Category Archives: Interstate Commerce Commission Termination ACT (ICCTA)

Air Quality, Benicia City Council, Benicia Planning Commission, Berkeley, Berkeley City Council, California Attorney General Kamala Harris, California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), Crude By Rail, Federal pre-emption, Interstate Commerce Commission Termination ACT (ICCTA), Local Regulation, Oil spill, Toxic pollutants, Valero Benicia Appeal, Valero Benicia Refinery, Valero Crude By Rail

BERKELEY MAYOR TOM BATES: Letter opposing Valero Crude By Rail

By Roger Straw, April 18, 2016

BERKELEY MAYOR TOM BATES: Letter opposing Valero Crude By Rail

The Benicia Independent is in receipt of a letter sent today to the City of Benicia by Berkeley, CA Mayor Tom Bates.  Mayor Bates writes in opposition to certification and permitting of Valero’s proposal.

Here is the complete text of Mayor Bates’ one-page letter:

Berkeley_logo
Office of the Mayor

April 18, 2016

Mayor Elizabeth Patterson City Council Members Tom Campbell, Mark Hughes, Alan Schwartzman, Christina Strawbridge Principal Planner Amy Million City of Benicia Benicia, California

Dear Mayor Patterson; Council Members Campbell, Hughes, Schwartzman, Strawbridge; and Ms. Million:

I ask you to uphold the Benicia Planning Commission’s decision to withhold certification from the Valero Refining Company’s Crude-by-Rail project. I believe the risks of this dangerous rail spur far outweigh possible benefits.

I agree with Attorney General Kamala Harris and environmental and community groups and that the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act does not prevent the City from assessing the transportation and public-safety risks when considering the project under its land-use authority.[1] The issue is one of local land use not pre-empted by federal regulation.

Another chief reason for not approving the project is that the CEQA analysis did not assess all of the project’s potential environmental impacts, including its impacts on other cities.[3] Allowing up to two 50-car trains of crude oil a day to come into the Valero refinery exposes Benicia and other communities to major safety risks, especially given the history of train derailment in recent times, both nationally and internationally.[2] An oil spill could be catastrophic to the local environment and waterways. Moreover, the transport of crude oil will emit toxic pollutants not adequately assessed in the environmental review, thus contaminating the air breathed by your residents and those of other communities as well.

The Berkeley City Council has reviewed the issue of transporting crude oil on the freight lines in the East Bay and has gone on record in unanimous opposition to such transport because of the unacceptable level of hazardous risk, including to Berkeley. The Union Pacific tracks are embedded in our West Berkeley community where people live, work and go to school.

I ask that you not approve this rail spur until the volatile organics are removed from these crude oil shipments and the railroads are upgraded to modern standards to handle such shipments.

Sincerely,
Tom Bates, Mayor

[1] https://beniciaindependent.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/AttyGenl_Kamala_Harris_Comments_Received_April_13-14_2016.pdf
[3] https://beniciaindependent.com/topics/final-draft-environmental-impact-report-feir/
[2] http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2014/07/11/benicia-extends-public-comment-period-on-bay-area-crude-by-rail/

Benicia City Council, Benicia city staff, California Attorney General Kamala Harris, Crude By Rail, Environmental Impacts, Interstate Commerce Commission Termination ACT (ICCTA), Surface Transportation Board, Valero Benicia Refinery, Valero Crude By Rail

VALLEJO TIMES-HERALD: Attorney general letter disagrees with Valero, Benicia city staff

Repost from the Vallejo Times-Herald
(Also appearing in the East Bay Times, the San Jose Mercury News, the Santa Cruz Sentinel and the Monterey Herald)

Attorney general letter disagrees with Valero, Benicia city staff

By Irma Widjojo, 04/15/16, 5:43 PM PDT

Benicia >> The Office of Attorney General Kamala Harris has sent a strongly worded letter to the City of Benicia regarding Valero Benicia Refinery’s proposed crude by rail project.

In the letter, dated Thursday, Harris’ office disagrees with the city staff and Valero’s conclusion that Interstate Commerce Commission Termination ACT, or ICCTA, prohibits the city from taking rail-related impacts into account while deciding on the project.

The issue of preemption has been the crux of the discussion regarding the project. In March, the Planning Commission has denied the use permit application and declined to certify the project’s Environmental Impact Report, or EIR.

In its appeal, Valero states that it agrees with the city staff’s conclusion that the city is legally prohibited from making that decision based on the 11 “unavoidable and significant” rail-related impacts, which were included in the report.

In the letter written by Deputy Attorney General Scott Lichtig, the office said the conclusion is incorrect.

“… ICCTA does not preempt or constrain the city’s discretionary decision-making authority where, as here, the city is exercising that authority with respect to a project taken by an oil company that is not subject to the jurisdiction of the Surface Transportation Board,” the letter states.

In 2014, the office also sent a letter to the city urging it to correct “deficiencies” in the draft EIR.

“In fact, for Benicia to turn a blind eye to the most serious of the project’s environmental impacts, merely because they flow from federally regulated rail operations, would be contrary to both state and federal law,” according to the most recent letter.

On Monday, or if necessary Tuesday, the city council is set to meet to make a decision on Valero’s appeal and its request to postpone the decision making until the company receives a possible declarative order from the State Transportation Board regarding the issue of preemption in the project.

Many public members have spoken in support or opposition to the project in the beginning of the month, and the public comment session will continue on Monday.

When everyone is heard, Valero will have five minutes to make its case, followed by questions from the council before it makes its decision.

Valero is seeking the permit to build infrastructure on site to allow the company bring in two 50-car trains a day carrying up to 70,000 barrels of North American crude oil. The company’s oil is now being transported into the city by marine vessels and pipeline.

Each meeting is set for 7 p.m. at City Hall, 250 E. L St.