EAST PALESTINE – In an act of bipartisan support for those impacted by February’s Norfolk Southern train derailment, Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and J.D. Vance (R-OH) asked the Environmental Protection Agency to consider declaring a public health emergency in East Palestine.

The lawmakers penned a letter to Federal EPA Administrator Michael Regan on Tuesday, requesting the EPA “explore the applicability of section 104(a) of CERCLA to make a determination whether the crisis caused by Norfolk Southern’s derailment meets the criteria of a public health emergency under the law.”

The section of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) allows the EPA such authority when “any hazardous substance is released or there is a substantial threat of such a release into the environment, or there is a release or substantial threat of release into the environment of any pollutant or contaminant which may present an imminent or substantial danger to the public health or welfare.”

The request isn’t without precedent. In 2009, the EPA made a public health emergency determination under CERCLA for the town of Libby, Montana, where 10 percent of the residents have been diagnosed with an asbestos-related illness linked to mining operations. The determination allowed Libby access to free medical care as offered under Social Security Act 1881a, which was drafted specifically for the residents in the tiny Rocky Mountain town of 4,000. The little known clause in the Affordable Care Act grants free Medicare to citizens exposed to environmental disasters.

In Tuesday’s letter, Brown and Vance asked for Social Security Act 1881a to be implemented for East Palestine and other areas affected by the rail disaster.

“This Medicare coverage would help ensure residents of East Palestine, Ohio, and the surrounding communities impacted by the derailment and resulting chemical exposures have access to the long-term medical care that they deserve in the wake of this environmental disaster,” the letter stated. “No affected resident of East Palestine or its surrounding communities should have to worry about affording necessary health care, now or in the future.”

The calls for the enactment of Social Security Act 1881a in the wake of the derailment have been increasing for months. In May, longshot democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson made it a talking point during a campaign stop in Darlington, Pa., and, in July, a rally organized by the Unity Council for the East Palestine Train Derailment and Medicare For All was held at the Columbiana County Courthouse to demand the act be applied.

The senators’ letter to the EPA comes on the heels of an executive order by President Joe Biden, directing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to oversee recovery efforts, investigate if unmet needs exist in East Palestine and determine whether a Presidential Disaster Declaration is warranted.