Hoping to combat health and safety problems posed by the fossil fuels industry, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office has drafted sweeping proposals that would restrict the activities of petroleum companies citywide.

The proposals are outlined in eight potential action items listed within an undated two-page internal memo, a copy of which The Oregonian obtained via public records request.

Among them are options to “place a ban on the storage of fossil fuels” within the city’s growth management plan, tax the shipment and storage of petroleum to seed an environmental remediation fund, tighten earthquake safety standards for fuel storage tanks and reaffirm the city’s ban on new fossil fuels infrastructure.

The memo included only brief summaries of the potential actions, and it states the city is still “evaluating its authority” to carry them out. It was written by aides to Wheeler and officials within the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, of which Wheeler is commissioner-in-charge.

The document casts fossil fuels as presenting “a significant risk to community safety and public health” and declares a “rapid transition” is necessary to move Portland onto renewable fuels. It gives timetables for moving ahead on the items between October 2019 and January 2020.

The memo also states that prior to an earthquake or other disaster, Portland “must take steps to ensure local resilience” by securing access to fuel and reducing the possibility of environmental contamination or major fires in the event of an oil spill.

Mayoral spokesman Tim Becker said the concepts were drafted to brief the mayor and city commissioners prior to a July public forum on Zenith Energy, a company that operates an oil terminal along the Willamette River in Northwest Portland.

Zenith has come under scrutiny in recent months for its role in facilitating the rise in Oregon’s crude oil shipments, as well as for steps it took to avoid an oil spill training exercise and for appearing to have provided false information to the mayor’s office.

The draft regulations are meant to address risks posed by “the Zenith property and other regional venues,” Becker said, adding that all are still under consideration.

The proposals mention Zenith only once, in the context of potential city action to submit comment to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality in opposition of renewing permits that allow Zenith and another company, Global Partners, to operate oil terminals in Portland and Clatskanie.

Megan Mastal, a spokeswoman for Zenith Energy, didn’t return a request for comment.

A spokeswoman for the Western States Petroleum Association, an industry group that sued the city over its petroleum regulations, declined to comment.

The lawsuit challenged zoning changes adopted by the City Council that prohibited construction of new fossil fuels infrastructure.

The Oregon Court of Appeals ultimately ruled that the city can have such restrictions but decided they were improperly written. One potential action listed in the mayor’s office memo is for the City Council to re-pass the restrictions in the proper format.

Nick Caleb, a climate-focused attorney with the Center for Sustainable Economy, said he views Wheeler’s list of proposals as a good starting point for regulating fossil fuels in Portland.

Some items, such as affirming the city’s intention to limit the use of fossil fuels, are straight-forward, Caleb said. Others, including the proposal to tax the storage or transfer of fuels, should be thoroughly investigated but may face legal challenges, he said.

Above all, Caleb said the unfolding climate crisis necessitates haste and “big risks even where there is some legal uncertainty.”

“These are mostly good action items, but we need to speed up the implementation,” he said.

— Gordon R. Friedman

GFriedman@Oregonian.com