California’s air quality regulators are running into barriers with implementing aggressive new rules for locomotives. State and regional regulations aim to clean up local air pollution and transition the industry to a zero-emission future.
But the rollout has been met with litigation, technology hurdles and the collapse of a high-profile deal over a voluntary pathway. Agricultural groups—like many industries caught up in the sweeping regulations—worry about the implications to a small subset of operators as California attempts to rein in major national companies.
In April the Air Resources Board banned diesel-powered locomotives more than 23 years old starting in 2030, while requiring certain new models to adopt zero-emission engines. The goal is to transition all locomotives to zero-emissions by 2047—at a cost of nearly $14 billion.
Railroad trade groups immediately challenged California’s legal authority in court. The Association of American Railroads (AAR) and the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association called it premature to mandate the replacement of more than 25,000 locomotives when the ZEV technology is not commercially available. AAR President and CEO Ian Jefferies blasted CARB for using “unreasonable, flawed assumptions” to support the rule and claimed the agency rejected pleas for a more collaborative path to sustainability. ZEV technologies “cannot simply be willed into immediate existence by policymakers,” he added.
The groups argued the rule threatens California’s economic competitiveness and shifts more of the load to trucks, leading to greater congestion, road damage and environmental impacts.
The regulation is part of an ongoing series of contentious CARB mandates targeting cars, trucks, ports, forklifts and much more.
Dennis Albiani, California AdvocatesFollowing the Newsom administration’s lead, the South Coast Air Quality Management District has been seeking to slash emissions at rail yards that support California’s major ports. For the past year the district has pursued a voluntary approach by attempting to broker a deal with two major freight companies, BNSF Railway and Union Pacific. Part of the agreement involved a billion-dollar commitment from the companies to build ZEV infrastructure. But this month the district pulled out of the negotiations and is falling back on its regulatory authority to craft a new rule.According to the district’s executive officer, Wayne Nastri, one of the freight haulers asked the district to shore up the agreement with a dedicated pool of public funding. Nastri rejected the request and suggested it was a delay tactic, since the move would require at least another six months to adjust the district’s existing grant funding allotments.
“This was not part of the original discussion,” Nastri told the district’s board during a recent hearing. “I advised the parties that was unacceptable and that we would not be moving forward in those discussions.”
The board members called the company’s actions extremely disappointing and blasted the industry for dragging its feet.
“I do want to try to rebuild trust,” said board member Gideon Kracov. “On the other hand, railroads make billions of dollars in profit.”
Kracov, who also serves on the CARB board, described the voluntary approach as an outdated tool that CARB left behind years ago. The major sources of pollution at the rail yards are locomotives and trucks and the agency now has regulations in place for that, he reasoned.
“CARB has acted on the two biggest sources here,” he said. “Now it's up to us to figure out what we can do to support those world-leading, appropriately aggressive regulations.”
Environmental groups cheered Nastri’s sudden pivot back to the regulatory realm. They pointed to similarly controversial rules the district has pursued for warehouses and ports, and said the headwinds the district has already faced have driven the agency to establish a clear enforcement process that holds industries accountable.
Yet Kracov marked it as a sad moment for the district and “not a day to spike the football in the end zone,” adding: “I believe the future is a little bit uncertain about how things are going to go from here.” He lamented that CARB’s locomotives and Advanced Clean Fleets regulations “are under litigation attack,” suggesting the district’s pending regulation stands to face litigation as well after the fallout with the industry.
If CARB loses its lawsuit, it could put pressure on the agency to return to the voluntary approach—and reopening the rulemaking could be an opportunity to fix issues in agriculture.
The California Grain and Feed Association (CGFA) has raised alarms over potential service disruptions with CARB’s rule. Its member companies operate 23 comparatively small switcher locomotives that supply local feeding operations—mainly dairies but also poultry producers and horse enthusiasts. About 85% of the grain and feed consumed in California is imported from overseas and delivered by rail, according to the association.
Ahead of CARB’s rulemaking the association hired an engineering firm to analyze its emissions. It found that the two dozen locomotives use less diesel fuel in a year than a single Class 1 interstate locomotive.
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“Our folks are significantly different than what they're looking to capture,” Anthony Molina, a lobbyist representing CGFA through California Advocates told Agri-Pulse. “Not everything was viewed on an even playing field.”
With the ongoing lawsuit, Molina worried that grain and feed will be one of the few industries impacted by the rule “right out the gate.” Dennis Albiani, president of the firm, added that rendering facilities send a significant amount of byproducts overseas and will also be impacted.
Albiani decried the rule as unfair, since 94% of the locomotive emissions derive from interstate railroads, while the agriculture groups account for less than 1%. He shared concerns that the regulations could spur further negotiations with the out-of-state players but leave out California-rooted companies. The 24-hour nature of the grain and feed operations presents a considerable challenge for converting to zero-emission engines, especially if they must stop to charge electric batteries every four hours, he explained.
Molina was optimistic that CARB has four more years to assess its progress with the locomotives rule. Staff will then decide if the compliance deadlines need to be adjusted. Albiani estimated that zero-emission technologies for locomotives will still be in their infancy by that time. The rural electric grid cannot handle the tremendous load for electric trains and hydrogen is still far out of reach, he reasoned.
Staff for the South Coast air district, meanwhile, plan to return to their board in February to outline the next steps for drafting a regulatory proposal, which they expect to be more stringent than the MOU that fell by the wayside.
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