Railroad Industry Sues to Block California Pollution Rules

Two rail industry groups have filed suit against California for a proposed rule that would set a 30-minute idling limit for locomotives in the state and would require railroads to set aside funds to upgrade to cleaner locomotive technologies.

Announced in April by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the rule is expected to go into effect in October, and would also require that switch, industrial, and passenger locomotives built in 2030 or after will be required to operate in zero-emissions configurations while in California, and in 2035 for freight line haul.

However, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) and the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA), on behalf of their members, have now filed suit against CARB in the Eastern District of California over that In-Use Locomotive regulation.

According to the rail groups, the CARB rule would limit the useful life of today’s fleet of more than 25,000 locomotives and mandate their premature replacement with zero-emissions units using technology that has not been sufficiently tested in prototype or operational service and is not commercially available on the market today. 

“While the urgency to act is real and unquestionable, CARB uses unreasonable, flawed assumptions to support a rule that will not result in emissions reductions,” AAR President and CEO Ian Jefferies said in a release. “Railroads have urged CARB to take the proven path of collaboration and build on our shared successes, but those arguments were rejected out of hand. Railroads are working toward reliable, efficient zero-emissions technologies; however, they cannot simply be willed into immediate existence by policymakers.”

Based on those arguments, the rail groups’ lawsuit says the federal government—not individual states—has exclusive authority to regulate rail operations, due to the interconnected nature of rail operations and the need for uniform regulatory policies. The lawsuit asks courts to freeze the CARB rule until that issue can be settled.

However, CARB says that the costs of replacing the current generation of locomotives will be offset by the health savings of preventing premature deaths and emergency room visits and hospitalizations. CARB estimates that the emissions reductions from its new regulation are expected to be equal to almost double those emitted by all passenger vehicles in the state between now and 2050.

Source: SupplyChainQuarterly.com