Referred to: The Energy and Environment Committee (Chairman Bartels and

Legislators Greene, Parete, Ronk, and Wawro)

Chairman of the Energy and Environment Committee, Tracey A. Bartels, and

Legislators Archer, Greene, Gregorius, Loughran, Provenzano, and Wishnick offer

the following:

WHEREAS, crude oil is increasingly being transported along railroads from

production fields in the west to East Coast ports and refineries; particularly, the

Bakken shale oil operations of North Dakota and heavy crude fields of Alberta,

Canada; and

WHEREAS, the nationwide volume of crude oil transported by rail has

increased to more than 400,000 carloads in 2013 compared to 9,500 carloads in 2008,

a more-than 40-fold increase; as much as 20% of the highly volatile crude oil

extracted from the Bakken formation is transported through New York State

communities and ecosystems; and

WHEREAS, port facilities in and around Albany and along the Hudson River

already move over a million gallons of crude oil from railcar to barges and vessel per

day, with more capacity in development; by rail, at least two trains of crude oil head

south through the Hudson Valley every day, each carrying approximately 3 million

gallons of crude oil; and

WHEREAS, crude oil trains travel through Hudson Valley population centers,

including the city of Kingston and numerous villages and towns, and near critical

public infrastructure including hospitals, municipal buildings, water and sewer

treatment plants, public education facilities, and private businesses; and

WHEREAS, crude oil trains in the Hudson Valley pass over or run adjacent to

significant environmental resources, including state-designated “significant habitats”

in the Hudson River; and

- Page 2 -

Resolution No. 184 May 20, 2014

Urging the Federal Department Of Transportation, Through The

Federal Railroad Administration And The Pipeline And Hazardous

Materials Safety Administration, To Immediately Issue New Rules

Regarding The Transporting Of Crude Oil And Ensure An

Immediate, Open, Public Process For Updating Regional Train

Safety, Spill Response, Rail Operations, And Public Notification

Plans For All Energy By Rail Transportation

WHEREAS, there have been a series of crude oil train derailments in the

United States and Canada that have led to loss of life, loss of property, and

significant economic and environmental damage, including the loss of 47 lives in

Lac-Megantic, Quebec, in July 2013; and

WHEREAS, there have been at least four oil train derailments in New York

State since December 2013, including one in the Town of Ulster, and two joint

Federal-State "inspection blitzes" where dozens of safety problems were identified,

highlighting the chronic, widespread and acute risks facing our communities and

environment; and

WHEREAS, crude oil from the Bakken shale deposits has been proven to be

more explosive and more corrosive, and heavy, sinking oils from tar sands

formations much more viscous, than traditional crude oil, making the protection of

public safety and environmental health, as well as spill response and remediation,

more difficult and more dangerous; and

WHEREAS, on January 28, 2014, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo

signed an Executive Order recognizing that crude oil transportation by rail car and

river vessels presents an ongoing major risk to New York communities and the

environment, shortly after two safety recommendations by the National

Transportation Safety Board reached the same conclusion and called for major

system-wide reforms; and

WHEREAS, crude oil is mainly transported in DOT-111 rail tank cars

designed for general purpose liquid transport, not for hazardous cargos, despite the

fact that these railcars lack even the most basic safety measures (such as shields,

pressure vents, or thicker hulls) and despite repeated recommendations from the

National Transportation Safety Board over the past thirty years, most recently in

March, 2012, and January, 2014, that they not be used for crude oil transport; and

- Page 3 -

Resolution No. 184 May 20, 2014

Urging the Federal Department Of Transportation, Through The

Federal Railroad Administration And The Pipeline And Hazardous

Materials Safety Administration, To Immediately Issue New Rules

Regarding The Transporting Of Crude Oil And Ensure An

Immediate, Open, Public Process For Updating Regional Train

Safety, Spill Response, Rail Operations, And Public Notification

Plans For All Energy By Rail Transportation

WHEREAS, the volume of oil carried in a DOT-111 railcar is just small

enough to avoid triggering the development of a “comprehensive” response plan,

meaning that no collaboration must take place between the railroads and the towns

through which these rail cars transport crude, and that no official government

certification that there is adequate response capacity for emergencies is required; and

WHEREAS, DOT-111 railcars are unacceptably dangerous, particularly in

light of the woeful state of railroad enforcement, inspection, oversight, and safety,

highlighted by the testimony of the Chair of the Surface Transportation Board in

April, 2014, that “no community is prepared for a worst-case scenario” for crude oilby-rail disasters; now, therefore be it

RESOLVED, the Ulster County Legislature recognizes that the transport of

crude oil, especially Bakken and heavy crudes, by rail and vessel through our

community presents an immediate, significant risk for the people, environment, and

economy of our region; and, be it further

RESOLVED, the Ulster County Legislature urges Federal regulators of this

industry, State response agencies, and the railroad industry itself to also request

standards to address known, unacceptable, and outdated weaknesses of the DOT-111

railcars; and, be it further

RESOLVED, the Ulster County Legislature urges United States Department

of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx to immediately invoke his authority under

Title 49 of the United States Code, section 20104(a)(1), to issue an emergency order

banning the use of class DOT-111 cars for transporting crude oil; and, be it further

RESOLVED, the Ulster County Legislature urges the Federal Department of

Transportation, through the Federal Railroad Administration and the Pipeline and

Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, to immediately issue new rules

implementing the baseline National Transportation Safety Board safety

recommendations for crude oil transport by rail, and to immediately require the

development of federally-approved comprehensive response plans for any and all

railcars transporting crude oil; and, be it further

- Page 4 -

Resolution No. 184 May 20, 2014

Urging the Federal Department Of Transportation, Through The

Federal Railroad Administration And The Pipeline And Hazardous

Materials Safety Administration, To Immediately Issue New Rules

Regarding The Transporting Of Crude Oil And Ensure An

Immediate, Open, Public Process For Updating Regional Train

Safety, Spill Response, Rail Operations, And Public Notification

Plans For All Energy By Rail Transportation

RESOLVED the Ulster County Legislature urges the National Transportation

Safety Board to hold an immediate, open, public process for updating regional train

safety, spill response, rail operations, and public notification plans for all energy-byrail transportation; and, be it further

RESOLVED, that the Clerk of the Ulster County Legislature shall send copies

of this Resolution to Federal Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad

Administration, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, National

Transportation Safety Board, New York State Emergency Management Office, New

York State Department of Transportation, Amtrak, CSX Transportation, Northfolk

Southern Railway and Genesee & Wyoming Inc., United States Department of

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo,

New York State Senators John Bonacic, William Larkin, James Seward, and Cecilia

Tkaczyk, and New York State Assembly Members Kevin Cahill, Peter Lopez, Frank

Skartados and Claudia Tenney; and, be it further

RESOLVED, that the Clerk of the Ulster County Legislature shall send a copy

of this resolution to each Town Clerk in Ulster County and to the Clerk of the City of

Kingston for their memorialization,

and move its adoption.

 ADOPTED BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE:

 AYES: 22 NOES: 0

 (Absent: Legislator Provenzano)

Passed Committee: Energy and Environment on May 13, 2014

FINANCIAL IMPACT:

NONE

- Page 5 -

Resolution No. 184 May 20, 2014

Urging the Federal Department Of Transportation, Through The

Federal Railroad Administration And The Pipeline And Hazardous

Materials Safety Administration, To Immediately Issue New Rules

Regarding The Transporting Of Crude Oil And Ensure An

Immediate, Open, Public Process For Updating Regional Train

Safety, Spill Response, Rail Operations, And Public Notification

Plans For All Energy By Rail Transportation

STATE OF NEW YORK

 ss:

COUNTY OF ULSTER

This is to certify that I, the undersigned Clerk of the Legislature of the County of Ulster have compared the

foregoing resolution with the original resolution now on file in the office of said clerk, and which was adopted by said

Legislature on the 20th Day of May, 2014, and that the same is a true and correct transcript of said resolution and of the

whole thereof.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and seal of the County of Ulster this 23rd Day of May in

the year Two Thousand and Fourteen.

|s| Victoria A. Fabella

Victoria A. Fabella, Clerk

Ulster County Legislature