BILL REQ. #:  S-4663.4 

Read first time 03/08/14.   Referred to Committee on Energy, Environment & Telecommunications.

     AN ACT Relating to the safety of the transport of liquid bulk crude oil; amending RCW 82.23B.010, 82.23B.020, 82.23B.030, and 82.23B.040; adding new sections to chapter 90.56 RCW; and creating new sections.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) The state of Washington has a long history of leading in efforts to protect our natural environment while encouraging economic opportunities. Public safety, protection of the natural environment, and economic opportunities are goals shared by all Washingtonians.
     (2) Liquid bulk crude oil spill prevention and response programs in Washington state, created through thoughtful cooperation and coordination between industry and the communities they serve, is a model to the rest of the nation and a model to the world. As modes of transport for various types of liquid bulk crude oil change and as the volume of liquid bulk crude oil transported through Washington changes, it is important that proactive steps are taken to ensure public safety and protection of natural resources.
     (3) This act is intended to build upon strong and prudent plans currently in effect, identify areas that need further protections, and invest taxpayer funds today to increase safety and prevent spills.
     (4) Prevention of crude oil spills is a top priority of the legislature. Providing first responders, local communities, and impacted parties with the tools to respond when spills do occur is in the vital interest of the citizens of Washington state.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   (1) The department of ecology, in consultation with the utilities and transportation commission, the federal railroad administration, and industry representatives, shall conduct a study on the safety of transporting crude oil in liquid bulk form by rail. The study must include:
     (a) A review of:
     (i) The federal, state, and local emergency response and prevention programs and activities for spills from tank cars transporting liquid bulk crude oil with a focus on high hazard areas where emergency response equipment can be strategically placed for use by federal, state, regional, or local governments or other emergency responders;
     (ii) The capacity of local jurisdictions to prevent and respond to liquid bulk crude oil spills;
     (iii) The identification of weaknesses or gaps in federal, state, and local liquid bulk crude oil spill prevention and response; and
     (iv) Federal regulations governing liquid bulk crude oil spill prevention and response for transport by rail;
     (b) A survey of:
     (i) Local government funding for emergency liquid bulk crude oil spill prevention and response programs;
     (ii) Sources of funding, entities assessed, or contributions required by participants of emergency liquid bulk crude oil spill prevention and response programs; and
     (iii) Regional or countywide cooperative agreements implementing liquid bulk crude oil spill prevention and response programs;
     (c) Recommendations for legislative consideration on the following:
     (i) Levels of funding and sources of funding for emergency liquid bulk crude oil spill prevention and response programs;
     (ii) Participants that should be included in an emergency liquid bulk crude oil spill prevention and response program and the amount these participants should be assessed;
     (iii) Appropriate use of funds such as: Liquid bulk crude oil spill response, equipment, training, or other benefits to those who are assessed;
     (iv) Cooperative regional or countywide agreements to meet emergency liquid bulk crude oil spill prevention and response program needs, while maintaining an individual organization's distinct purpose; and
     (v) Methods to increase cooperation and coordination among organizations responding to liquid bulk crude oil spills, including:
     (A) Sharing resources or mutual aide between terrestrial and on-water liquid bulk crude oil spill emergencies; and
     (B) Communication to ensure a common understanding of the potential threat from liquid bulk crude oil spills; and
     (d) A report on the status and progress of federal rule making for tank car safety requirements including model, age, modifications, and upgrades.
     (2) The department of ecology must provide: (a) A preliminary evaluation on the status of the safety of transporting liquid bulk crude oil by rail in the state and include recommendations for near-term legislative action to address needs identified in the review as required under subsection (1)(a)(i) of this section, to the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the senate and house of representatives by December 31, 2014; and (b) using the study and reviews conducted under this section, a final report regarding the safety of the transport of liquid bulk crude oil by rail, as well as recommendations for policy, budget needs, or legislation to the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the senate and house of representatives by December 31, 2015.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   The department of ecology shall provide an analysis on the safety of transporting liquid bulk crude oil on waters of the state.
     (1) The analysis must include:
     (a) The capacity to address risks posed by liquid bulk crude oil;
     (b) Weaknesses or gaps in liquid bulk crude oil spill prevention and response programs, including identification of programs that are not complete or need to be more robust, with a focus on Grays Harbor and the Columbia river; and
     (c) Barge and tug operations within the state related to the movement of liquid bulk crude oil; and
     (d) A status report on the federal, state, and local waterborne liquid bulk crude oil spill prevention and preparedness.
     (2) The department of ecology must provide to the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the senate and house of representatives by December 31, 2014, a status report on waterborne liquid bulk crude oil spill prevention and preparedness; recommendations for Grays Harbor and the Columbia river crude oil spill prevention and preparedness; an analysis of barge and tug liquid bulk crude oil operations; and safety gaps or weaknesses in liquid bulk crude oil spill prevention and response programs.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 90.56 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The department must provide to the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the senate and house of representatives:
     (a) A review of all state and federal geographic response plans as needed in contingency plans required under RCW 90.56.210 and 88.46.060 by December 31, 2014; and
     (b) Annual updates, beginning December 31, 2015, and ending December 31, 2021, as required under RCW 43.01.036, as to the progress made in completing state and federal geographic response plans as needed in contingency plans required under RCW 90.56.060, 90.56.210, and 88.46.060.
     (2) The department must contract, if practicable, with eligible independent third parties to ensure completion by December 1, 2016, of at least fifty percent of the geographic response plans as needed in contingency plans required under RCW 90.56.210 and 88.46.060 for the state.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   A new section is added to chapter 90.56 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The owner or operator for each facility other than a transmission pipeline shall submit to the department data and information on the volume and type of crude oil that arrived at and departed from the facility each month, including the state, province, or country of origin of the crude oil, the mode of arrival and departure at the facility including, but not limited to, arrival by vessel, rail, or pipeline.
     (2)(a) Any person required to present information to the department pursuant to subsection (1) of this section may request that specific information be held in confidence. Information requested to be held in confidence is presumed to be confidential.
     (b) Information presented to the department pursuant to subsection (1) of this section must be held in confidence by the department or aggregated to the extent necessary to ensure confidentiality if public disclosure of the specific information or data would result in an unfair competitive disadvantage to the person supplying the information.
     (c)(i) Whenever the department receives a request to publicly disclose unaggregated information or otherwise proposes to publicly disclose information submitted pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, notice of the request or proposal must be provided to the person submitting the information. The notice must indicate the form in which the information is to be released. Upon receipt of notice, the person submitting the information has ten working days in which to respond to the notice to justify the claim of confidentiality on each specific item of information covered by the notice on the basis that public disclosure of the specific information would result in an unfair competitive disadvantage to the person supplying the information.
     (ii) The department shall consider the respondent's submittal in determining whether to publicly disclose the information submitted to it to which a claim of confidentiality is made. The department shall issue a written decision that sets forth its reasons for making the determination whether each item of information for which a claim of confidentiality is made remains confidential or must be publicly disclosed.
     (iii) The department shall not publicly disclose information submitted to it pursuant to subsection (1) of this section within ten working days after the department has issued its written decision required in (c)(ii) of this subsection.
     (iv) No information submitted to the department pursuant to subsection (1) of this section may be deemed confidential if the person submitting the information or data has made it public.
     (v) With respect to information provided under subsection (1) of this section, neither the department nor any employee of the department may do any of the following:
     (A) Use the information for any purpose other than the statistical purposes for which it is supplied;
     (B) Make any publication whereby the information furnished by any particular establishment or individual can be identified; or
     (C) Permit anyone other than department employees to examine the individual reports provided under subsection (1) of this section.
     (d) Any confidential information pertinent to the responsibilities of the department that is obtained by another state agency must be available to the department and must be treated in a confidential manner.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   The department of ecology and the utilities and transportation commission shall jointly hold a symposium on emergency prevention and response activities for liquid bulk crude oil transported in the Pacific Northwest region. The department of ecology and the utilities and transportation commission must invite state representatives from the Pacific Northwest economic region authorized under chapter 43.147 RCW and representatives from affected tribes, local governments, the United States government, provinces, Canada, and other appropriate stakeholders. The symposium must at a minimum address:
     (1) Cooperative emergency prevention and response activities between the shared international and state borders;
     (2) Expected risks posed by increased transport of Canadian crude oil or liquid bulk crude oil throughout the Pacific Northwest region within the next three to five years;
     (3) Changes in methods for transporting liquid bulk crude oil and associated risks;
     (4) Identification of responsible agencies and corresponding activities that can be taken to address expected risks; and
     (5) Consideration of new or emerging technologies to make transport of Canadian crude oil or liquid bulk crude oil safer.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   (1) The department of ecology shall provide grants to emergency responders to assist with oil spill response and firefighting equipment and resources needed to meet the requirements of this act.
     (2) The department of ecology, in consultation with emergency first responders, representatives from oil and rail industries, and businesses that are recipients of liquid bulk crude oil shall review grant applications.
     (a) The application review must include an evaluation of equipment and resource requests, funding requirements, and coordination with existing equipment and resources in the area.
     (b) Funding must be prioritized for applicants from areas where liquid bulk crude oil is transferred from one mode of transportation to another.
     (c) Grants must be coordinated to maximize currently existing equipment and resources that have been put in place by first responders and industry.

Sec. 8   RCW 82.23B.010 and 1992 c 73 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:
     ((Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.)) The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "Barrel" means a unit of measurement of volume equal to forty-two United States gallons of crude oil or petroleum product.
     (2) "Bulk oil terminal" means a facility of any kind, other than a waterborne vessel, that is used for transferring crude oil from a tank car.
     (3) "Crude oil" means any naturally occurring liquid hydrocarbons at atmospheric temperature and pressure coming from the earth, including condensate and natural gasoline.
     (((3))) (4) "Department" means the department of revenue.
     (((4))) (5) "Marine terminal" means a facility of any kind, other than a waterborne vessel, that is used for transferring crude oil or petroleum products to or from a waterborne vessel or barge.
     (((5))) (6) "Navigable waters" means those waters of the state and their adjoining shorelines that are subject to the ebb and flow of the tide, including the Columbia and Snake rivers.
     (((6))) (7) "Person" has the meaning provided in RCW 82.04.030.
     (((7))) (8) "Petroleum product" means any liquid hydrocarbons at atmospheric temperature and pressure that are the product of the fractionation, distillation, or other refining or processing of crude oil, and that are used as, useable as, or may be refined as a fuel or fuel blendstock, including but not limited to, gasoline, diesel fuel, aviation fuel, bunker fuel, and fuels containing a blend of alcohol and petroleum.
     (((8))) (9) "Tank car" means a rail car, the body of which consists of a tank for transporting liquids.
     (10) "Taxpayer" means the person owning crude oil or petroleum products immediately after receipt of the same into the storage tanks of a marine or bulk oil terminal in this state ((from a waterborne vessel or barge)) and who is liable for the taxes imposed by this chapter.
     (((9))) (11) "Waterborne vessel or barge" means any ship, barge, or other watercraft capable of travelling on the navigable waters of this state and capable of transporting any crude oil or petroleum product in quantities of ten thousand gallons or more for purposes other than providing fuel for its motor or engine.

Sec. 9   RCW 82.23B.020 and 2006 c 256 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) An oil spill response tax is imposed on the privilege of receiving: (a) Crude oil or petroleum products at a marine terminal within this state from a waterborne vessel or barge operating on the navigable waters of this state; and (b) crude oil at a bulk oil terminal within this state from a tank car. The tax imposed in this section is levied upon the owner of the crude oil or petroleum products immediately after receipt of the same into the storage tanks of a marine or bulk oil terminal from a tank car or waterborne vessel or barge at the rate of one cent per barrel of crude oil or petroleum product received.
     (2) In addition to the tax imposed in subsection (1) of this section, an oil spill administration tax is imposed on the privilege of receiving: (a) Crude oil or petroleum products at a marine terminal within this state from a waterborne vessel or barge operating on the navigable waters of this state; and (b) crude oil at a bulk oil terminal within this state from a tank car. The tax imposed in this section is levied upon the owner of the crude oil or petroleum products immediately after receipt of the same into the storage tanks of a marine or bulk oil terminal from a tank car or waterborne vessel or barge at the rate of four cents per barrel of crude oil or petroleum product.
     (3) The taxes imposed by this chapter ((shall)) must be collected by the marine or bulk oil terminal operator from the taxpayer. If any person charged with collecting the taxes fails to bill the taxpayer for the taxes, or in the alternative has not notified the taxpayer in writing of the ((imposition of the)) taxes imposed, or having collected the taxes, fails to pay them to the department in the manner prescribed by this chapter, whether such failure is the result of the person's own acts or the result of acts or conditions beyond the person's control, he or she ((shall)), nevertheless, ((be)) is personally liable to the state for the amount of the taxes. Payment of the taxes by the owner to a marine or bulk oil terminal operator ((shall)) must relieve the owner from further liability for the taxes.
     (4) Taxes collected under this chapter ((shall)) must be held in trust until paid to the department. Any person collecting the taxes who appropriates or converts the taxes collected ((shall be)) is guilty of a gross misdemeanor if the money required to be collected is not available for payment on the date payment is due. The taxes required by this chapter to be collected ((shall)) must be stated separately from other charges made by the marine or bulk oil terminal operator in any invoice or other statement of account provided to the taxpayer.
     (5) If a taxpayer fails to pay the taxes imposed by this chapter to the person charged with collection of the taxes and the person charged with collection fails to pay the taxes to the department, the department may, in its discretion, proceed directly against the taxpayer for collection of the taxes.
     (6) The taxes ((shall be)) are due from the marine or bulk oil terminal operator, along with reports and returns on forms prescribed by the department, within twenty-five days after the end of the month in which the taxable activity occurs.
     (7) The amount of taxes, until paid by the taxpayer to the marine or bulk oil terminal operator or to the department, ((shall)) constitute a debt from the taxpayer to the marine or bulk oil terminal operator. Any person required to collect the taxes under this chapter who, with intent to violate the provisions of this chapter, fails or refuses to do so as required and any taxpayer who refuses to pay any taxes due under this chapter((, shall be)) is guilty of a misdemeanor as provided in chapter 9A.20 RCW.
     (8) Upon prior approval of the department, the taxpayer may pay the taxes imposed by this chapter directly to the department. The department ((shall)) must give its approval for direct payment under this section whenever it appears, in the department's judgment, that direct payment will enhance the administration of the taxes imposed under this chapter. The department ((shall)) must provide by rule for the issuance of a direct payment certificate to any taxpayer qualifying for direct payment of the taxes. Good faith acceptance of a direct payment certificate by a terminal operator ((shall)) must relieve the marine or bulk oil terminal operator from any liability for the collection or payment of the taxes imposed under this chapter.
     (9) All receipts from the tax imposed in subsection (1) of this section ((shall)) must be deposited into the state oil spill response account. All receipts from the tax imposed in subsection (2) of this section shall be deposited into the oil spill prevention account.
     (10) Within forty-five days after the end of each calendar quarter, the office of financial management ((shall)) must determine the balance of the oil spill response account as of the last day of that calendar quarter. Balance determinations by the office of financial management under this section are final and ((shall)) may not be used to challenge the validity of any tax imposed under this chapter. The office of financial management ((shall)) must promptly notify the departments of revenue and ecology of the account balance once a determination is made. For each subsequent calendar quarter, the tax imposed by subsection (1) of this section shall be imposed during the entire calendar quarter unless:
     (a) Tax was imposed under subsection (1) of this section during the immediately preceding calendar quarter, and the most recent quarterly balance is more than nine million dollars; or
     (b) Tax was not imposed under subsection (1) of this section during the immediately preceding calendar quarter, and the most recent quarterly balance is more than eight million dollars.

Sec. 10   RCW 82.23B.030 and 1992 c 73 s 9 are each amended to read as follows:
     The taxes imposed under this chapter ((shall)) only apply to the first receipt of crude oil or petroleum products at a marine or bulk oil terminal in this state and not to the later transporting and subsequent receipt of the same oil or petroleum product, whether in the form originally received at a marine or bulk oil terminal in this state or after refining or other processing.

Sec. 11   RCW 82.23B.040 and 1992 c 73 s 10 are each amended to read as follows:
     Credit ((shall)) must be allowed against the taxes imposed under this chapter for any crude oil or petroleum products received at a marine or bulk oil terminal and subsequently exported from or sold for export from the state.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 12   If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 13   This act may be known and cited as the spill prevention and response act.