EPA to host hearing on California's in-use locomotive rule

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will hold a public hearing March 20 and is seeking public comments on the California Air Resources Board's (CARB) proposed in-use locomotive regulation, which would mandate railroads to use only zero-emission locomotives in the state by 2030.

CARB is asking the EPA to authorize the regulation under the federal Clean Air Act. Written comments on the proposal are due April 22.

According to the EPA's notice in the Federal Register, the regulation's "in-use locomotive operational requirement" allows only locomotives with an original engine build date that's less than 23 years old to operate in California, excepting locomotives that meet the current cleanest EPA emission standards (currently Tier 4) for a locomotive of its type that are operated in a zero-emission configuration while in California, or that satisfy other specified conditions. The requirement goes into effect Jan. 1, 2030.

The rule also includes "spending account" provision that requires railroads and other locomotive operators to deposit funds into a restricted spending account to help pay for the zero-emissions locomotives.

Adopted last year, the regulation applies to all railroads, large and small. Both the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) and the Association of American Railroads (AAR) are suing CARB in federal court over the rule. The associations claim the rule would limit the useful life of railroads' locomotive fleet — over 25,000 units — and mandate their premature replacement with zero-emissions locomotives. Moreover zero-emissions technology has not been sufficiently tested in prototype or operational service and is not yet commercially available on the market, they say.

In the past, railroads have worked successfully with CARB to advance initiatives aimed at improving air quality, the associations have said. 

Last week, ASLRRA President Chuck Baker told a congressional panel that the CARB rule's financial obligations are so drastic that some short lines would be forced out of business.

"We calculate that this rule could force California short lines to try to make nearly half a billion dollars in motive power fleet investments over only a few years," Baker said, according to his written testimony. "That would be a steep change by multiple orders of magnitude above historical short line locomotive capital investment levels."

Baker also expressed concern that if EPA grants CARB its requested waiver, the regulation could proliferate nationwide.