North Dakota, Washington state at odds over oil train rules

BISMARCK (AP) — North Dakota officials are pressuring the state of Washington to back off from legislation requiring oil shipped by rail to have more of its volatile gases removed, urging the governor to veto the bill and promising a lawsuit if he doesn’t.

The bill awaiting Gov. Jay Inslee’s signature requires a lower vapor pressure limit for crude shipped by rail than either North Dakota requirements or industry standards. Violations could result in fines of up to $2,500 per day per rail car.

That “would result in a de facto ban of crude-by-rail traffic from North Dakota to refineries throughout the Pacific Northwest,” North Dakota’s three members of Congress said in a letter sent Friday imploring Inslee to veto the bill that North Dakota officials worry could hamper the energy industry of the nation’s No. 2 crude producer.

Inslee, who has made climate change a focus of his 2020 Democratic presidential campaign, indicated in a statement to The Associated Press on Tuesday that he’s likely to sign the bill.

“It’s pretty striking that the governor of the state of Washington is seeking to protect the people of North Dakota from oil spills, more than their members of Congress,” he said.

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