ILMA Urges EPA to Block California Locomotive Emissions Regulation
On behalf of its members, ILMA has signed on to a letter urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to block a California Air Resources Board (CARB) rule that would ban most locomotives more than 23 years old starting in 2030.
The rule “would require new passenger, switch and industrial locomotives to be zero emissions beginning in 2030 and require new line-haul locomotives to be zero emissions beginning in 2035,” as noted in the letter sent by the Rail Customer Coalition, of which ILMA is a member.
CARB needs EPA approval to enforce two key provisions of the rule.
Meeting the requirements “beginning in 2030 is technically simply not doable: the battery technology does not exist,” said ILMA consultant John Howell, president of GHS Resources and an expert in short-line freight rail. “Line haul locomotives being zero-emission beginning in 2035 is even more unrealistic.”
“Allowing California and other states to adopt unique rules governing locomotives … would undermine the national framework that supports the interoperability of rail equipment across the network, potentially harming the reliability and efficiency of rail service for our industries,” the letter says.