AG Curtis Hill calls on U.S. Department of Transportation to overrule Washington state law regarding crude oil

Attorney General Curtis Hill this week signed a letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation asserting that a law enacted by the State of Washington regarding crude oil transport interferes with federal law and threatens other states.

Earlier this year, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill that requires Bakken crude being shipped through the state by rail to have a lower vapor pressure limit. Attorneys general from North Dakota and Montana promptly petitioned the Trump administration, requesting the federal government overturn the law. The letter signed by Attorney General Hill supports the position of those two states.

“This state law will cause economic harm to energy-producing states,” Attorney General Hill said, “and it interferes with the federal government’s responsibility for regulating the rail transportation of hazardous materials.”

In the letter, a coalition of 10 attorneys general note that shipping energy products by rail is inherently an interstate effort. “States that have access to port cities are uniquely situated to harm landlocked states,” the letter says. Allowing states to ban the transportation of products like Bakken crude oil would effectively transfer national and international energy policy to a few coastal states.

The letter also points to the federal preemption statute that says states may not create laws that make compliance with federal law impossible or are an obstacle to compliance with federal law. Aside from an express waiver from the Secretary of Transportation, a state cannot avoid this expansive preemption. The Hazardous Materials Regulations are national standards and must be uniformly applied across jurisdictional lines.

The letter further explains that if Washington’s law is upheld, it is likely other states will implement their own laws rather than complying with a federal standard.

“If states can create new classifications of hazardous materials, a patchwork of laws will undermine the uniform federal law, and states with special geographic advantages will wield their newfound power to our disadvantage,” the letter concludes. “We urge you to prevent this law from becoming precedent before it affects states beyond Washington and hazardous materials beyond Bakken Shale oil.”