Category Archives: Benicia city staff

Benicia City Council to vote whether to reconsider vote on ISO

From City of Benicia website – Council agendas & minutes
[Editor: Much more about Benicia ISO here. – RS]

Benicia City Council to vote whether to reconsider vote on ISO

For July 17 City Council agenda considering a rehearing of Mayor Patterson’s request for discussion on adopting an ISO, go to the City Website (Item 14.C, pages 7-8) or see below.

From the BENICIA CITY COUNCIL AGENDA July 17, 2018

14.C – REQUEST FOR REHEARING OF COUNCIL DECISION RELATED TO SECOND STEP OF MAYOR PATTERSON’S 2-STEP PROCESS REQUEST TO DISCUSS ADOPTING AN INDUSTRIAL SAFETY ORDINANCE

On June 19, 2018, the City Council discussed Mayor Patterson’s “two-step request” to direct staff to prepare an Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO). The Council voted to delay action related to an ISO until November 2018 in order to provide time for Valero to install air monitoring equipment. On June 28, 2018, the City Clerk received a request for rehearing of the City Council’s vote as permitted under Benicia Municipal Code section 1.44.050. Only the decision of whether or not to rehear the matter is brought forward for Council determination tonight. If Council decides to rehear the matter, that action will be scheduled for a future meeting.

Staff Recommendation:

Discuss the application submitted for rehearing of the decision and vote conducted by the City Council on June 19, 2018, in conjunction with Mayor Patterson’s two-step request for consideration of an Industrial Safety Ordinance.

Staff Report – Rehearing Request_2-Step_Request for Industrial Safety Ordinance
1. City Council Rules of Procedure 2012
2. Two-Step Agenda Request – Industrial Ordinance Patterson May 2017
3. Two-Step Agenda Request – Amended – Industrial Safety Ordinance Patterson June 2018
4. Benicia ISO Work Group Draft Ordinance
5. Request for Rehearing of Vote Cast 6_19_18 concerning the Industrial Safety Ordinance

Benicia Herald: Mayor requests rehearing of Industrial Safety Ordinance vote

Repost from the Benicia Herald
[Editor: For background and reference, you may want to view Mayor Patterson’s Request for Rehearing of Vote Cast 6_19_18 concerning the Industrial Safety Ordinance.  Plan to attend the Council meeting, 7pm on Tuesday, July 17.  Here is the agenda and other materials.  – RS]

Mayor requests rehearing of Industrial Safety Ordinance vote

By Nick Sestanovich, July 13, 2018
Elizabeth Patterson, Benicia Mayor 2007 - present
Elizabeth Patterson, Benicia Mayor 2007 – present

At its June 19 meeting, the Benicia City Council voted 3-2 to not take any further action on Mayor Elizabeth Patterson’s request for an Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO) in Benicia until November. Now Patterson is requesting a rehearing on the item, which is on the agenda for Tuesday’s council meeting.

Following a flaring incident and shutdown at the Valero Benicia Refinery in May 2017, Patterson submitted a two-step request which asked the council to consider adopting an ISO in line with Contra Costa County’s ordinance requires refineries to submit safety plans, undergo safety audits and develop risk management plans while incorporating community input. The council voted 4-1 to adopt the first step of this request, but the second step did not appear on a council agenda for another 13 months. Four weeks ago, the council narrowly voted to not adopt an ISO just yet and to direct Valero to fix gaps in communication. Of the three councilmembers who voted down the ISO, two— Tom Campbell and Alan Schwartzman— said they would change their votes if air quality monitors were not installed by November.

However, the issue will be returning to the council even sooner. On June 28, Patterson submitted an application to rehear the item on four grounds: that she felt staff had not adequately prepared the council for the hearing, past settlement agreements and obligations regarding air quality monitoring had not been addressed, new evidence discussing the necessity of fenceline and community monitoring which are not addressed by the planned Bay Area Air Quality Mangement District monitors and the decision to wait for BAAQMD monitors to be installed was “vague and uncertain” and “does not present a viable plan,” Patterson wrote.

For the first reason, Patterson wrote that staff had not done anything substantive in between the discussion of the two steps and that the staff report prepared for the June 19 meeting lacked key information.

“The Staff Report contained almost no meaningful information concerning what actions or costs would be necessary to actually move toward the adoption of an Industrial Safety Ordinance,” she wrote. “Although a thorough draft of the Industrial Safety Ordinance prepared by members of the community was included in the packet, the staff had not reviewed it and was unprepared to comment even preliminarily.”

For the second item, Patterson said the staff report did not mention the past settlements with Valero in 2003, 2008 and 2010 which required fenceline and community monitors, neither of which were installed.

“The City Council should have been advised and taken into consideration Valero’s failure to comply with these agreements as well as its non- compliance with the conditions of approval in rendering its decision, but the Staff Report failed to address these points at all,” Patterson wrote.

For the third item, Patterson said she attended an Airwatch Bay Area conference four days after the council meeting, which noted that BAAQMD’s proposed fenceline monitors were only 1 percent effective at detecting hazardous waste materials.

“Rehearing on the request to direct staff with certain criteria stated earlier to have the draft Industrial Safety Ordinance reviewed should be allowed so that new expert and non-expert evidence can be presented on this important subject,” she wrote. “The BAAQMD monitoring program will not be sufficient in quality…or location to fully protect the community. Time is of the essence.”

Finally, Patterson felt the decision to delay was not specific enough and that waiting presented a potential danger.

“With each additional day that passes, the community faces the risk of another power outage, which Valero has acknowledged it is unprepared for,” she wrote. “The delay in taking any action just puts the community in greater jeopardy of such releases without taking any action to eliminate or mitigate such risks.”

Staff responded to the first two reasons in a report prepared by City Attorney Heather McLaughlin. Regarding the first reason, McLaughlin wrote that as part of the two-step process, staff support for individual requests from individual councilmembers is limited to 15 minutes of staff time and that researching, writing reports and compiling materials would not take longer than 15 minutes unless approved by a majority of the council.

“Staff had collected some background information and provided it with the report to support the Council’s discussion but no analysis or other in-depth work had occurred,” McLaughlin wrote. “Staff had adequately prepared Council for the hearing based on the type of hearing that was scheduled to occur.”

This reasoning was also the basis for the short response to Patterson’s statement that past settlement agreements were not mentioned in the staff report. Staff did not respond to the third or fourth statements.

The council will vote on whether or not to schedule a rehearing on its June 19 vote, which would be slated for a later meeting if approved.

In other matters, the council will vote to approve a resolution placing a tax on port-related activities on the ballot for the general election and confirm Thomas Stanton as Benicia’s seventh poet laureate.

The council will meet at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 17 in a closed session to discuss legal matters. The regular meeting will start at 7 in the Council Chambers at City Hall, located at 250 East L St. A live stream of the council meeting can also be found online at ci.benicia.ca.us/agendas.

CALL TO ACTION! Benicia City Council Agenda & Important ISO Documents – June 19, 2018

By Roger Straw

Staff for the City of Benicia posted an agenda and multiple important attachments for the June 19 City Council meeting.  Plan to attend tonight’s Council meeting – doors open around 5:30pm, meeting starts at 7pm.

Most important documents for study are

The Benicia ISO Working Group has studied and worked on the issue for the past 7 months, hosting an expert panel in November 2017, and listening to concerns of residents, elected officials and City staff.  As an aid to City staff, the group enlisted pro bono support from local attorney Terry Mollica to prepare a rough draft of what a Benicia ISO might look like. City Council will decide next Tuesday whether to direct staff to investigate further and return with recommendations.

BACKGROUND & CALL TO ACTION: 

More than a year ago (on 05/23/17), Benicia Mayor Elizabeth Patterson succeeded in requesting that Council direct staff to agendize a future Council discussion of drafting and adopting a community Industrial Safety Ordinance.  The Council voted 4-1 to approve and calendar further discussion.

This item will finally come up at the June 19, 2018 Council meeting. Mark your calendar and plan to attend! Council doors will open around 5:30pm.  AND… please send an email comment to the City!  (click here for info on where to write)

IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS RELEASED JUNE 13 FOR THE JUNE 19 CITY COUNCIL

AGENDA ITEM 15.B SECOND STEP OF MAYOR PATTERSON’S 2-STEP PROCESS REQUEST TO DISCUSS ADOPTING AN INDUSTRIAL SAFETY ORDINANCE

At the May 23, 2017 City Council meeting, Mayor Patterson brought a two-step process request to the Council to discuss consideration of adopting an Industrial Safety Ordinance. The Council directed staff to agendize the item for discussion. Staff has included preliminary research on this subject.

Staff Recommendation:
Discuss the merits of drafting and adopting a City of Benicia Industrial Safety Ordinance and give direction to staff on how to proceed. Two options are provided under the “Options for Council Consideration” section of this report.

Benicia Herald: Second step of Industrial Safety Ordinance process on council agenda

Repost from the Benicia Herald

Second step of Industrial Safety Ordinance process on council agenda

June 15, 2018 by Nick Sestanovich

More than a year after the Benicia City Council approved the first step in a two-step process to consider bringing an Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO) to Benicia, the council will resume its discussion Tuesday when the matter is brought back for the second step of the process.

Following the flaring incident at the Valero Benicia Refinery on May 5, 2017 where a power outage resulted in black smoke being released, causing the Industrial park to be shut down and shelters in place established at nearby elementary schools, Mayor Elizabeth Patterson brought a two-step process to discuss consideration of an ISO at the May 23, 2017 council meeting. Patterson requested an ordinance similar Contra Costa ISO, which was adopted in 1998 and went into effect in 1999. Under Contra Costa’s ordinance, refineries are required to submit safety plans, experience safety audits and develop risk management plans while utilizing community input. In the event of an accident, regulated industries can provide a preliminary report.

The Contra Costa ISO covers six facilities: the Phillips 66 Rodeo Refinery, Shell Oil Martinez Refienry, Tesoro Golden Eagle Refinery in Pacheco, Air Products at Shell Refinery, Air Products at Tesoro Refinery and the Air Liquide-Rodeo Hydrogen Plant. In 2002, the city of Richmond adopted its own ISO that mirrored the Contra Costa ordinance. It covers the Chevron Refinery and Chemtrade West.

Fire Chief Josh Chadwick noted in a staff report that since adoption of the Contra Costa ISO, the severity of major chemical accidents or releases had seen a declining trend with the exceptions of 2004, 2010 and 2012.

“Implementing the ISO in Contra Costa County is generally considered to have contributed to the decline in incidents at refineries in the County although other regulatory changes and improvements in worker safety are also credited,” Chadwick wrote.

The council voted 4-1 at the May 23 meeting to approve the first step of the process, with the lone dissenting vote coming from Mark Hughes, who felt it was too early to have such a discussion but indicated he may support it later on.

Two developments have happened since the council’s vote. Beginning Oct. 1, the state of California updated its regulations to be more in line with Contra Costa’s ISO. Prior to this, Solano County’s Certified Unified Program Agency (CUPA) was operating under Program 3 of the California Accidental Release Prevention (CalARP) program. A task force, including members of the Solano County Department of Resource Management, was formed to upgrade regulations at the Valero Benicia Refinery and bring it to Program 4.

“In the first five months since implementing Program 4, the Solano County Department of Resource Management spent 485 hours inspecting, preparing, reviewing, and documenting the Valero Benicia refinery,” Chadwick wrote.

Among the task categories included in the Contra Costa ISO and CalARP Program 4 are reviewing risk management and safety plans, auditing subject facilities at least once every three years and documenting the results, reviewing major chemical accidents or releases root cause analyses and incident investigation reports that are submitted and performing incident investigations, and performing hazard scoring for development projects associated with land use applications.

Both also require public access to reports and incorporating community engagement requirements.

In a letter to the council, Don Cuffel– Valero’s director of health, safety, environmental and regulatory affairs– wrote that an ISO would be “duplicative and divisive” and suggested the refinery meet with city staff to discuss such topics as statewide regulations, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s fence line monitoring program, Benicia’s emergency response and communication systems, and the refinery’s qualifications as a top safety site by CAL/OSHA.

Staff has provided two options for the council: direct staff to draft an ISO to bring to the council for consideration or direct staff to monitor the county’s implementation of Program 4, enabling the activities of an ISO to continue to be carried out by Solano’s CUPA.

In other matters, the council will vote on whether or not to place a measure establishing a tax on cannabis-related activities on the ballot for the November election.

The council will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 19 in the Council Chambers at City Hall, located at 250 East L St. A live stream of the council meeting can also be found online at ci.benicia.ca.us/agendas.