BILL NUMBER: AJR 42	ENROLLED
	BILL TEXT

	ADOPTED IN SENATE  AUGUST 15, 2016
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 22, 2016
	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 8, 2016
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 30, 2016

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Dodd
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Achadjian, Alejo, Atkins, Baker,
Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos,
Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Daly,
Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Cristina Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez,
Gonzalez, Gordon, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin,
Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low,
Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Nazarian,
Obernolte, O'Donnell, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk,
Williams, and Wood)
   (Coauthor: Senator Wolk)

                        JUNE 1, 2016

   Relative to the transport by rail of flammable and combustible
liquids.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AJR 42, Dodd. Transport by rail of flammable and combustible
liquids.
   This measure would urge the United States Department of
Transportation, Department of Energy, and the Office of Management
and Budget to expedite the rulemaking and implementation processes
for federal safety regulations governing the transport by rail of
flammable and combustible liquids, including crude oil, and would
also urge the President and the Congress of the United States to pass
specified federal legislation mandating public safety measures
regulating the transport by rail of those liquids.



   WHEREAS, In the past decade, there has been an unprecedented
increase in the transport of crude oil in oil-by-rail cars due to the
North American oil boom, which, in combination with absent or
inadequate line infrastructure, has compromised the safety and
well-being of over 16 million Americans who live alongside
oil-by-rail shipping lines; and
   WHEREAS, Transportation of crude oil and petroleum products by
rail has more than doubled nationally since the beginning of 2011,
thereby requiring increased infrastructure to load and unload tank
cars transporting crude oil; and
   WHEREAS, There are currently several pending plans by refining
companies in California, including one to ship up to 70,000 barrels
of crude oil per day through northern California passing through
Roseville, downtown Sacramento, and Davis to a plant on Suisun Bay,
on the outskirts of Benicia; and
   WHEREAS, The Sacramento Area Council of Governments has identified
the Counties of Sutter, Yuba, Placer, El Dorado, Sacramento, and
Yolo as "Potential Derailment Risk Zones" for freight cars
transporting oil to and from this refinery, and there are many more
areas that will be potentially at risk; and
   WHEREAS, An environmental impact report conducted in northern
California concluded that those trains will present significant and
unavoidable risks of oil spill, environmental damage, and potential
loss of human life if any of them were to derail while en route to
the refinery; and
   WHEREAS, In the Federal Railroad Safety Act (FRSA) (49 U.S.C. Sec.
20101 et seq.), the United States Congress directed the Secretary of
Transportation to "prescribe and issue orders for every area of
railroad safety," whereby this federal power granted to railroad
companies preempts local and regional authority; and
   WHEREAS, This preemption of state and local laws is one of the
biggest hurdles for communities that want better and stronger
safeguards for crude-by-rail shipments that will pass through their
neighborhoods; and
   WHEREAS, Serious train incidents involving the transport of crude
oil are occurring on average once every seven weeks, and a Department
of Transportation report predicts that trains hauling crude oil or
ethanol will derail an average of 10 times per year over the next two
decades; and
   WHEREAS, Different kinds of crude oil have different health and
safety risks, as some can be nearly impossible to clean up in the
event of a spill and others have proved exceptionally explosive, and
it is likely that the crude oil coming to a northern California
refinery could consist of different types of crude oil; and
   WHEREAS, Most crude oil transported by rail in the United States
is currently carried in tank cars, known as DOT-111 tank cars, which
have been designated as substandard for shipping highly flammable
liquids; and
   WHEREAS, Federal law, the Fixing America's Surface Transportation
(FAST) Act (Pub. L. No. 114-94) requires that all DOT-111 cars used
to transport crude oil must be retrofitted to meet new safety
standards by March 2018 or be phased out; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature respectfully urges the
United States Department of Transportation, the Department of Energy,
and the Office of Management and Budget to expedite the rulemaking
and implementation processes for federal safety regulations governing
the transport by rail of flammable and combustible liquids,
including, but not limited to, the following: (1) the enforcement of
rail industry compliance with United States Department of
Transportation regulations requiring that state and local emergency
officials be notified of large crude oil-by-rail shipments; (2) the
development by rail companies of more robust emergency response
plans, and removal by producers of volatile elements, including
flammable natural gas liquids that may be present in Bakken crude oil
before it is loaded onto rail cars; (3) the rapid phase-out of
United States Department of Transportation DOT-111 tank cars from
crude oil-by-rail service; and (4) the installation of the system
known as Positive Train Control on all routes used to transport
lighter crude oils such as Bakken; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Legislature urges the President and Congress to
pass federal legislation this year mandating the critical public
safety measures described in the federal Crude-By-Rail Safety Act
(H.R. 1804) cosponsored by Congressman Mike Thompson, and the Bakken
Crude Stabilization Act of 2015 (H.R. 1679) sponsored by Congressman
John Garamendi, that were not addressed in the Fast Act, including
(1) the establishment of maximum volatility standards for crude oil
transported by rail; (2) the imposition of increased fines for
violation of those standards; and (3) the adoption of regulations by
the United States Department of Transportation requiring rail
carriers to develop a confidential close-call reporting system; and
be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the President of the United States, to the Speaker
of the House of Representatives, to the Minority Leader of the House
of Representatives, to the Majority Leader of the Senate, to the
Minority Leader of the Senate, and to each Senator and Representative
from California in the Congress of the United States.