Next month, railroads hauling crude oil through Washington state will have to prove they have the capability to deal with an oil spill.
The state’s Department of Ecology adopted a rule Wednesday ensuring railroads have detailed steps they will take if a spill happens.
“Washington has built a strong program that prevents and responds to oil spills in Washington waters,” Gov. Jay Inslee said in a statement. “This rule ensures that railroads have the same high-quality plans long required for vessels so that our natural resources in the inland areas of our state are protected.”
The Ecology Department also requires facilities that receive crude to notify the state, preparing first responders for a potential derailment, according to information from the state.
The state experienced a rapid growth of crude-by-rail barreling through the region in recent years.
Before this new rule, which takes effect Oct. 1, only pipelines and vessels moving oil through the state were required to have a contingency plan.
California and Minnesota have similar laws for railroads hauling crude, according to Ecology.
Vancouver city councilors recently approved a ban on new oil refineries and facilities, but it won’t affect the proposal to build the nation’s largest crude-by rail facility, proposed for the Port of Vancouver.
In June, a train bound for Tacoma derailed in Mosier, Ore., and several tank cars caught fire. Many more trains would likely travel through the Columbia River Gorge, a National Scenic Area, if Vancouver Energy’s plans to build the oil terminal at the port are approved.
Several state and federal lawmakers have pushed to strengthen laws around oil transport.
U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, is championing the idea of a national standard regulating the volatility of Bakken crude.
The U.S. Energy Department is working with the U.S. Department of Transportation to study crude oil’s properties to better understand its volatility and how it reacts in accidents.
