The legislation -— which could trigger a legal battle with the railroad industry — was inspired by the rise of the Port of Albany as one of the busiest crude oil rail hubs in the country and anger from county officials who felt they were being left in the dark about oil-related mishaps that could threaten public safety.
It passed the County Legislature unanimously.
Companies are already required to report petroleum spills to state environmental regulators within two hours, but the new county law is more stringent, mandating that they alert county emergency management officials within 30 minutes of any spill or even "threat of a release."
County Executive Dan McCoy, who first proposed the sanctions last year, hailed the passage of the law, saying federal transportation safety officials anticipate one "major" spill every year over the next decade.
"In the event of a local spill, Albany County Emergency Management needs to be notified immediately to respond appropriately and quickly," McCoy said in a statement. "Albany County recognizes that each second we are not notified can potentially cost lives and fines and/or jail time for those who fail to comply underscore this."
A spill is defined as anything more than five gallons "where the crude oil comes in contact with the ground or a body of water."
Notably, the legislation does not specifically mention railroads, which are regulated by the federal government and have argued in the past that they are not subject to local dominion. But it applies to the owners or managers of a "container, transfer facility, or storage facility which is or was used for the storage or transfer of crude oil."
It defines transfer as "the movement of crude oil through any means from one storage container to another container."
Lawmakers substantially scaled back the civil penalties included in the original version of the legislation proposed by McCoy in July 2014. Those would have run as high as $250,000.
McCoy and Sheriff Craig Apple were particularly incensed by a June 2014 spill of about 100 gallons from a malfunctioning valve on rail tanker at the Port of Albany — a spill about which they were never told.
McCoy has aggressively pushed for increased safety requirements on the oil-bearing trains that traverse the county and imposed a moratorium on a proposed expansion of Massachusetts-based Global Partners oil processing facility at the port pending a health and safety review.
It was not immediately clear whether the railroads or other firms subject to the new reporting requirement would challenge it in court.
In the event of a lawsuit, County Attorney Thomas Marcelle said the fact that the law applies to more than just the railroads may prove significant but acknowledged the county is venturing into a legal gray area.
"I think this is an unsettled question. We're not telling them how fast they have to go, what kind of cars they can use ... none of that," Marcelle said. "The question really becomes whether the spill of the oil is part of regulating trains or is it part of the regulating the health, safety and welfare of the community."
If there is a challenge, Marcelle said, it would likely first come to a provision of the law that requires operators covered by it to post signs around their facilities alerting employees to the reporting requirement and providing the number to the county's emergency management office.
A company wouldn't have standing to contest the reporting requirement or resulting penalties until it was found to be in violation and sanctioned, he said — something the county, and presumably the oil firms, hopes never happens.
The law, which still needs McCoy's signature, would take effect 60 days after the county files it with the state.
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