Minnesota Pollution Control Agency 520 Lafayette Road North | St Paul, MNSS155-4194 | 651-296-6300 | 800-657-3864 | 651-282-5332 TIV | www.peastatemnass October 19, 2015 Mr. Derek Lampkin Manager Hazardous Materials Field Operations/Emergency Response BNSF Railway 80.44th Avenue Minneapolis, MN 55421 RE: Minn, Stat. § 115E Assessment of Prevention and Response Plan Dear Mr. Lampkin: Thank you for submitting Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway's (BNSF) Minn, Stat. § 115E Prevention and Response Plan (plan), and for your cooperation with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) as we reviewed the plan. Mr. Jim Stockinger, MPCA emergency responder, reviewed your plan for the Minn. Stat. § 115€ requirements as summarized by five categories listed below. In addition, your plan was reviewed for the integration of comments/concerns provided to BNSF by the MPCA on a previous version of the plan, as well as for the new railroad requirements from the 2014 amendments to Minn, Stat. § 1156. The MPCA has summarized the Minn. Stat. § 115E requirements into five categories. These requirements and the MPCA’s expectations regarding these five categories have been previously communicated to BNSF. ‘Company description Notification procedures Lines of authority Response personnel and equipment Identification and protection of resources During our review, the MPCA has identified that BNSF's plan contained insufficient information in four of the above categories which is necessary to assess the railroad’s readiness to protect the environment: ‘Company description; Notification procedures; Response personnel and equipment; and Identification and protection of resources. Again, many of these informational requirements and expectations were previously identified to BNSF in 2014 in the feedback the MPCA provided to address this 2015 plan update. ‘The MPCA requests and requires more detailed information under the four categories described in greater detail in the attached assessment. Please review the comments in the assessment and contact Mr, Stockinger at 651-757-2164 if you have any questions or issues. You must update your plan to adequately address all listed issues, and resubmit it to the MPCA in electronic form to Mr. Stockinger’s attention by November 10, 2015. We appreciate the time and effort your organization is putting into creating a quality plan that meets the requirements set forth in Minn, Stat. § 1156.Mr. Derek Lampkin Page 2 October 19, 2015 If you have any questions, please contact me at 651-757-2890 or by email at jane.braun @state.mn.us. Sincerely, je Slew Jane E. Braun Manager Closed Landfill & Emergency Response Section Remediation Division JEBiesa Enclosure ce: Kirk Koudelka, MPCA, Commissioners Office Kathy Sather, MPCA, Remediation DivisionAssessment of BNSF Railway's 115 Emergency Response Plan General Comments Overall the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF’s) plan provides an adequate template for a response to a discharge; however, several specific requirements of Minn, Stat. § 115€ are not contained within BNSF’s plan. Based on these omissions, BNSF’s plan cannot be considered compliant. Below is the assessment by Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) staf related to the specific elements of the Prevention and Response Plans that the MPCA has focused upon, Company Description ~ Insufficient Information Provided ‘+ The plan contains very limited description of the company’s demographics and facilities, and BNSF provides oniy very generalized information related to the hazardous materials being transported. The plan needs to include more detailed information on demographics, facilities, and commodities being transported along the system. * The MPCA expected detailed maps of BNSF's fixed facilities. BNSF provided maps for only one facility, Northtown Yard. These maps are small and difficult to read; however, they do appear to contain the pertinent receptor and response information. ‘+ BNSF provided Local Emergency Response Plans (LERP) for four fixed facilities: Northtown Terminal, Willmar Terminal, Superior/Duluth Terminal and the Dilworth Rail Yard. Again the descriptions of these facilities were inadequate. Furthermore, the MPCA is aware of other facilities that exist within BNSF’s system; no LERPs or descriptions of these facilities were included, and must be provided. ‘+The MPCA acknowledges that BNSF’s GIS may provide more details regarding their facilities. However, without seeing the capabilities and understanding the data behind this system, the MPCA is unable to determine the adequacy of this system to meet any plan requirements. BNSF may meet this requirement by providing MPCA staff with a live demonstration of the GIS capabilities. 2. Notification — Sufficient Information Provided; Revision Requested '* Appendix E: Governmental Notification Procedures is heavily written to federal requirements. Minnesota's reporting requirements are more stringent than the federal requirements. There are no reportable quantities for the state of Minnesota except for petroleum (five gallons) and petroleum is. defined in statute. The notification procedures as written are confusing and could lead to under- reporting in Minnesota. Revision for clarity is required. ‘© In Appendix E: Governmental Notification Procedures, the section on Minnesota's requirements cites the “Minnesota Water Pollution Act”. This should be changed to reference Minn, Stat. § 115.061 Duty to Notify and Avoid Water Pollution. * In Appendix E: Governmental Notification Procedures, the section for Minnesota, the “Spill Reporting Telephone Numbers” incorrectly lists the MPCA; however, the numbers listed are for the Minnesota State Duty Officer. Minn, Stat. § 115E.09 established the one call notification system for all of Minnesota’s State Agencies. The label should be changed to indicate the Minnesota State Duty Officer.Line of Authority - Sufficient Information Provided BNSF’s plan clearly documents the role and responsibilities for both BNSF’s personnel and its contractors. BNSF’s plan clearly documents BNSF's procedure for integration with local, state and federal responders. Personnel and Equipment - Insufficient Information Provided Appendices J and P provide an extensive list of contractors and equipment; the capabilities and likely roles of contractors are clearly identified, Appendix H provides a detailed list of BNSF staff trained for response. ‘The description of the two types of responders for BNSF personnel in Appendix | Hazardous Material Program section is confusing and somewhat unclear regarding the differences and capabilities of the “Responders” and “Advisors”. Revision for clarity is required. ‘The training requirements described in Appendix | do not include NIMS/ICS training. Numerous sections of the plan suggest that ICS will be used by BNSF and training in ICS is important for integration with the local command. A description of ICS, and indications of what roles have been trained, is required The plan does not contain any documentation related to the agreements BNSF has with its listed contractors. This was pointed out in the 2014 plan review and must be included. The plan does not contain any documentation related to the agreements BNSF has with cooperatives, WAKOTA and Red Wing CAER, for equipment listed. This was pointed out in the 2014 plan review and must be included. Minn, Stat. §115E.042, subd. 4 requires timeframes for response; there is no assessment provided of BNSF’s or their contractors’ response times. The addition of timeframes is required. BNSF indicates that training for local responders is provided by request. However, the plan contains no description of how BNSF will comply with Minn, Stat. § 115E.042, subd. 2. Training - Each railroad must offer training to each fire department having jurisdiction along the route of unit trains. Initial training under this subdivision must be offered to each fire department by June 30, 2016, and refresher training must be offered to each fire department at least once every three years thereafter. {A description of the training plan is required. Documentation of completed training must be provided upon request. BNSF provides no description of how they will comply with Minn. Stat. § 115E.042, subd. 3. Coordination - Beginning June 30, 2015, each railroad must communicate at least annually with each county or city emergency manager, safety representatives of railroad employees governed by the Railway Labor Act, and a senior fire department officer of each fire department having jurisdiction along the route of a unit train, to ensure coordination of emergency response activities between the railroad and local responders. Documentation of the communication plan is required. MPCA strongly encourages this be coordinated through the Minnesota Department of Public Safety and/or emergency response professional associations.Identification and protection of resources - Insufficient information Provided The plan indicates BNSF has a robust geographic information system GIS that can be used to identify receptors and local contacts anywhere along their system. The GIS may provide rapid access to pertinent receptor and response information. As pointed out in the 2014 review, without seeing the capabilities and understanding the data behind this system, the MPCA is unable to determine how this system meets the requirements of Minn. Stat. § 115E. BNSF needs to provide the MPCA with a demonstration of the GIS in order to assess BNSF’s readiness and ability to protect the environment.