Category: Blog Post

AgInfo.Net | May 3, 2017 Millennium Bulk Terminal Pt 1 by Bob Larson Program: Washington State Farm Bureau Report I’m Bob Larson. More regulations from an environmental impact statement could choke the Millennium Bulk Terminal proposed for Longview. The state Department of Ecology and Cowlitz County issued their final EIS last week, reaffirming that coal dust […]

Global application of a state regulatory policy unprecedented OLYMPIA — Representatives from business, labor and agriculture said today’s final environmental impact analysis from the state Department of Ecology is a major milestone for the project, but reflects a misapplication of a state law intended to mitigate local impacts. This morning, the Washington state Department of […]

Last week, the Washington Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Port of Vancouver and its lease for the proposed Vancouver Energy Terminal. In a 5-4 vote the court upheld a decision by the Port of Vancouver commissioners to extend Vancouver Energy’s lease in order to allow the Washington Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFESC) […]

This session, a bill was introduced in the Washington State House of Representatives that could finally help ease the state’s permitting woes. Substitute House Bill 1086, a bipartisan measure sponsored by Reps. Jim Walsh (R-Aberdeen), Brian Blake (D-Aberdeen), Larry Springer (D- Kirkland), JT Wilcox (R-Yelm), and Mark Hargrove (R-Covington), would encourage environmental permitting agencies to […]

Last month, lawmakers in Washington and Oregon introduced legislation that would further regulate the transportation of crude oil through the Pacific Northwest. House Bill 1611 and companion Senate Bill 5462 in Washington, along with Senate Bill 7 in Oregon, would give regulatory bodies’ greater influence over the railroads. These attempts at economic regulation echo efforts […]

From fiber optics to fire alarms, the nationally recognized NECA-IBEW Electrical Training Center in Portland has just about everything it needs to train the next generation of electrical workers. Everything, that is, except a major infrastructure project. About 20 Vancouver-area elected officials, port officials, economic development and labor leaders participated in a tour last Friday […]

Last week, BNSF Railway announced their capital expenditure plans for 2017, and it looks like Washington will be receiving a very large share. Ranking third overall on the list, Washington is poised to obtain $175 million in investments from the company to improve and replace rail lines, signifying a strong commitment from the Fort Worth, […]

By a strong margin, voters in Washington say they support shipping crude oil by rail through the Pacific Northwest, and that shipping products by rail is safe. A new poll shows strong support for efforts to improve the shipment of crude oil by rail over a complete ban on the energy source. It’s also worth […]

Rail continues to be the go-to method of transporting all kinds of commodities to and from Washington, and for those who had any doubts, the industry is safer than ever before. A recent op-ed in the Puget Sound Business Journal by John Lovenburg, vice president of Environment for BNSF Railway, touted improvements to rail emergency […]

Strengthen regulatory certainty in Washington—this was the loud and clear message coming from two new studies highlighted recently in a blog post in The Lens. The pair of studies, one from the Washington Research Council (WRC) and the other commissioned by the Washington Maritime Federation (WMF) and authored by former U.S. Maritime Administrator Dave Matsuda […]