WASHINGTON, D.C. — Last spring the Railway Safety Act seemed on track on become law, gathering momentum after a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio spilling toxic chemicals into the community and forcing thousands of families to leave their homes.

One year after the derailment, the bill has yet to become law.

The Railway Safety Act would toughen regulations on the rail industry, such as requiring a two-person crew for certain freight trains, expanding oversight of trains carrying hazardous materials and increasing the maximum fines for railroads violating safety regulations.

The bill was championed by a bipartisan group of senators, including JD Vance and Sherrod Brown of Ohio and John Fetterman and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania.

It remained in the spotlight in March as Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw testified before multiple congressional committees.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., mentioned rail safety regulations as a top priority in floor speeches and Dear Colleague letters through the summer. By autumn, however, Senate leaders had moved on to more pressing issues.

“What they’ve told me in private and what they’ve said in public is that other things have come up: obviously the Ukraine issue, the Israel issue, the border crisis,” Vance said. “We have a lot of things that come up in Washington, and sometimes those things take precedence.”

Both Vance and Brown said they were confident the legislation would pass this year.

“It’s stalled, but we’re going to rehabilitate it,” Brown said. “I’m pushing McConnell and Schumer to schedule it for floor action.”

“You rarely have an opportunity in divided government to get something substantial across the finish line,” Vance said. “We have that opportunity here, so we need to make it happen. I think we have got a real opportunity that it will happen.”

Rep. Emilia Sykes, D-Ohio, co-sponsored a similar bill in the House with former Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio. Since Johnson’s retirement in January, Sykes said she will continue forward with the RAIL Act, writing in a statement,

“In the year since a toxic train derailment completely upended the East Palestine community, Congress has failed to pass any rail safety legislation to prevent another tragic derailment. This is completely unacceptable. We owe it not only to the people of East Palestine but to every American living near our 140,000 miles of railroad track to take action on legislation that will keep our communities safe. No matter what, I’ll keep fighting to pass my bipartisan RAIL Act to improve rail safety, hold negligent rail companies accountable, and prevent another tragic derailment in our backyards.

The bills face opposition from the rail industry, which spent $24.3 million last year to lobby Congress against tighter regulation, according to data from OpenSecrets.

The White House announced this week that President Joe Biden will visit East Palestine in February to mark the one-year anniversary of the derailment. The president has faced criticism for taking so long to visit, but administration officials said it was the right time to refocus attention on the stalled rail safety legislation.