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8/10/2022
Mendocino Railway, a California short line that acquired the California Western Railroad and its Skunk Train after that company went bankrupt, has filed a federal lawsuit that seeks to challenge state and local agencies' attempts to regulate the railroad.
The short line is asking the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Eureka Division, to declare that efforts by the California Coastal Commission and city of Fort Bragg to impose state and local land-use, permitting and other pre-clearance requirements are preempted under federal law.
The short line wants the court to rule that its rail operations are subject only to federal regulation by the Surface Transportation Board.
"It is increasingly difficult to operate a railroad in California when both state and local agencies attempt to expand their regulatory powers into areas clearly reserved for federal authorities," said Robert Jason Pinoli, the railroad's president, in a press release.
The lawsuit is not intended to seek relief from the application of state land-use, permitting or other regulations that apply to Mendocino Railway’s non-rail property in Fort Bragg, railroad officials said.
The railroad wants to develop land it acquired via eminent domain from the Georgia-Pacific paper company. The city of Fort Bragg is seeking a court order that declares Mendocino Railway an excursion railway, which would not have the power of eminent domain, the Fort Bragg Advocate-News reported.
The short line operates in Mendocino, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, Ventura and Yolo counties, and offers a mix of freight, passenger, tourism and filmmaking services. Its CWR and Skunk Train have been operating through the redwood forests of Northern California’s Mendocino County since 1885.