The California Air Resources Board is poised to take action this week on a proposed regulation that seeks to reduce locomotive emissions in the state by phasing out diesel locomotives and requiring zero-emissions locomotives within a certain time frame.
“In the absence of federal action to address harmful emissions from locomotives, CARB is developing regulatory concepts to reduce criteria pollutants, toxic air contaminants, and greenhouse gas emissions for locomotives in-use,” CARB says on its website. “These concepts are intended to be implemented statewide, and provide an opportunity for the railroads to better address regional pollution and long-standing environmental justice concerns with communities near railyards. The goal of the regulatory concepts is to accelerate immediate adoption of advanced cleaner technologies for all locomotive operations.”
