BySenate Environment, Energy & Technology (originally sponsored by Senators Billig, Carlyle, Pedersen, Palumbo, Hasegawa, Keiser, Rolfes, Saldaña, Van De Wege, Frockt, Conway, Hunt, Liias, Dhingra, Kuderer, and Nguyen)

AN ACT Relating to the volatility of crude oil received in the state by rail; amending RCW 90.56.565; adding a new section to chapter 90.56 RCW; creating a new section; and prescribing penalties.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that Bakken crude oils have variable chemical compositions and that organic materials from oil and gas production at wellheads are not sufficiently separated or conditioned, increasing the volatility of the crude oil. Bakken crude oil is typically more volatile than other crude oil, increasing the flammability of the oil and the potential for far greater harm to the public in the event of a derailment. Since 2013 there have been at least fourteen events involving derailments of Bakken crude in the United States and Canada involving Bakken crude, including the Lac-Megantic rail derailment that killed forty-seven people, and the derailment and fire at Mosier, Oregon, causing an evacuation of much of the town and narrowly avoiding a catastrophic spill into the Columbia river.

At present there is no federal regulation to limit the volatility of crude oil shipped in railroad tank cars. Volatility limits are necessary to ensure that Bakken crude oil is packaged and handled safely and securely during transportation. Volatility of crude oil limits are also necessary to provide effective communication to transportation workers and emergency responders of the Bakken crude oil being transported. Further, volatility limits are essential in minimizing the consequences of an accident or incident. The legislature further finds that railroads recognize the additional risks of transporting Bakken crude oil and have established policies to expedite the transition to the safest rail cars available for moving light crude.

The legislature further finds that the federal pipeline and hazardous materials safety administration has erroneously removed electronically controlled pneumatic brakes, a critical safety measure from the DOT 117 enhanced tank car, increasing the risks to Washington's residents. While the federal pipeline and hazardous materials safety administration has adopted so-called packing rules for high-hazard flammable trains, it has not adopted a nationwide vapor pressure standard for crude oil shipped by rail, nor has it responded to petitions from multiple states to incorporate necessary safety measures to protect public safety and the environment. In the absence of such a nationwide standard, it is necessary for the state to adopt a standard that will reduce the risks to public safety and to the environment in the event of a derailment or other casualty involving one of the many unit trains transporting Bakken crude oil across the state.

Therefore, it is the intent of this act to require facilities offloading or loading crude oil from a rail tank car to ensure that the oil meets specific vapor pressure standards. This will have the effect of requiring the owner of the oil to condition it to meet the standard prior to shipment from the Bakken region, and in doing so will avoid any conflict between the state requirement and preemptive federal regulation of the operation of the railroads.

(3) The director may impose a penalty of up to twenty-five hundred dollars per day per rail tank car or the equivalent volume of oil for violations of this section. Any penalty recovered pursuant to this section must be credited to the coastal protection fund created in RCW 90.48.390.

(1)(a) A facility that receives crude oil from a railroad car must provide advance notice to the department that the facility will receive crude oil from a railroad car, as provided in this section. The advance notice must include the route taken to the facility within the state, if known, and the scheduled time, location, volume, region per bill of lading, type, vapor pressure, and gravity as measured by standards developed by the American petroleum institute, of crude oil received. Each week, a facility that provides advance notice under this section must provide the required information regarding the scheduled arrival of railroad cars carrying crude oil to be received by the facility in the succeeding seven-day period. A facility is not required to provide advance notice when there is no receipt of crude oil from a railroad car scheduled for a seven-day period.

(b) Twice per year, pipelines that transport crude oil must report to the department the following information about the crude oil transported by the pipeline through the state: The volume of crude oil and the state or province of origin of the crude oil. This report must be submitted each year by July 31st for the period January 1st through June 30th and by January 31st for the period July 1st through December 31st.

(2) The department may share information provided by a facility through the advance notice system established in this section with the state emergency management division and any county, city, tribal, port, or local government emergency response agency upon request.

(4) A facility providing advance notice under this section is not responsible for meeting advance notice time frame requirements under subsection (1) of this section in the event that the schedule of arrivals of railroad cars carrying crude oil changes during a seven-day period.

(5) Consistent with the requirements of chapter 42.56 RCW, the department and any state, local, tribal, or public agency that receives information provided under this section may not disclose any such information to the public or to nongovernmental entities that contains proprietary, commercial, or financial information unless that information is aggregated. The requirement for aggregating information does not apply when information is shared by the department with emergency response agencies as provided in subsection (2) of this section.

(6) The department shall adopt rules to implement this section. The advance notice system required in this section must be consistent with the oil transfer reporting system adopted by the department pursuant to RCW 88.46.165.