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Public Service Commission presses for staff, lawmakers decline additional railroad inspectors
Summary
The Public Service Commission asked the House Appropriations Subcommittee D to restore one personnel position and urged support for additional rail inspectors proposed in House Bill 103; legislators on the panel expressed caution, saying federal authority and data gaps complicate state expansion of track inspections.
Chairwoman Nave opened the Subcommittee D hearing on the public-safety portion of HB 2 by reminding members that “public safety is the most important function of government,” and then reviewed the Public Service Commission’s (PSC) budget request and staffing needs.
Commission Vice President Jennifer Fielder told the committee the PSC’s budget request included one personnel budget (DP 200) that the subcommittee did not approve. She asked the committee to consider an amendment to reinstate that position, describing it as an administrative role that would “handle all of the documentation in the MAPPA process in all of these contested case hearings” and free legal staff for research and analysis.
Lawmakers spent most of their exchange on a separate question: whether the state should expand rail inspection staffing. Representative Powers and Representative Tuss said they wanted more inspectors to prevent derailments near rivers and other sensitive areas. Commissioner Fielder and PSC staff explained the commission already employs two federally trained inspectors for car inspections and would need additional training, equipment and certification time to add track inspectors. Fielder said the commission “would be in the best interest of the state if we could prevent derailments,” and noted the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is the primary regulator.
Subcommittee members pressed for data showing that adding state-owned track inspectors reduces derailments. Chairwoman Nave said the committee could not find strong cross‑state data proving an inspector expansion would reduce derailments and noted the federal government has explicit railroad inspection authority. PSC staff pointed to a legislative performance audit and an FRA recommendation showing Montana is short of inspectors; the PSC also described how its current inspectors find defects in rail cars and tag equipment that must be repaired before release.
On the PSC’s broader budget, the subcommittee approved most requests, including $200,000 for integrated resource planning work; it did not restore DP 200 (the one personnel request) and did not advance the rail-track inspector expansion from HB 103. PSC leaders committed to provide more deployment and staffing details if the committee reconsiders the policy next session.
The committee’s decision leaves the PSC with one fewer budgeted position than requested and without the HB 103 inspector expansion; PSC representatives urged lawmakers to weigh the FRA’s role and the commission’s limited personnel capacity as the legislature considers rail safety policy further.
