HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-102-12/03/2013-SUPPORTING THE RETROFIT OF EXISTING DOT-111 RAIL TANK CARS THAT TRANSPORT PACKING GROUPS I AND II HA RESOLUTION 2013-102
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
SUPPORTING THE RETROFIT OF EXISTING DOT-1 I I RAIL TANK CARS
THAT TRANSPORT PACKING GROUPS I AND II HAZMAT
BEFORE THE PIPELINES AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS SAFETY ADMINISTRATION
WHEREAS, rail freight operations impact thousands of villages, towns, cities and
counties across all regions of the United States of America; and
WHEREAS, safe rail operations are of critical interest to local units of government based
on: (1) the need to prevent catastrophic accidents like the one that occurred in Lac-Megantic,
Canada in July 2013; (2) the responsibility local governments have to provide emergency
response units to manage the impact of rail accidents and derailments in communities across the
country; and (3) the significant costs associated with clean-up, environmental remediation,
medical expenses, other personal injury damages or wrongful death claims for community
residents that have the potential to surpass the rail industry's ability to pay for them; and
WHEREAS, ethanol and crude oil are a large and exponentially growing segment of
hazardous materials being shipped across the nation via freight rail, which will continue to be a
preferred transport mode of choice for this hazmat; and
WHEREAS,.since 1991, it has been known to industry and federal regulators that there
are safety-related defects in the DOT-I I I tank car that serves as the primary tank car used in the
shipping of these hazardous flammable materials via freight rail; and
WHEREAS, the federal Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
(PHMSA) regulates the safe transport of hazardous materials by railroads in the United States;
and
WHEREAS, the business decisions of railroad companies and hazardous material
shippers impact the safety, environment, and emergency response system in the communities in
which the freight railroads traverse, but state and local governments have no ability to regulate
railroad operations; and
WHEREAS, industry has failed to act in the last two decades to correct the known_
defects in DOT-I I I tank cars, and has waited until 2011 to seek government approval to upgrade
safety standards for newly manufactured DOT-I I I tank cars; and
WHEREAS, a tank car expert from the National Transportation Safety Board testified in
2012 that a retrofit of existing tank cars is necessary because co-mingling existing unsafe DOT-
I I I tank cars with newly manufactured ones "does nothing to improve the safety in an accident';
and
WHEREAS, the petition for rulemaking submitted to PHMSA on April 3, 2012 by
Barrington, Illinois and the Illinois TRAC Coalition reflects the point of view of local
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governments, which is supported by recommendations of the National Transportation Safety
Board, that changes are needed in federal regulations and/or law to better protect public safety
relative to DOT-I I I tank car safety and train consist dissemination; and
WHEREAS, the April 3, 2012 petition provides a compelling rationale for making long
overdue changes in safe rail operations vis-a-vis retrofitting existing DOT-1 I I tank cars; and
WHEREAS, the April 3, 2012 petition demonstrates that the cost of a DOT-I I I tank car
fleet retrofit for existing cars would be of nominal expense over the remaining average thirty-
year lifespan for the existing fleet, and
WHEREAS, PHMSA issued on September 6, 2013 (78 Federal Register 54849-54861)
an Advance Notice of Rulemaking seeking by November 5, 2013 the input from local and state
governments on the issue of retrofitting the DOT-111 tank car.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
FORT COLLINS as follows:
Section 1. That the City Council hereby supports the April 3, 2012 petition of
Barrington, Illinois and the Illinois TRAC Coalition seeking new regulations to retrofit existing
DOT-I I I tank cars used to transport Groups I and II Packing Materials.
Section 2. That this Resolution shall be sent to the Pipelines and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration in Docket No. PHMSA-2012-0082 (HM-251) urging expeditious action
on the joint Barrington and Illinois TRAC Coalition April 3, 2012 Petition No. P-1587.
Passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the Council of the City of Fort Collins this 3rd
day of December, A.D. 2013.
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