A House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee held a hearing this week on the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) request to authorize zero emissions standards for freight locomotives in California.
CARB’s “In-Use Locomotive Regulation” mandates that by 2030, only zero-emissions locomotives will be allowed to operate in California. Rail companies in the state also would be required to make annual contributions to a spending account based on emissions during the prior calendar year starting on July 1, 2026.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is currently evaluating CARB’s request for a federal waiver that would allow it to enforce its new regulation. During the July 9 hearing, lawmakers and railroad representatives outlined national consequences if the rule is enacted.
Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee Chairman Troy Nehls, R-Texas, said the regulation “must be rejected by EPA” in his opening comments.
“This proposed regulation is not just confined to California. It’s national in both impact and intent,” he stated. “According to CARB’s own analysis, the rule would require both BNSF and Union Pacific to replace their entire fleet of locomotives nationwide to comply with the regulation, which will cost billions of dollars and will make freight transportation and the costs of goods drastically more expensive.”
Modesto & Empire Traction Co. (MET) President and CEO Dillon Olvera, who testified on behalf of the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association, said CARB’s proposal would lead to the elimination of shipping options and increased costs.
“Not only does it mandate the use of locomotives with technology not currently commercially available, but CARB has also publicly acknowledged that the massive compliance costs may be too much for some short line railroads in California to bear—they would be forced to cease operating because of their inability to comply with an impossible regulation,” Olvera stated. “This would have serious, negative impacts on the freight rail network, the U.S. supply chain, the environment, and highway safety.”
Olvera also testified that CARB’s proposal is preempted by federal law, including the Commerce Clause, the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act (ICCTA), the Clean Air Act and the Locomotive Inspection Act.
The American Short Line and Regional Rail Association along with the Association of American Railroads are challenging the proposed rules in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.
Earlier this year, NGFA and other members of the Agricultural Transportation Working Group urged U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan to deny CARB’s request, noting the proposed regulations “pose a significant danger to U.S. agriculture and the broader U.S. supply chain,” the groups noted in the April 5 letter.
“If the CARB regulations were authorized by EPA, we believe freight rail carriers and rail customers would be significantly hindered financially and operationally. The inevitable increases in transportation costs and introduction of operational inefficiencies for agricultural shippers and receivers would result in food price inflation,” NGFA and the other working group members stated.
The proposed regulations would:
- levy annual fees on rail carriers for deposit in accounts that can only be used to comply with the regulations;
- require the decommission of locomotives 23 years or older beginning in 2030 and require that new switch, industrial (rail customer) and passenger locomotives operate in zero-emission configuration (2035 for new line haul locomotives);
- attempt to regulate locomotive emissions by requiring railroads to shut them down while in transit in certain circumstances; and
- impose significant reporting and “administrative payments.”