Union Pacific Railroad v. California Public Utilities Commission

We must decide whether California’s regulations governing railroad track standards and internal railroad rules, which were adopted in response to train derailments within the state, are preempted by federal railroad safety laws or regulations.

I

On July 14, 1991, a train operated by the Southern Pacific Transportation Company derailed at the Cantara Loop near Dun- *856 smuir, California and spilled metam sodium into the Sacramento River. The me-tam sodium killed fish and vegetation along the river for forty miles and caused wide-spread health problems for .area residents. Two weeks later, a Southern Pacific train was also involved in another toxic spill resulting from a derailment near Seacliff, California.

' The California legislature responded to these accidents by directing the California Public Utilities Commission (“CPUC”) to identify “local safety hazard[s]” on California’s railways and to adopt regulations “to reduce the potential railroad hazards” at those sites. Cal. Pub. Util.Code §§ 7711, 7712. CPUC was directed to consider factors such as (1) the severity of the grade and curve, (2) the value of special skills of train operators in negotiating such sites,…