All,
Bellow please find a copy of Governor Patrick’s budget
amendment relative to ethanol as well as his message to the legislature.
Best,
Tim
Tim W. Snyder
Chief of Staff
Office of Senator Pat Jehlen
2nd Middlesex District
State House, Room 513
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deval l. patrick
Governor
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THE COMMONWEALTH
OF MASSACHUSETTS
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT
STATE
HOUSE • ROOM 271
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02133
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ATTACHMENT H
July 12, 2013
To
the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives:
Pursuant to Article LVI, as amended
by Article XC, Section 3 of the Amendments to the Constitution, I am returning
to you for amendment Section 81 of House Bill No. 3538, “An Act Making
Appropriations for the Fiscal Year 2014 for the Maintenance of the Departments,
Boards, Commissions, Institutions and Certain Activities of the Commonwealth,
for Interest, Sinking Fund and Serial Bond Requirements and for Certain
Permanent Improvements.”
Section 81 would prohibit the Department of
Environmental Protection from issuing a Chapter 91 license to ethanol storage
or blending facilities in densely populated areas of the state, which would
have the effect of significantly constraining the transport of ethanol in
Massachusetts. It is critical we ensure
that ethanol and other hazardous materials are transported safely throughout
the Commonwealth and that mitigation measures are in place in the event of an
incident. However, as currently drafted
Section 81 would interfere with marine terminal operations and potentially
impact existing licenses throughout the state.
Consequently, I propose to amend the section to ensure it is more
precisely tailored to effectuate its underlying purpose. My amendment would prohibit for two years the
addition of new routes of ethanol transport by rail in certain port areas,
allowing time for the related safety issues to be more fully considered.
Additionally, as drafted Section 81 would not
address the kinds of mitigation measures that are necessary in densely
populated areas of the state, particularly environmental justice communities,
through which ethanol passes by rail. To
address this issue, I propose to direct the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) to
develop a comprehensive ethanol transport response plan for all municipalities
through which ethanol
travels by rail. Under my proposed
amendment, MEMA would work with relevant local, state and federal officials to
develop a comprehensive plan addressing areas such as safety, training,
communications and essential infrastructure improvements, as well as any
necessary mitigation measures.
For these reasons, I recommend that
Section 81 be amended by striking out the text and inserting in place thereof
the following text:-
SECTION 81.
A. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the
contrary, no license shall be issued under section 14 of chapter 91 of the
General Laws, as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, permitting the
transport of ethanol by rail to bulk storage and transfer facilities in the East
Boston, Revere or Chelsea Creek Designated Port Areas until July 1, 2015.
B.
Notwithstanding
any general or special law to the contrary, the status of licenses issued under
section 14 of said chapter 91 of the General Laws before the effective date of
this section shall not be impacted by this section.
C. (a)
Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the Massachusetts
emergency management agency, in this section called MEMA, shall develop a
comprehensive ethanol transport response plan for all municipalities that accommodate the
transport of ethanol by rail. The
response plan shall be developed in consultation with the Massachusetts
department of transportation, the division of fire services, the department of
environmental protection, the department of public health, the public safety
departments of the impacted municipalities, the federal Department of
Homeland Security, the Federal Railroad Administration, the federal Surface
Transportation Board, and other relevant federal, state and local agencies and
entities that would be involved in emergency response within the specified
communities.
(b) The
response plan shall include, but not be limited to, the following: (1) training
related to ethanol and flammable gases; (2) identification of critical
facilities along the potential ethanol transportation routes; (3) development
of a regional foam response task force, including an inventory and analysis of
the amount of alcohol-resistant foam needed to combat an ethanol related
accident and the vehicles and equipment needed to utilize the foam effectively;
(4) potential evacuation routes and procedures for when the public should be
advised to shelter in place; (5) methods to communicate with limited English
language speakers in the event of an incident; and (6) necessary improvements
to the transportation and rail facilities to be utilized during ethanol
transport.
(c) On or
before October 1, 2014, MEMA shall file the response plan with the joint
committee on public safety and homeland security. The response plan may also include any
legislative recommendations that MEMA considers appropriate. The response plan shall include a methodology
under which any entity transporting ethanol by rail shall be assessed to
provide funding for the development of the response plan and the training,
equipment and
any other mitigation measures as recommended by the
response plan. Impacted municipalities and agencies shall pursue federal
grants as necessary in order to subsidize, to the extent feasible, the cost of
the training and equipment recommended by the response plan. MEMA
may issue regulations to establish the means and methods by which it will
assess entities transporting ethanol by rail to fund the
development of the response plan and the mitigation measures recommended
by MEMA in the response plan.
Respectfully
submitted,
From: Ellin Reisner <reisn...@gmail.com>
To: S_T...@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, July 12, 2013 11:03 AM
Subject: [S_T_E_P] Fwd: [stop-ethanol-trains-in-greater-boston] Fwd: Urgent: Ethanol saga not over yet
Please read the message s below and call the Governor's office today to ask him not to veto or substitute an amendment on preventing ethanol blending at the Global Partners facility.
Ellin
