Herrera Beutler targets oil spills

U.S Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler is pushing the federal government to give high priority to helping cities and counties respond to an oil spill.

On Tuesday, the Camas Republican attached a measure to a spending bill to make federal emergency response grants for crude and ethanol rail traffic reclassified as “high priority.”

Currently, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, provides grant money to local fire departments to pay for equipment, but it does not consider grant applications for hazardous materials operations, training and equipment acquisition as crucial as other grant programs, according to information from Herrera Beutler’s office.

It can be difficult for cities like Vancouver to compete for federal assistance grants.

“The city of Vancouver and others don’t have the local resources available to train, equip and consider staffing to effectively respond to an oil spill,” Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt said, adding that Herrera Beutler’s efforts are a step in the right direction.

“We know already oil trains are coming through our community and other chemicals and hazardous materials are coming via rail through our community as well … We’re going to do everything we can to best prepare,” Leavitt said, including applying for grants.

Herrera Beutler said she is working to raise awareness about the importance of rail safety in Congress.

“Under the current system, cities and towns on our rail lines are at a disadvantage as they compete for federal assistance to prepare for an incident. By making their efforts a higher priority, we are demonstrating to residents of Southwest Washington who see oil by rail daily that if, God forbid, we have a derailment, we’re going to do everything we can to make sure we are equipped and prepared to deal with it,” Herrera Beutler said in a statement.