The following is a release from Rep. Jessyn Farrell’s office:

The Oil Transportation Safety Act cleared its last legislative hurdle on Friday when HB 1449, sponsored by Rep. Jessyn Farrell, was voted out of the House with a 95-1 vote. Farrell represents Kenmore from the 46th District.

The bill requires advance notice of oil train shipments so that emergency responders can be prepared in the case of an accident. The bill also funds safety and planning measures by subjecting oil train shipments to the barrel tax, currently only paid for oil that arrives on ships.

“After two years of working with stakeholder groups, Governor Inslee, and members of both parties, I am pleased that we were able to come to an agreement and pass this bill,” Farrell said. “We all want to protect our communities and this bipartisan agreement makes meaningful advances towards protecting the health and safety of our families, first responders, waterways, and natural landscapes.”

“Although this bill begins to address the urgent need for more safety surrounding oil transportation in our state, it is only a first step,” Farrell continued. “As the oil transportation industry shifts, we need to stay ahead of the changes while still working to ensure our marine safety program remains successful.”

“Today’s vote demonstrates that protecting our communities from devastating oil-train explosions and spills has strong bipartisan support,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine, who is also Chair of the Safe Energy Leadership Alliance. “By standing together across city, county, state, and national borders, we are able to speak with a unified voice when we call upon federal regulators and oil companies to take immediate action to prevent the type of disasters we’ve seen across North America.”

“While I remain extremely disappointed that language was blocked which would have protected Puget Sound from a devastating oil spill, this bill does go a long way toward protecting our communities from dangerous oil trains,” said Sen. Kevin Ranker, D-Orcas Island. “Politics has to be the art of ‘yes’ and while this compromise bill does not go far enough, it gets us closer to our ultimate goal.”

The last few years have seen a sharp increase in the amount of crude oil carried through Washington on trains. The increase in crude oil shipments creates significant risks to the region’s people, economy, and environment. A study by the U.S. Department of Transportation released in February predicts that oil train derailments will occur 10 times a year over the next two decades, cause more than $4 billion in damages, and put densely populated areas at risk. Since mid-February of this year, there has been a rash of oil train derailments, including one in West Virginia which forced hundreds of families out of their homes, sparked massive fires and leaked oil into a nearby river.

The Oil Transportation Safety Act now goes to the Governor’s desk for his signature.