Sen. Ranker
From Paben
The state Senate yesterday passed a bill sponsored by Sen. Kevin Ranker, D-San Juan Island, that’s designed to prevent major oil spills in the Salish Sea and improve spill responses if there is a spill.
The legislation puts expanded and new responsibilities on oil companies operating in our waters, including the Salish Sea (this includes Puget Sound, Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Strait of Georgia), Columbia River and coastal waters, according to a Senate Democrats press release.
“They will need to take greater responsibility, at their own expense, for the safe travel of oil tankers, with updated contingency plans and proper equipment in place for a swift, effective response in the event of a spill,” the release states.
From the Senate Democrats:
Unlike the Gulf of Mexico, Puget Sound is a confined body of water, meaning an oil spill here cannot easily disperse into the open ocean. A large spill would stop marine traffic up and down the Sound. With the Puget Sound ports in Seattle and Tacoma forming the second-largest harbor in the country for container traffic, the economic ramifications could be severe.
“Our lives and livelihoods are so intertwined with our agricultural lands, forests, rivers, Sound and ocean that it’s no wonder estimated impacts are so high,“ Ranker stated. “Estimated impact from a major spill exceeds $10 billion and could affect over 165,000 jobs. We cannot afford to leave our livelihood and our future so unprotected.”
Ranker and Sen. Doug Ericksen, R-Ferndale, both voted for the bill. It appears that Reps. Kris Lytton, D-Anacortes, and Jeff Morris, D-Mount Vernon, both previously voted for a version of this bill. Reps. Vincent Buys, R-Everson, and Jason Overstreet, R-Blaine, both voted against it.
The House is expected to approve the bill, and the governor is expected to sign it, according to Senate Democrats.
Here is a summary of the bill, according to the fiscal note:
The bill would require Ecology to establish an oil spill response volunteer coordination system.
The bill would require industry to:
• Have rapid in-state access to the best available response equipment technologies;
• Fund and establish a vessels of opportunity system; and
• Participate in additional large scale oil spill readiness drills to test the oil spill contingency plans.
The bill would also require all covered vessels operating upon Washington waters to immediately notify Ecology of a vessel emergency that could result in an oil spill. The bill would also triple civil penalties for contingency plan violations, and triple the natural resource damage compensation schedule amounts for oil spills.
The bill would require some state Department of Ecology staff, as well rule making. Click here to see the fiscal note.
So… do Buys & Overstreet feel like Ericksen stabbed them in the back by voting for a Bill they voted against? Ericksen’s vote kinda leave Buys & Overstreet flapping in the breeze… unless being pro-oil spill is a new conservative value.
The bill passed by the Senate was very different than the bill that passed in the House. The amended version of the bill is a vast improvement on the version that Rep. Overstreet and Rep. Buys voted no on. The bill that passed the Senate was not sponsored by Sen. Ranker–it was sponsored by Rep. Rolfes. Sen. Ranker and I co-sponsored the Senate amendment. We already have the best system in the nation for oil spill response and we are already preparing for a worst case spill.
The amended bill will now return to the House for a vote.
Thanks for the clarification, Doug.
So, Vincent & Jason are going to “yes” on the amended Bill?
The knee jerk legislative chamber, rapid and aggressive response for more invalid legislation, shown best after the Exxon Valdez.
(2) The legislature further finds that during the fall of 2010 the
department of ecology compiled lessons learned from the Gulf of Mexico
spill and the Puget Sound partnership convened an oil spill work group
in an effort to ensure there is a rapid and aggressive response to a
large scale spill in Washington and that oversight of spills is well
coordinated among different levels of government and industry.
Best Knee Jerk ever seen;
United States v. Governor Gary Locke, and the confused Attorney General Christine Greguoir
9-0, for the (D)umb, (D)umber, and (D)umbest..
The 1st Congress, and the 1st President, confusing Olympia forever, leaving the elected behind the voter mandate, unchanged in a large legal bill of Greguoir incompentance after the knee jerk party was best explained explained by Justice Kennedy.
“The State of Washington has enacted legislation in an area where the federal interest has been manifest since the beginning of our Republic and is now well established. The authority of Congress to regulate interstate navigation, without embarrassment from intervention of the separate States and resulting difficulties with foreign nations, was cited in the Federalist Papers as one of the reasons for adopting the Constitution. E.g., The Federalist Nos. 44, 12, 64. In 1789, the First Congress enacted a law by which vessels with a federal certificate were entitled to “the benefits granted by any law of the United States.” Act of Sept. 1, 1789, ch. 11, §1, 1 Stat. 55. The importance of maritime trade and the emergence of maritime transport by steamship resulted in further federal licensing requirements enacted to promote trade and to enhance the safety of crew members and passengers. See Act of July 7, 1838, ch. 191, 5 Stat. 304; Act of Mar. 3, 1843, ch. 94, 5 Stat. 626. In 1871, Congress enacted a comprehensive scheme of regulation for steam powered vessels, including provisions for licensing captains, chief mates, engineers, and pilots. Act of Feb. 28, 1871, ch. 100, 16 Stat. 440….”
What “IS” a Republic?
Lets ask Mr. Ranker, about democracy’s classics in Olympia where “invalidity” is the “now well estabilished” speciality.
Many thanks for your time and energy to have put these things together on this blog site. Josh and I very much appreciated your insight through the articles on certain things. I recognize that you have several demands on your program so the fact that an individual like you took just as much time like you did to steer people really like us by means of this article is also highly treasured.
In the course of their tenure in Congress, Buys and Overstreet will fiind themselves at odds with their senior Senator. That just goes with being a freshman in the House. They will learn as they go along.
thanks for your time and energy to have put these things together on this blog site.