Category Archives: Benicia City Council

Benicia City Council Agenda, Tues. May 20, 2025

Item 15.B – Staff Report

TO : City Council
FROM : City Manager
SUBJECT : APPOINTMENT OF CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS TO AD HOC “ACT” TASK FORCE GROUPS IN RESPONSE TO POTENTIAL BENICIA VALERO REFINARY CLOSURE

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
With the recent news by the Valero Energy Company to potentially cease operation at the Valero Benicia Refinery in April 2026, the City believes it is worthwhile for the City Council to spearhead task force groups to work with various stakeholders to understand potential economic impacts, develop strategies to mitigate those impacts and plan for the future. To that end, Mayor Young is proposing four (4) separate City Council Task Force Groups to understand the impacts of any closure will have on the community.

RECOMMENDATION:
Move to adopt by motion the nomination of the respective members of the City Council to the proposed Ad Hoc Task Force Groups.

BUDGET INFORMATION:
Staff does not anticipate any direct impact on the City’s budget due to the action of creating the proposed Task Force Groups.

BACKGROUND:
To help facilitate engagement and information with impacted stakeholder groups, advocate for the protection of Benicia’s economy and imagine the possible transition of redeveloping 930 acres of the Valero Benicia Refinery, Mayor Young is proposing four (4) ad hoc City Council “ACT” Task Force Groups: Advocacy, Collaboration & Transition.

These proposed groups will be ad hoc in nature and not subject to the Brown Act or Open Government Ordinance. The respective member(s) of Council may solicit feedback and participation from stakeholders as they deem helpful to gather information germane to their purpose, including business owners, employees, labor leaders, community members and governmental and non-governmental organizations. The second City Council meeting of each month will serve as an opportunity for the members of Council to report on the progress of each ad hoc group.

Task Force 1: ADVOCATE for Benicia’s Economy: – Mayor Young
It is proposed that Mayor Young will serve as a point of contact and lead efforts to work with State Officials such as the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, The California Energy Commission, elected leaders, labor and business representatives to advocate on behalf of Benicia relating to the potential shutdown of the refinery. The purpose is to gather information and reports on the economic value of the refining operations to Benicia’s economy, county employment, the States economy as well as the importance the Benicia refinery is to Travis Air Force Base.

Task Force 2: COLLABORATE with Community: Non-Profit Organizations, Sports Groups, Benicia Unified School District, Restaurants & Hotels – Council Member Largaespada
The focus of this Task Force is to coordinate between the various community groups that receive contributions and support from Valero. Understand the economic impact to these groups and facilitate collaboration between groups to maximize resources where possible and generate plans on how to proceed with either less funding or new means of revenue. Similarly, with sports groups, the intent is to quantify the financial contribution made to sports groups and how reduced support from Valero could impact users. Additionally, this Task Force will coordinate with Benicia Unified School District to analyze the impact on property tax revenue to the District and any other direct revenue loss from Valero’s cessation of operations. Finally, this Task Force will seek to quantify the economic impact on hotels and restaurants with Valero’s exit. The work of Councilmember Largaespada is to coordinate information, facilitate cooperation of resources between groups where feasible, and develop a plan of action on how to overcome the loss of revenue with Valero’s departure.

Task Force 3: COLLABORATE with Benicia Industrial Park (BIP): Existing industrial park businesses, Rose Estates and Port of Benicia – Council Member Birdseye
This Task Force is designed to work with impacted BIP businesses; understanding the impact on jobs, lost revenue and impacts on the stream of commerce. Additionally, this Task Force shall coordinate the plans and actions of Rose Estates, the Priority Production Area plan of the Port with redevelopment efforts of the 930 acres of Valero’s property with any interested developers. There may be an opportunity to synchronize development activity and/or work to incentivize new business development into the BIP including offshore wind manufacturing.

Task Force 4: TRANSITION Prepare for Transition and Redevelopment of Valero’s 930 acres: Valero & Signature Development Group – Vice Mayor Macenski & Council Member Scott
This Task Force is to collaborate with Valero and Signature Development Group to imagine the possible reuse opportunities for the 930 acres of Valero’s property. This Task Force would help to facilitate stakeholder involvement to solicit public feedback and visioning. Identify the types of uses, be it residential commercial or industrial and those uses can be best incorporated into Benicia. Identify reports and information that would be helpful to forecast highest and best use for Benicia’s economic viability and environmental sustainability.

NEXT STEPS:
If approved, the various Task Force groups can meet at their convenience with stakeholders of their choosing to help facilitate their mission.

ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS:
None.

CEQA Analysis
The requested action is exempt from CEQA because it will not result in a direct or indirect physical change in the environment and therefore it is not a project as defined in CEQA Guidelines Section 15378.

ATTACHMENT:
None.

For more information contact: Mario Giuliani, City Manager
Phone: 707-746- 4289
E-mail: mgiuliani@ci.benicia.ca.us

Benicia CA, Benicia City Council, Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO), Just transition, Valero Benicia Refinery

Cathy Bennett: Valero’s “current intent” is anyone’s guess

April 25, 2025 BenIndy

If Valero closes, or not … Benicia can hold them accountable. This is not the end of the world.

By Cathy Bennett, April 24, 2025

My thanks go to Steve Golub in his recent article outlining the broader perspective and potential reasons for Valero’s “possible” closer. As always, Steve is clear and concise in explaining a very complicated situation. In the wake of Valero’s sudden announcement there is a lot of finger-pointing going on, and his article wisely advises a mindful step back to see the bigger picture.

I for one, do not believe that Valero is actually going to close. I think Valero is stacking up its options in a strategic move to give itself as much wiggle room as possible for the tough decisions it must now make, due to a variety of reasons, the least of which is the
watered-down ISO. I also believe Valero benefits tremendously by these scare tactics to the public (and Benicia City Council) at the very time when decisions are forthcoming regarding fees and fines for the ISO.

The timing of Valero’s announcement, and the reckless manner it threw its employees and the city of Benicia under the bus, strikes me as a crude thumb to the nose. Another example that Valero has never been “a good neighbor”. That said I would urge everyone to resist panic. There are many layers to this onion. We must peal back each layer one at a time to expose the true underbelly of what is before us. By staying focused and examining each step, Benicia will develop a solid strategy to move forward. Benicia must hold Valero accountable for what ever decision it ultimately makes. That includes clean up of the 400 acres of potentially toxic contamination of waterfront property if it plans to close.

This is not the end of the world, nor the demise of our beloved Benicia. I trust our city council to think this through carefully, not over-react, and not capitulate to Valero’s threats. This is one more piece of evidence of the bully behavior we have been dealing with for decades.

Cathy Bennett
Benicia resident for 25 years

Benicia CA, Benicia City Council, Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO), Just transition, Valero Benicia Refinery

Larnie Fox: Open letter to our Benicia City Council and staff

April 23, 2025 BenIndy

Thank you for placing the health and safety of Benicians above other concerns

By Larnie Fox, April 23, 2025

Dear Mayor, City Council members, and Chief Chadwick,

I am so proud of our City Council and staff!

In light of the recent announcement by Valero to “idle, restructure or cease refining operations”, it is more important than ever to have an Industrial Safety Ordinance in place. In spite of significant pressure and threats from Valero, and at great political cost, you placed the health and safety of Benicians above other concerns. Bravo! And thank you.

I think that Valero’s decision had little to do with our new ISO, but probably did affect the timing of their announcement.

It looks like what made them decide to change their operations next year was the regulatory atmosphere in California, the expense of fixing their hydrogen leak, and the $82M fine from the Air District. California is moving away from fossil fuels, and the company could see the writing on the wall.

What made them announce their decision now? My guess is it was a desire to blame you and your constituents’ measured effort to finally monitor and regulate the refinery’s ongoing release of toxins, and to stir up community resentments.

If they sell or restructure, the ISO will be important to monitor and regulate whatever activities occur on their site. If they shut it down, then we will need a plan in place to assure a “just transition” ~ aka a good clean-up of a very toxic site. With some long-term and visionary thinking, something good may yet come out of this.

The ISO will also be important to regulate the dozen or so other industries that work with dangerous chemicals in town, especially Valero’s other little refinery, the asphalt plant.

It took courage to lead our little town to stand up against big oil, but you did it, and we did it.

Thank you!

Larnie Fox, Benicia

Benicia CA, Benicia City Council, BISHO, Industrial Safety and Health Ordinance, Valero Benicia Refinery

SF Chron: Benicia to increase oversight of Valero refinery after major pollution problems

April 7, 2025 BenIndy

Benicia City Council passes Industrial Safety Ordinance in unanimous vote

The Valero refinery in Benicia, show in 2019, will be subject to tighter oversight from its host city going forward. Paul Chinn/S.F. Chronicle

San Francisco Chronicle, by Julie Johnson, April 2, 2025

Months after Bay Area regulators handed a record-setting fine for pollution violations to oil giant Valero Refining Co.’s Benicia facility, city leaders voted to establish stronger oversight over refinery emissions.

The Benicia City Council unanimously passed regulations Tuesday creating a new air quality monitoring program and requiring the refinery and other entities handling hazardous materials to promptly report emissions.

Vice Mayor Trevor Macenski said they hope to “foster a resilient business environment within Benicia while ensuring that our citizens don’t all need inhalers.”

The city’s plan is modeled after a similar ordinance in Contra Costa County, which for more than two decades has empowered county health officials to investigate potential emissions problems at three oil refineries, including Chevron, across the Carquinez Strait.

The Solano County city has lacked similar oversight power for Valero. Benicia leaders have been frustrated in recent years by revelations of emissions problems at Valero and a lack of notification from agencies charged with pollution oversight. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District waited three years to inform Benicia residents after agency staff discovered Valero was spewing illegal amounts of cancer-causing gases and chemicals into the air and had done so for 16 years.

Council Member Kari Birdseye, who campaigned on more refinery oversight when she was elected in 2022, said in an interview that the air district’s $82 million fine was a “wake-up call” for Benicia.

“Our community wants to know exactly what’s going wrong and how we can ensure those types of things don’t happen again,” Birdseye said.

The ordinance, which takes effect 120 days after the vote, allows the city to investigate pollution issues when other agencies, such as the Bay Area air quality district, state or federal agencies, aren’t conducting investigations. It also requires facilities such as the refinery to report potentially hazardous releases to the city.

The vote was unanimous despite strong opposition from some business representatives and Valero executives, who previously called the ordinance “governmental overreach.”

Valero refinery officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment this week.

The ordinance would also pertain to a dozen other businesses in the city, including the city’s water and wastewater treatment plants, paint company Sherwin-Williams, a chemical decontamination firm, cork supply company, and several manufacturers.

Under a current contract with the city, Valero provides the city a base amount of $331,320 annually. The ordinance would terminate that contract and replace it with fees based on how much hazardous material Valero handles. That applies to other industrial facilities that fall under the ordinance as well. The city’s new plan starts with no fees for the smallest operators and increases up to $386,260 annual fee for the largest.

Photo of Julie Johnson

Julie Johnson is a reporter with The Chronicle’s climate and environment team. Previously she worked as a staff writer at the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, where she had a leading role on the team awarded the 2018 Pulitzer in breaking news for coverage of 2017 wildfires.