BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Trump administration is moving to block a Washington state law aimed at making oil trains safer.
The U.S. Department of Transportation determined that federal law preempts the state’s new law that requires crude from the Northern Plains have more of its volatile gases removed before it’s loaded onto rail cars.
Washington imposed the restrictions in response to numerous explosive oil train derailments, including one in the Columbia River Gorge in 2016.
The attorneys general for Montana and North Dakota argued the law effectively banned crude from their states.
A spokesperson for Gov. Jay Inslee says the state is considering its legal options.