FreightWaves, 6/13/24
Railroads fear losing out to trucks if California gets its wayCARB’s zero-emission regulation would force freight onto highways, railroad lobbyists testify
WASHINGTON — Major freight railroads and their short-line counterparts raised red flags on Capitol Hill about supply chain consequences of a California regulation aimed at cutting air pollution from locomotives.
If the California Air Resources Board is successful in securing approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, California’s In-Use Locomotive Regulation, adopted by the state last year, would require all locomotives manufactured after 2035 that travel though the state of California be zero-emission – effectively banning the operation in California of locomotives that are more than 23 years old, based on the original manufacture date, the railroads asserted.
Because close to 70% of the Class I locomotive fleet moves in and out of California in any given year, “the rule dramatically increases the cost of providing rail transportation, and most likely shifts a lot of freight onto the highway,” said Ian Jefferies, president and CEO of the Association of American Railroads, testifying before the oversight subcommittee of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee on Thursday.