Category Archives: Final Draft Environmental Impact Report (FEIR)

Benicia Planning Commission, Crude By Rail, Environmental Impacts, Final Draft Environmental Impact Report (FEIR), Local Regulation, Public Safety, Valero Benicia Refinery, Valero Crude By Rail

BREAKING: City of Davis urges Benicia to refuse to certify Valero oil train EIR

By Roger Straw, February 5, 2016

BREAKING: City of Davis urges Benicia to refuse to certify Valero oil train EIR

City_of_DavisThe Benicia Independent is in receipt of a City of Davis letter sent on February 3, 2016 to the City of Benicia, but not as yet posted on the City’s website. The letter is severely critical of the City’s Final EIR, and calls for the Benicia Planning Commission to decline to certify the massive 3-volume document.

If Benicia declines to certify the EIR, Valero would have to revise the environmental study yet again, or withdraw.  Many believe that Valero would instead appeal the Planning Commission’s decision to the Benicia City Council in hopes of a more favorable hearing.

The Davis letter is signed by Assistant City Manager Mike Webb, who writes, “These trains will travel…on the UPRR main railroad track which runs through the city of Davis, immediately adjacent to the Davis downtown area and to residential areas. The rail line also runs immediately adjacent to the University of California Davis campus.”

The heart of the letter reads, “Davis requests that Benicia reject the adequacy of the Final EIR (FEIR), decline to certify the FEIR, and send it back to staff to fully analyze mitigation measures for safety, as set forth in Davis’ and SACOG’s earlier letters and then to impose the measures suggested by SACOG and Davis, as well as any additional measures that are feasible.”

Webb calls upon Benicia to act responsibly: “As we have seen occur in other communities, a derailment and the potential for fire, explosion, and train upset is real and should not be ignored. It is the obligation of public agencies to safeguard all their communities to the best of their abilities.”

The letter continues with highly critical comments about the EIR, “Davis submits that the Final ElR is legally inadequate….When a lead agency disagrees with a comment, the response must address comment in detail. The lead agency must provide a good-faith, reasoned analysis; conclusory statements without facts are not adequate. The FElR fails to meet this  standard.”

Giving two detailed examples of the FEIR’s failure to address Davis’ previous comments, the letter concludes, “Benicia and Valero have the authority and ability to adopt measures that will be effective. The City of Davis again urges Benicia, for the safety of all the residents of this region, to reject the Final ElR as inadequate under CEQA and to analyze and adopt the feasible mitigation measures that are available in order to reduce the significant adverse impacts posed by this Project.”

Benicia Planning Commission, Crude By Rail, Environmental Impacts, Final Draft Environmental Impact Report (FEIR), Local Regulation, Valero Benicia Refinery, Valero Crude By Rail

BREAKING: Yolo County urges Benicia to mitigate impacts before approving Valero oil train project

By Roger Straw, February 5, 2016

BREAKING: Yolo County urges Benicia to mitigate impacts before approving Valero oil train project

Yolo_CountyThe Benicia Independent is in receipt of a Yolo County letter sent on January 26, 2016 to the City of Benicia, but not as yet posted on the City’s website.  The letter is severely critical of the City’s Final EIR, and calls for the Benicia Planning Commission to insist on measures that would offset significant environmental, health and safety impacts to communities along the Union-Pacific rail line.

Jim Provenza, Chair of the Yolo County Board of Supervisors writes, “Although the City’s revised analysis correctly acknowledges that the project will have significant impacts to communities along the Union-Pacific rail line, the County is concerned that these significant impacts are not sufficiently mitigated. Indeed, the City eschews its responsibility to consider possible mitigation measures on the incorrect premise that any such efforts would be preempted by federal law.”

The letter goes on to reference a letter sent to Benicia by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG), in which the legal case is made that such mitigations are not preempted by federal law.

The letter concludes, “In light of the significant impacts identified in the Revised Draft EIR, we ask that the City of Benicia reconsider its position on preemption and not approve the project until the impacts are mitigated. SACOG’s October 30, 2015 letter provides mitigation measures that are both feasible and necessary to lessen the impact on our local communities. Without these mitigation measures in place, the project should not be approved.”

Crude By Rail, Final Draft Environmental Impact Report (FEIR), Valero Benicia Refinery, Valero Crude By Rail

Valero Crude by Rail: FINAL EIR released today – PUBLIC HEARING FEB 8

By Roger Straw, The Benicia Independent

The City of Benicia published a Public Notice in the local newspaper today, announcing the availability of the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR).  The notice also gave details on upcoming public hearings.   Relevant excerpt on upcoming dates:

PUBLIC HEARING The City of Benicia Planning Commission will hold a formal public hearing to receive comments on Monday, February 8, 2016 at 6:30 p.m. to consider the Final EIR and a Use Permit for the Crude by Rail project.  In anticipation of the number of speakers, additional Planning Commission meetings to receive comments are scheduled for February 9, February 10 and February 11, 2016.  These additional meetings will only be held as necessary to hear public comment – if all members of the public who wish to speak on the FEIR and the Use Permit have been heard, for example, during the meeting on February 9th, then no further public comments would be heard during subsequent meetings.  All meetings will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, Benicia City Hall, located at 250 East L Street, Benicia, CA 94510.

The FEIR is now available on the City’s website and linked here on the Benicia Independent’s Project Documents page.  Please set aside time immediately to review the document and prepare your comments for the City.  There are only 34 days between release of the document today and the Public Hearing on Monday, February 8.

Benicia Planning Commission, Crude By Rail, Final Draft Environmental Impact Report (FEIR), Valero Benicia Refinery, Valero Crude By Rail

LATEST: Valero Crude By Rail FINAL Environmental Impact Report likely to be released early January

By Roger Straw, The Benicia Independent, December 18, 2015

Latest: Valero Crude By Rail FINAL Environmental Impact Report likely to be released early January

Benicia, California

During staff comments at the conclusion of the December 10, 2015 meeting of the Benicia Planning Commission, Principal Planner Amy Million offered an update on the Valero Crude By Rail proposal.

Currently, the City’s consultants are preparing the Final Draft of the Environmental Impact Report (FEIR), including responses to public comments.

Ms. Million reported that staff had hoped the FEIR would be completed by end of this year, but that it looks like it will be another week or two into January before it is released.

According to Million, “No date has been set for the FEIR/Use Permit,” but she confirms that there will NOT be public hearings on the project at the Commission’s January 14 meeting.

That said, the law allows a MINIMUM of only 10 days between release of the document and a public hearing and decision.  Million is on record saying the City will provide “more than that.”

At any rate, I am guessing that we should be ready for hearings in early February, March at the latest if there are no unexpected delays.

For more information, see: