I want to thank all our witnesses. This has been really excellent testimony.
Mr. Case, your recommendation around a national fire administration is one that we'll certainly take to heart. I can pledge to you that I'll do my part in trying to ensure it's among the recommendations in this report.
I did want to go back to community preparedness and this wide variation that we see among communities of different sizes. In my region, local fire departments are offered training by the shippers several times per year...or once per year—I'm not sure of the frequency. I've had a chance to observe some of that training, and I think it's certainly better than nothing.
The question is around whether there should be national standards for community preparedness and capacity. I don't think that many residents of our small communities understand the limitations of first responders. Our fire departments, our first responders, do incredible work, and they do incredible work within serious limitations. The question is whether there should be some thought put to establishing a standard for communities to respond to dangerous goods incidents, or whether the current patchwork of volunteer training opportunities is adequate to really protect lives.
We've had the conversation about how the costs should be distributed. I think they have to be distributed fairly. That's a clear point, but when it comes to having adequate and sufficient response capacity and having the capability—having enough water, having enough materials, having enough trained people—should there be some sort of standardization across the country so that communities know that they are adequately protected?