The North Dakota Public Service Commission has signed an agreement with the Federal Railroad Administration – to start the new state rail safety program.
The 2015 Legislature approved two positions – one permanent and one temporary – to start the state inspections. It’s a four year pilot program. The money will come from taxes the railroads already pay.
"More inspectors on the ground means we'll be finding more problems," said PSC Chairman Julie Fedorchak. "Hopefully, you'll find the problems before they cause more accidents.'
Fedorchak says the PSC will soon hire for the permanent position. But she says it’s harder to find people for the temporary job.
"We had less interest," said Fedorchak. "We warned the Legislature that would be the case."
Fedorchak says these are technical positions, and the people would be coming from highly-paid private sector jobs. But Fedorchak says she believes the PSC will fill that job as well. And she says she hopes to convince the 2017 Legislature to make the program permanent.