Usually when it passes laws affecting railroad regulations, Congress gives time (years) for those laws to be phased-in.

The first day of 2018 marks the first deadline for the retrofitting or eliminating of some rail tank cars. Jan. 1 is the deadline for Class 3 unrefined petroleum products, including crude oil non-jacketed DOT-111 tank cars to be addressed. These cars need to be scrapped or retrofitted. Retrofitting includes adding new valves, head shields and a thicker protective blanket.

Tank cars used in ethanol service have a longer deadline (May 1, 2023) to meet this compliance.

As Energy Transport Insider reported earlier this year, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) a...