We seem to be living in a city of hazardous threats. And in case you were distracted, the hazardous materials trains that has riled the District Council will most likely be getting a free pass to travel through the city.

The Surface Transportation Board, a federal regulatory board under the authority of the Department of Transportation, decided yesterday that attempts by D.C. officials to limit the transport of hazardous materials within two miles of the Capitol would interfere with interstate commerce, a position also taken by the Justice Department and CSX railroad, which moves such materials through the city. The board wrote that …

The D.C. act would unreasonably interfere with interstate commerce, and if permitted to exist would likely lead to further piecemeal attempts by other localities to regulate rail shipments.

While the board has no authority to invalidate the city’s law, titled the “Terrorism Prevention in Hazardous Materials Transportation Emergency Act of 2005,” it may serve as an advisory opinion in arguments to be heard in federal court on March 23. As DCist has reported in the past, and much to the chagrin of terrorism-minded city officials, CSX trains carrying hazardous materials pass within a stone’s throw of many of the city’s most sensitive sites.

DCist takes solace in knowing that if a little lead, some anthrax, a crazy guy on a tractor in the middle of a pond, and a sniper couldn’t dampen the spirits of hardened District residents, trainloads of chlorine and sulphuric acid passing by Union Station, the Capitol, and the Smithsonian museums won’t either.

>> DCist on hazardous trains