Category Archives: Draft EIR

Draft EIR, Public Comment, Take Action, Valero Crude By Rail

City of Benicia public comments on Valero Crude By Rail received during May, 2014

Your thoughts on Valero Crude By Rail can make a difference!

The City is posting comments each month now.  Download May here: City of Benicia public comments on Valero Crude By Rail received during May, 2014  (Download is 1.62 MB)

Note that the City’s public comments are now PDFs with searchable text, however the comments for a given period of time all appear in a single document.  The index at the top of the document is neither paginated nor linked.  To find a particular comment, just search on that person’s name.  Older comments and project documents are on the City of Benicia’s Valero Crude By Rail page.

The Draft EIR is scheduled for release a week from today, on Tuesday, June 10.  Valero’s proposal will NOT be agendized on the Planning Commission’s June 12, 7pm meeting at City Hall.  The formal hearing will be at the Planning Commission’s July 10 meeting, 7pm, City Hall.  BE THERE!

Your email comments on the project are always helpful:

  1. Send your thoughts to the City of Benicia  –  You can make a difference!  Ask questions and voice your concerns to the Planning Commission, City staff and our Mayor and City Council.   (Note: When writing to the City Manager and Principal Planner, it helps to open with the phrase, “Please add my comments to the public legal record on Valero’s Crude By Rail Project and incorporate them as part of the review of its DEIR. “)  Send your comments to:
    • Brad Kilger, City Manager, by email: bkilger@ci.benicia.ca.us AND
    • Amy Million, Principal Planner, Community Development Department, by email: amillion@ci.benicia.ca.us.
    • Both may also be contacted by delivery to 250 East L Street, Benicia, CA 94510, or by Fax: (707) 747-1637.
    • To direct email to Planning Commissioners, send email to Amy Million, requesting her to forward on to Planning Commissioners.
  2. Send your thoughts to the news media:

More ways to help STOP Crude by Rail…

Benicia Planning Commission, City of Benicia, Draft EIR, Valero Crude By Rail

Valero Draft EIR to be released June 10, 2014; Planning Commission hearing on July 10

May 1, 2014  | by Roger Straw, BenIndy Editor

The City of Benicia announced today that the Draft Environmental Impact Report on Valero’s Crude By Rail proposal will be released for public review and comment on June 10, 2014.

The Report, originally scheduled for release in January, 2014, was pushed back to sometime in March, and then sometime in April 2014.  This is the first time the City has announced a specific date.

Planning Commission hearing: July 10

Asked about how the Report would be handled by the City’s Planning Commission, Benicia Principal Planner Amy Million wrote in an email today,

“The Planning Commission meeting for May 8 has been cancelled. There will be no action on the DEIR for the Planning Commission during the June 12 meeting.
“The City’s CEQA guidelines require a public hearing before the Planning Commission to receive comment on the Draft EIR. This will be scheduled for July 10 to allow time for the public and the Commission to review the document before the meeting. There is no action for the Commission to take at that time, as it is simply to hear public comment.”