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Last month, the city of Industry, Calif., provided the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County a conditional use permit for the Puente Hills Intermodal Facility.

The permit will allow the districts to move forward with a waste-by-rail system for L.A. County. Expected to be operational in 2011 or 2012, the intermodal facility will handle rail-ready, sealed containers of non-hazardous municipal solid waste. Containers will be loaded onto rail cars and transported to a regional landfill in Imperial County. The intermodal facility is designed to handle up to two trains — or about 8,000 tons of containerized refuse — daily.

To minimize air emissions and conserve fuel, the facility will employ a fleet of liquefied natural gas hostler trucks and locomotives equipped with advanced technology, the districts said. In addition, noise mitigation equipment will be installed in two neighborhoods adjacent to an existing rail line.

The districts plan to begin constructing the facility in 2009. A regional agency comprising 24 independent agencies, the districts serve more than 5 million people.