Bill Opposing Coal Through Northern California Passes State Senate

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istock_81220_traintracks

HaraldBiebel/iStock

A bill to stop a coal train from going through the North Coast has passed the State Senate. Senate Bill 307 passed 33-2 and now goes to the state assembly. If passed, the bill would bar the state from spending money to initiate improvements on the now-defunct North Coast rail line north of Willits and also prevent the state from spending state funds on any potential new bulk coal terminal facilities at the Port of Humboldt. The bill was written by State Senator Mike McGuire in response to a secretive plan by North Coast Railroad Company to transport coal from the Rockies to Humboldt Bay for overseas export. Senator McGuire called the proposed coal train “an environmental disaster in the making.”