OLYMPIA—The Senate and House have agreed that trains hauling nitrogen fertilizer won’t have to add crew members, a proposal that farm lobbyists warned would have raised freight costs for growers.
“The Legislature took to heart our main concern and addressed it in a way that makes us happy,” Washington Farm Bureau associate director of governmental relations Scott Dilley said.
Lawmakers continue to work on legislation motivated by the dramatic growth of Bakken crude oil traveling through the state by rail, vessel and pipeline.
As the wide-ranging bill has evolved, rail-dependent agricultural has been drawn into the debate over how to prevent and respond to train disasters.
The chambers still differ on whether short-line railroads, many of which haul primarily agricultural products, should pay higher taxes so that the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission can hire more inspectors.
The Senate on Wednesday shielded short-line rail companies from a tax increase, which would still apply to Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Union Pacific. Meanwhile, the House on Tuesday elected to apply the tax hike to all railroads.
The tax on gross intrastate revenues would rise from 1.5 percent to 2.5 percent.
The Senate’s move was encouraging, said Patrick Boss, a lobbyist for a coalition of short-distance railroads. “Hopefully, it will get people to refocus on what the bill is all about,” he said.
The short-line railroads argue that they don’t haul oil cross-country and that their taxes shouldn’t go up because of the Bakken boom.
“We’re glad to see legislators waking up and see there’s something wrong with that,” Boss said. “The bill, for the most part, is about oil trains,
and for the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission to say it’s about all kinds of rail-safety issues is discombobulating.”
The WUTC says its rail inspectors are stretched too thin and that short-line railroads would benefit if there were more inspections, especially for crossings.
“While there’s a lot of attention on the long-distance hauling of petroleum products, there are still safety needs both on long-distance and short-distance railroads,” said Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon, D-Seattle. “Those (short-distance) railroads are benefiting from the work being done to improve the crossings. I believe it’s appropriate they bear some portion of the cost.”
Rep. Joe Schmick, R-Colfax, said farmers ultimately would bear the expense if freight rates rise in response to the tax increase.
“Any costs that are increased cannot be passed on. The grower pays them,” he said.
Senate Republicans beat back a move by Sen. Steve Conway, D-South Tacoma, to renew his proposal to add at least one crew member to trains carrying “hazardous materials.”
The extra crew member would be positioned to decouple rail cars in the case of an emergency, Conway said. Firefighters aren’t qualified to do it, he said.
“It’s important to have the right personnel on the trains themselves,” Conway said.
Senate Majority Leader Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, said the requirement would apply to trains hauling anhydrous ammonia, which he said has been transported without incident in Washington since 1952 and should not get entangled in an oil safety bill.
He called anhydrous ammonia “the fundamental building block of agriculture” and Conway’s amendment “an assault on agriculture.”
“Every form of agriculture relies on nitrogen fertilizer — every crop,” he said. “If you want to have (larger) crew sizes, take your collective bargaining and bargain for it with the carrier, but leave agriculture out of it.”
Conway’s amendment failed on a 26-21 vote.
Lawmakers from both parties say they want to pass an oil safety bill this year, but the Senate and House remain apart on many details. The regular session ends April 26.
Source: www.capitalpress.com