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Inslee listens to a constituent.

Montage of Wing Point in Bainbridge Island and the Edmonds Ferry.

Jay Inslee: Washington's 1st Congressional District

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Lawmakers kill effort to reverse protections; Limits on oil-tanker traffic preserved

06 October 2005

Lawmakers from Washington state today won a victory in their fight to maintain longstanding limits on oil-tanker traffic in Puget Sound.

U.S. Reps. Dave Reichert, Jay Inslee, and Norm Dicks convinced House leaders to remove language from an energy bill that would reverse a 28-year-old federal law credited with reducing the risk of oil spills in the region.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton and Ranking Member John Dingell removed the provision in question from broader energy legislation in their so-called manager's amendment, a package of individual amendments agreed to by both Republicans and Democrats before a bill reaches the floor. Such changes are accepted in almost all cases because an agreement is reached before a vote occurs on the House floor. Barton and Dingell's amendment will be voted on tomorrow morning when the House considers the energy bill.

"This was a triumph of bipartisanship. In a very short period of time we came together across party lines to solve a problem," Reichert said. "I went to the Republican leadership and explained our intense opposition to this provision and they listened to what we had to say."

"Common sense prevailed today," commented Inslee, who has been fighting the proposed reversal of federal law since it first was taken up by the energy and commerce panel last week. "Because unlimited oil traffic means an unlimited risk of oil spills."

"It is encouraging that the Chairman of the Commerce Committee and the members of the Rules Committee understood the importance of this issue to Puget Sound area," added Dicks. "Since the provision had little impact on the ability to increase refining capacity in our state, we were concerned that it should not set a future precedent. This is a great victory for our delegation."

The provision in the energy bill would reverse a law authored by former U.S. Sen. Warren Magnuson that limits the capacity of Washington state oil refineries at 1977 levels, except for increases necessary to meet in-state fuel needs.

If reversed, tanker traffic could balloon without restrictions, upping the likelihood of a major oil spill in the Sound.