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Committee hears HB103 to add four railroad inspectors after 2024 derailments
Summary
Sponsor Rep. Katie Zolinkoff told the House Energy, Technology and Federal Relations committee that House Bill 103 would statutorily appropriate funding to the Public Service Commission to hire four additional railroad inspectors, citing a 2015 audit and seven train derailments in 2024. PSC and railroad witnesses described program gaps, certification requirements and how new FTEs would be deployed.
Rep. Katie Zolinkoff opened the hearing on House Bill 103 by saying, “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.” The bill would add four inspection positions to the Public Service Commission (PSC) rail program, which currently employs two motive‑power‑and‑equipment inspectors.
Zolinkoff told the committee the change responds to a legislative performance audit issued in October 2015 that recommended “increase its railroad safety inspection capability,” and to seven train derailments in Montana in 2024. She said the state has roughly 3,680 miles of railroad and argued the PSC’s current staffing level leaves inspection coverage inadequate.
Trevor Graff of the PSC described the agency’s risk assessment and said the commission and the interim Energy and Telecommunications committee worked together to scope the needed…
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