OHIO — U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg announced he would travel to East Palestine, Ohio on Thursday to meet with community members affected by the train derailment.

Buttigieg will receive an update on the ongoing investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, which is expected to issue initial findings on Thursday. USDOT investigators who were on the ground following the Norfolk Southern derailment will also speak with Buttigieg.

Federal Railroad Administration Administrator Amit Bose and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Deputy Administrator Tristan Brown will join Buttigieg. 

The visit follows Buttigieg calling on the rail industry Tuesday for accountability and outlined demands to take to improve safety

It's also after the Environmental Protection Agency, which is the agency leading federal response efforts in East Palestine, announced Tuesday that response efforts would transition from their “emergency phase” to a longer-term remediation phase. It also comes as there is newfound bipartisan support for long-term accountability and policy changes ramps up.

Buttigieg's call included a set of actions which USDOT, the rail industry and Congress could take before the NTSB's report on East Palestine is released. The actions include USDOT giving stiffer penalties for rail safety regulations violations and reversing a delay to the rail industry's deadline to use more robust rail cars for hazardous materials.

He also directed FRA staff to expedite the decision on a final rule for requiring at least two crew members on trains, a move resisted by the rail industry and some members of Congress.

The U.S. EPA announced Tuesday that it was requiring Norfolk Southern to conduct all necessary actions associated with the cleanup from its derailment in East Palestine. Clean up includes cleaning contaminated water and soil, paying for cleaning of homes and businesses on demand, attending public meetings at EPA's request, paying for costs of EPA's work on site and sharing information online.

For more on the federal response to support East Palestine, Ohio, including the role of FEMA, and the EPA, click here.