WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Bush administration has proposed a new rule that will require railroads to ship hazardous materials on their safest and most secure routes, but critics immediately attacked the measure as an anemic regulation that will not result in any changes to existing routes.
Transportation officials say they want to reduce the dangers that rail accidents can pose to people.
The rule, published Wednesday, obliges railroads to compare each existing route used for toxic shipments against at least one alternate route and to implement safe routing decisions by September 2009.
Railroads must consider at least 27 "risk factors," such as the condition of the track and the nearby population density, in their analysis, the Department of Transportation said.
"The risk of serious train accidents involving the release of the most toxic and most dangerous hazardous materials is being significantly reduced, and people living in big cities and rural communities alike will be better safeguarded," Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said.
But critics questioned allowing railroads themselves to weigh the 27 risk factors and ultimately to decide how they route shipments.
"Not one city will be protected. Not one," said Fred Millar, a consultant to Friends of the Earth who has been involved in efforts to prevent hazardous shipment on tracks that transit Washington.
Millar said the rule pre-empts states and localities from taking action to restrict shipments in their jurisdiction.
Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Boardman said the regulations, along with other rules that will strengthen tank cars and limit speeds of trains hauling hazardous materials, will work together to improve safety.
Asked whether he thought the rule would lead to any re-routing of hazardous cargo around major cities, he said, "I think that we need to find out that."
Boardman said it is premature to say that the rules will lead to no change in safety.
"Our concept here is all life is precious, whether it's in a rural area or an urbanized area, and what we're looking for is reducing the risks to everybody that's out there on the railroads today, and that's why we're looking at this as a holistic approach," Boardman said.
"This is about routing, not re-routing. To be very specific, this is about routing of [hazardous] material in the safest way that we can possibly do it. I don't have the answer. ... I don't think anybody has the answer yet." E-mail to a friend 
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