Rep. Mike Thompson co-sponsors bill regulating transport of oil by train

Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, introduced a bill Wednesday setting new safety standards for transporting crude oil by rail, citing concerns that current regulations do not adequately protect the public from a dramatic rise in oil shipments by railroad tank cars.

Four derailments in the United States and Canada in less than a month earlier this year “underscored the urgency of action to curb the risks of transporting crude oil,” Thompson said in a news release.

His bill - co-authored by four other Democrats - comes on the heels of a state report last year that chronicled a significant shift in the crude oil flow into California from oceangoing tankers to rail cars, as well as an uptick in rail-related oil spills.

California refineries obtained most of their crude oil by sea in 2012, with only 1 million barrels, or 0.3 percent, by rail, according to the report, “Oil by Rail Safety in California.” In 2013, rail imports jumped to 6.3 million barrels, and experts predicted the volume could increase by up to 150 million barrels, 25 percent of total imports, by 2016, it said.

California Energy Commission records show that rail cars delivered 496,886 barrels of oil, all from North Dakota, in 2010, swelling tenfold to 5.7 million barrels last year, largely from Canada and North Dakota along with four other western states.

In the first two months of 2015, rail imports to California totaled 519,106 barrels, about half the level of the year before. Domestic shale oil production, which powered the nation’s crude oil boom, is slowing as oil prices plummet amid a global oil glut.

The state report also documented a rise in crude oil rail incidents in California from three in 2011 to 25 in 2013 and 24 through May 2014. Most incidents involved relatively small amounts of spilled oil, but the report noted “the potential for high-consequence incidents will increase as more oil is transported by rail.”

Overall, the worst incident on record is the explosion of 63 tank cars in Quebec in July 2013, which killed 47 people, the report said, also citing eight derailments involving a total of 143 cars in the U.S. and Canada in 2013 and 2014.

Track failures, inadequate rail car equipment and human error have been cited as causes of the accidents. The National Transportation Safety Board has found “numerous deficiencies in the regulation of rail safety,” the report said.

“Rail cars transporting crude run through the heart of our communities, and as recent accidents have demonstrated, robust, comprehensive action is needed,” Thompson said in the news release.

His bill would, among other rules, establish maximum volatility standards for crude oil and other hydrocarbons transported by rail; prohibit use of unsafe tank cars, including removal of 37,700 unsafe cars; and require disclosure of train movements through communities and emergency response plans.

Trains transporting crude oil are expected to travel along the Feather River or over Donner Pass, through densely populated and ecologically sensitive areas to the San Francisco Bay Area, where there are five oil refineries, the state report said.

Co-sponsors of the bill are Reps. Jim McDermott of Washington, Doris Matsui of Sacramento, Ron Kind of Wisconsin and Nita Lowey of New York.

You can reach Staff Writer Guy Kovner at 521-5457 or guy.kovner@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @guykovner.