This plant has not been operating as a refinery for a few years. I wonder if they need permits only for the, presumably, new unloading facilities or if some are required for restarting the crude distillation unit(s).
http://www.bakersfieldcalifornian.com/business/x1250044573/Alon-refinery-shutting-down-again-jobs-impact-unclear
This announcement is a year old, but I have not see it on here.
http://www.kochind.com/files/103111FHRKSTActivateCrudePlans.pdf
Permits for construction and such. Typical for anything beyond painting the house. California also has significantly stronger requirements for everything so the permits will also likely include environmental impact studies.
Well, we sure as heck are shipping more oil by rail from North Dakota.
Oil Cans are on the increase, and new loading facilities are being built in this state.
ROAR
Same here in Aurora, IL (metro Chicago)…we are seeing many more crude oil trains (solid unit trains of tank cars carrying crude oil only) heading east loaded on the old Q triple track main line and westbound empty at other times.