With federal mandates set to dramatically expand the use of ethanol over the next few years, the city of Alexandria’s battle with Norfolk Southern over a West End ethanol loading facility could be at the forefront of a national effort to grapple with difficult land use issues. Alexandria is certainly not the last locality to face dealing with such a facility, and other communities could use the city’s actions as a model for their own response in the future. That’s why federal regulators are carefully considering how to create a balance between the city’s power to control land use within its own borders and the railroad’s right to move dangerous chemicals through Alexandria.

"All indications are that we are going to be seeing more ethanol moving through communities, not less," said Charles Nottingham, chairman of the Federal Surface Transportation Board, this week during a public hearing on Alexandria’s situation held in D.C.

City leaders asked the federal regulators for an exemption to rules that allow the railroad to act with immunity, permitting a contractor to set up an "ethanol transloading facility" with no oversight by local officials. The board did not make a ruling on that issue this week, but they did hear testimony from a variety of individuals on proposed policy changes that govern companies such as Norfolk Southern, particularly those who wish to initiate the kind of facility now in operation less than 300 feet from residents of Cameron Station. Alexandria Vice Mayor Del Pepper suggested that the board members consider requiring railroads to solicit public comment before initiating operations.

"Under existing rules, state and local governments have the right to receive notice and to comment when a railroad proposes to abandon a railroad line in their community," said Pepper. "Doesn’t it make sense that we should have an opportunity to comment when a new and potentially hazardous facility like this is going to be opened as well?"

ANOTHER PROPOSAL that emerged from Tuesday’s Surface Transportation Board meeting would require railroad companies to submit extensive plans to minimize potential risks to surrounding communities before they are allowed to begin operations. This kind of a policy change might prevent the kind of problem that emerged in Alexandria this spring, when Norfolk Southern began operations seven weeks before the Alexandria Fire Department had the kind of equipment that would be needed to protect residents from danger.

"If the STB were able to provide, in effect, a checklist of items that were a prerequisite before an ethanol transloading facility could begin service, I believe it would significantly reduce the danger in urban areas, especially to the most vulnerable populations," said U.S. Rep. Jim Moran (D-8) in written testimony provided to board members Tuesday.

Moran said he felt the Surface Transportation Board, created in 1995 as the successor to the Interstate Commerce Commission, was "uniquely situated to be innovative in helping to protect the complex public interests." Now that testimony on the issue has concluded, the three-member board will now confront a difficult balancing act — weighting public safety considerations against a steadily growing need for transloading facilities. Moran asked board members to create a framework for ethanol regulation similar to recent action taken by regulators to oversee the transportation of solid waste.

"I am concerned because, under current law, no board license is required in the rapidly expanding issue of transload facilities," said Moran. "That means there is no trigger for the STB to conduct a formal environmental or public safety review, nor to impose specific public safety or homeland security, much less environmental conditions prior to putting these facilities into operation."

ACCORDING TO THE Department of Agriculture, ethanol production in the Untied States climbed to almost 5 billion gallons in 2006, up nearly 1 billion gallons from 2005. To account for this increase, the ethanol industry has been engaged in an effort to step up the pace of expansion, with production expected to top 10 billion gallons by 2009. If global oil prices remain in their current range, that figure could triple within a decade. Because most ethanol is produced in the Midwest and must be transported by rail and truck, the next few years are likely to see a significant increase in rail carriers seeking to construct transloading facilities. As a result, the outcome of Alexandria’s dispute with Norfolk Southern may well have an influence far beyond Cameron Station.

"We know there are going to be other Alexandrias across the county," said Frank Shafroth, Moran’s chief of staff.

Although creating public disclosure opportunities and safety mandates could benefit future jurisdictions, Alexandria has to live with the existing Norfolk Southern transloading facility — at least for now. In the next few weeks, members of the Surface Transportation Board will consider a petition filed on June 17 by City Attorney Ignacio Pessoa that seeks a declaratory order to subject the transloading facility to the city’s special-use permitting process. Meanwhile, Norfolk Southern filed a federal lawsuit challenging the city’s "haul route permit," which restricts the number of trucks and the hours of operation that the company would be allowed to operate. City officials maintain that the ethanol transloading facility is too dangerous to be located so close to school children and residents.

"This is just not an appropriate use," Vice Mayor Pepper told board members during the hearing.

City Council members say they would like to shut down operations at the transloading facility by using Alexandria’s zoning authority, which is currently preempted by federal law under a February ruling of the Surface Transportation Board. Now that board members have heard the city’s concerns, they are now expected to issue a ruling on the city’s petition in the coming weeks.