(Washington, DC) - Congresswoman Brown made the following statement:

“As the Chair of the House Transportation subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials, I am more than proud to announce, right here in my home city of Jacksonville, Florida, $774,750 in hazmat training funding for the state of Florida!

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration, known as PHMSA, was created by the Transportation Committee back in 2004, and is now in my subcommittee’s jurisdiction.  The main goal of PHMSA is to work to make sure that the one million daily shipments of hazardous materials, which are shipped via many different modes of transportation, are done in a the safest and most secure manner.  The agency also overseas the nation’s 2.2 million miles of gas and hazardous liquid pipelines, which account for 64% of the energy commodities consumed in the United States!  So, one can see by the shear volume of material being transported across our county of the extreme importance of this administration, and of those that carry out its work.   And to make sure that the agency’s work is done with proper oversight, my subcommittee holds oversight hearings on the various programs and activities, one of which was held this past June.  

Undoubtedly, these grants are of extreme importance, not only to our city of Jacksonville, but to cities nationwide.  And the purpose of the grants being announced today is to help train first responders to react to incidents involving hazardous materials and to meet the safety challenges posed by new chemicals and alternative energy products, such as ethanol.

Indeed, what these funds will do is serve to enhance the foundation of local emergency response capabilities, as well as play a vital role in our nation’s overall hazmat safety program.  Beyond a doubt, preparing our nation’s communities to respond safely and effectively to spills or other dangerous accidents is very, very important to the protection of all American citizens.”

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