Montana lawmaker seeks four new railroad inspectors after audit and 2024 derailments

Representative Katie Zolenkopf, sponsor of House Bill 103, told the House Energy, Technology and Federal Relations Committee that the bill would statutorily appropriate a portion of the rail car tax to fund four additional railroad inspector positions at the Montana Public Service Commission (PSC).

The bill matters, Zolenkopf said, because Montana has 3,680 track miles and currently only two PSC inspectors certified in the motive, power and equipment (MP&E) discipline; a 2015 Legislative Audit Division report recommended increased inspection coverage and, Zolenkopf noted, the state recorded seven train derailments in 2024.

“The gist of what House Bill 103 is doing is we are with the committee's will, we are going to take some money from the general fund and we are going to statutorily appropriate it to funding some new railroad inspectors for the PSC,” Representative Katie Zolenkopf said. She told the committee the bill would add two track inspectors, one operating-practices (human factors) inspector with statewide coverage and one additional MP&E inspector based in Havre.

Trevor Graff of the Public Service Commission told the committee…