CHAPTER 383
FORMERLY
SENATE BILL NO, 257
AS AMENDED BY
HOUSE AMENDMENTS NOS. 2, 3, 5, 7, 8 & 9
AN ACT TO ESTABLISH A DELAWARE DEEPWATER OIL TERMINAL COMMITTEE, AND PROVIDING AN APPROPRIATION THEREFOR.
WHEREAS, the environmental quality of the marine and coastal resources of the State of Delaware are invaluable; and
WHEREAS, the marine and coastal resources of the State must be maintained, enhanced and preserved for future generations; and
WHEREAS, the marine and coastal resources of the State are a vital basis for the well-being of the nation's fisheries resources; and
WHEREAS, the industrialized society of the State and also the Delaware Valley requires petroleum for its industrial activity, commerce, power, transportation, agriculture, defense, health, education and recreation; and
WHEREAS, Delaware Bay is one of the major areas of ingress into the nation for such products; and
WHEREAS, Delaware was blessed by a natural event which provided a deep marine channel from the ever dangerous Atlantic Ocean, where the waves sometimes exceed fifty feet, into the shelter of our protective Bay, where the waves seldom exceed six feet; and
WHEREAS, engineering and technology have made possible the construction of very large tanker ships which provide significant economies in the transport of petroleum from far away lands to our shores; and
WHEREAS, these very large tanker ships can enter our protective Bay via this natural channel and discharge their cargoes of energy, vital to our economy, defense, health, transportation, power, agriculture and recreation; and
WHEREAS, new and innovative methods have been and are being developed to more safety control and regulate the transfer of petroleum from these very large tanker ships to the shore.
NOW, THEREFORE:
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of
Delaware:
Section 1. A Delaware Deepwater Terminal Committee, consisting of fifteen members, shall be established to make a complete investigation and study of the advisability, feasibility, and of all safety aspects pertaining to the construction, in the Delaware Bay, of a State-owned, operated, leased or franchised, regulated, controlled, and enclosed Deepwater Oil Terminal.
The study shall include:
Legal complications with Federal, State, and County laws, ordinances, compacts, rules, regulations, and jurisdiction of regulatory agencies;
Economic impact for Delaware, the Delaware Valley, and Mid-Atlantic States, and the possibility of revenue bond issues to pay for construction of an enclosed Deepwater Oil Terminal with attendant equipment, including dredging, tugboats, pipelines, storage facilities, pumping stations, and land right-of-way;
Environmental impact for marine and coastal areas of Delaware Bay, including tidal streams, marshes, wetlands, fishing grounds, spawning areas, shellfish beds, feeding areas, silting, current cleansing of deep channel, effect of pipelines, natural recovery from man's intrusion into the bottom of the Bay and onto the shore land. The foregoing shall include the Lewes and Rehoboth Canal and Rehoboth Bay to determine what precautions and/or safety measures should be exercised;
Possibilities of a contract with the Delaware Valley refineries, including the probable demands in volume, cost estimates, savings, guarantee of usage, guarantee of supply, and guarantee that users will conform to Delaware's regulations, controls, safety practices and inspections in both the controlled channel to the enclosed port and while in the enclosed port. Probabilities that refineries will contract for the pipelines through Delaware into neighboring states, and probable contracts with the Penn Central Railroad for rights-of-way, which pipelines would be built and regulated by Delaware safety code for pipelines.
Safety considerations shall command the Committee's attention with particular regard to a controlled channel from the Atlantic Ocean into the enclosed port.
(e) The advisability of having:
the channel clearly marked with lights and/or electronic fail-safe devices;
navigational guide signals such as are used in airport approach controls;
pilots from the Delaware River Pilots Association;
use of tugboats for assistance in turning and control.
Section 2. The Committee shall consider pipeline construction from the enclosed port to the short and inland to some point near the Penn Central Railroad, where storage facilities may be constructed and owned by either the State or the refineries. The storage facilities shall be designed and constructed to blend with the landscape and not be unduly esthetically displeasing to neighbors.
Section 3. The Committee shall solicit expert advice as to the proper and safe design of a port. The advice shall extend only to preliminary design, and not engineering design or construction. It is the intent of this legislation that the Committee shall be a fact-finding committee only, and it shall not formulate nor recommend legislation.
Section 4. The Committee shall make every effort to provide the General Assembly and the Governor with a report by April 1, 1975, and offer their recommendations.
Section 5. The Deepwater Terminal Committee shall consist of four members of the General Assembly, two members from each House and two members from each political party; two persons with known expertise and reputation as environmentalists; three members from the College of Marine Studies of the University of Delaware; and two citizens from each county. The Governor, in consultation with the leadership of both Houses of the General Assembly, shall appoint all members of the Deep-water Terminal Committee except the three members from the College of Marine Studies, and shall designate a member of the Committee as its Chairman. The College of Marine Studies shall appoint the three members representing that College on the Committee. No more than nine members of the Committee shall be from one political party. Any person who declines to announce his political affiliation shall also be eligible for appointment as a member of the Committee.
Section 6. The full resources of all State agencies shall be available to the Deepwater Terminal Committee, such as the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, the University of Delaware, and especially its College of Marine Studies, and the Delaware Bay and Bridge Authority, and every agency which receives any State, Federal or local funds.
Section 7. The Committee shall have the power to issue subpoenas requiring the attendance of such witnesses and the production of such records, books, papers and documents necessary for the Committee to accomplish the purpose set forth herein. Subpoenas may be signed and oaths administered by any member of the Committee. Subpoenas so issued may be served by Committee employees or by a constable attached to a Court in the county where the person to be served resides.
Section 8. The nine member Deepwater Oil Terminal Committee herein established shall underwrite the cost of such study from whatever source or sources they can ascertain such funds; provided, however, that the necessary funds to perform the study herein authorized shall not come from any public funds of this State.
Approved June 25, 1974.