States can't really regulate railroads because of interstate commerce. But the Transportation Administration has mandated the introduction of safer rail cars for hazardous materials and phasing out of older, less safe ones.
No, they just dutifully obey the company lobbyists and find ways to appease their donors, the ones who own the tracks or use them the most. This kind of situation wouldn't happen if we had a single rail authority, but that makes too much sense and threatens corporate egos so the republicans blocked the nationalizing of the rail system.
Don't like what an inspector said about about track safety? Make a call and have the guy fired. Do business in a state with shitty bridges but don't want to pay for renovations? Just tell your cronies not to let the state have any bridge inspectors at all, problem solved!
Btw, the safety concerns of the DOT-111 rail container have been discussed for years, and addressing them has been fought tooth and nail by their owners. Just too darn expensive! A project like this pipeline though, oh no problem! Hope you guys don't mind a little eminent domain action for foreign portfolios though.
I think it's fucking pathetic people are still defending this shit.