The White House declined to say how, or if, the president plans to commemorate the three-year anniversary on Tuesday, but pointed to million-dollar initiatives carried out by the Departments of Transportation, Health and Human Services, and Environmental Protection Agency as evidence that Trump is making good on his campaign promises to the village.

“From day one, President Trump and Vice President Vance have used every lever of executive power to ensure the people of East Palestine receive the support they deserve,” a White House spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. “We are in this for the long haul.”

Vance told the Washington Examiner during a January interview that he believes, “unfortunately,” that the Norfolk Southern derailment “will have changed East Palestine forever.”

Still, the Ohio native voiced pride at how a National Institutes of Health study launched in June of last year by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is addressing East Palestinians’ questions about the long-term health impacts regarding toxic chemical exposure. 

The vice president claimed that, in conversations he’s had with residents, “that’s what they’re most worried about.” The study, funded to the tune of $10 million across five years, has yet to produce any significant findings, but Vance hopes that it will eventually provide peace of mind or, in the worst-case scenario, treatment recommendations.

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“It’s not like they’re going to drink the drinking water and drop dead,” he told the Washington Examiner. “It’s that their grandkid, over 10 to 12 years, is going to experience some problem related to low-level toxic exposure, and that’s what we’re trying to give them. Either confidence that the answer is no, or, if the answer is yes, at least an understanding of better treatment.”

Vance, while still serving in the U.S. Senate, was the lone Republican to cosponsor 2023’s Railway Safety Act, legislation aimed at increasing freight and passenger rail safety regulations in response to the East Palestine incident. That bill never made it to the Senate floor for a vote, and a revamped version similarly languished in the U.S. House of Representatives last year.

However, Trump’s Department of Transportation enacted a number of rail safety provisions in 2025, which senior administration officials say increased inspections by 19% compared to the prior year while simultaneously driving down rail accidents and employee injuries. The Federal Railroad Administration also collected an all-time high of $3 million in annual safety violation fines and is on schedule to phase out 111 freight cars used for transporting hazardous materials. Furthermore, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy approved a temporary waiver in December to expand the field testing of new automated track inspection technologies, which experts say will additionally boost inspection rates and limit accidents.

“This administration has not forgotten about East Palestine’s incredible families and will continue to pursue the highest standards of safety for America’s rail systems,” a Transportation Department spokesperson wrote in a statement.

While improving safety outcomes may prevent future rail tragedies, it’s actually the EPA and its continued efforts regarding Norfolk Southern’s court-ordered cleanup that has played the most direct role in helping East Palestinians.

EPA officials tell the Washington Examiner that the removal actions, totaling the agency’s largest-ever cleanup operation, are nearing completion.

“Under EPA oversight, Norfolk Southern completed site cleanup,” an official said. “Restoration work is all but complete except for a few minor pickups. The company also just completed sampling and monitoring of wetlands and they and EPA, and Ohio EPA are reviewing data. In early fall, Norfolk Southern completed the fourth reassessment of the streams. No additional areas for cleanup have been identified thus far.”

The agency continues to conduct monthly sampling of both groundwater and drinking water sources, in addition to finalizing future plans for quarterly sampling regimens. To date, more than 69,000 samples have been collected and analyzed. 

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Following Vance’s visit last year, running through December of 2025, EPA also removed roughly 250,000 tons of solid waste and 74.3 million gallons of waste liquids from the 50-acre derailment site.