules.

Billions of dollars are riding on how these rules are written, and lobbyists from the railroads, tank car manufacturers and the oil, ethanol and chemical industries have met 13 times since March with officials at the White House and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.



FILE - This July 9, 2013 file photo shows workers comb through debris after a train derailed Saturday causing explosions of railway cars carrying crude oil in Lac-Megantic, Quebec. A string of fiery train derailments across the country has triggered a high-stakes and behind-the-scenes campaign to shape how the government responds to calls for tighter safety rules. Billions of dollars are riding on how these rules are written, and lobbyists from the railroads, tank car manufacturers and the oil, ethanol and chemical industries have met more than a dozen times since mid-May 2014 with officials at the White House and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. Their universal message: Don{2019}t make us pay for increased safety _ that{2019}s another industry{2019}s problem. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson, File)

Their universal message: Don't make us pay for increased safety because that's another industry's problem.

The pitches illustrate why government officials, who must show that safety benefits outweigh the economic costs of rules, often struggle for years, only to produce watered-down regulations.

FULL story at link.