Feb. 3, 2006
To further reduce air pollution and better protect public health,
Southland air quality officials today unanimously adopted two groundbreaking
rules requiring railroads in the region to eliminate unnecessary locomotive
idling. The regulations are more stringent than requirements in a 2005
voluntary statewide agreement between major railroads and the California Air
Resources Board.
“CARB’s agreement with the railroads simply does not go far enough to
reduce emissions and protect public health, especially for those living near
rail yards,” said William Burke, Ed.D., Governing Board Chairman of the
South Coast Air Quality Management District. “We believe more can be done
and today’s action demonstrates this agency’s commitment to use all feasible
measures to protect public health.”
Today, AQMD’s Governing Board adopted Rule 3501 – Recordkeeping for
Locomotive Idling and Rule 3502 – Minimization of Emissions from Locomotive
Idling – to establish recordkeeping and idling requirements for diesel
freight locomotives operating in the Los Angeles Basin. The rules take
effect in August and affect the four freight railroads operating in the
region: Union Pacific Railroad Co., BNSF Railway Co., Los Angeles Junction
Railway and Pacific Harbor Line, Inc. Passenger locomotives are exempt.
During the past three years, AQMD has received about 300 complaints of
smoke and odors from trains and idling locomotives, including reports of
unattended trains left idling for hours at a time. AQMD has issued several
violation notices for public nuisances caused by such excessive idling, and
subsequently reached settlements for cash penalties and programs to prevent
further nuisance.
Under Rule 3501 railroads will be required to keep records of all
locomotive idling lasting more than 30 minutes. These records will provide
information on the amount of emissions from idling trains and assist in
identifying ways to reduce these emissions. Locomotives equipped with an
anti-idling device, or alternative technology such as liquefied natural gas
fuel or a battery-hybrid system, are exempt from the requirement.
Anti-idling devices monitor engine conditions such as water temperature,
brake pressure and battery charge. They are designed to safely shut off an
engine when conditions permit and restart the engine when needed to assure
safe operation.
While the recordkeeping requirement poses a modest cost to the railroads,
the idling rule will result in significant savings due to fuel use
reduction. An AQMD analysis predicts the railroads will realize a net
savings of more than $3 million during the next four years from the two
rules.
Rule 3502 is designed to eliminate air pollution from unnecessary idling
by prohibiting unattended locomotives from idling more than 30 minutes if
they are:
- Stopped for a crew change or meal breaks;
- Within or queuing in rail yards; or
- Performing maintenance or testing that does not require the locomotive
to operate.
The rule also prohibits trailing locomotives from idling longer than 30
minutes if a dispatcher notifies an operator of a delay, or if the operator
is aware of a delay that is expected to last more than 30 minutes due to
locomotive breakdowns. Trailing locomotives are those used to pull the
train but follow the lead locomotive.
Individual locomotives are exempted if equipped with anti-idling devices,
or if the railroad can demonstrate an alternative strategy that will achieve
equivalent emission reductions to those expected from the rule.
The new rules go beyond provisions in the voluntary statewide agreement
between the California Air Resources Board and the state’s two major
railroads, Union Pacific Railroad Co. and BNSF Railway Co. in the following
ways:
- AQMD’s Rule 3501 requires recordkeeping and weekly reporting, which is
not required by the state agreement;
- AQMD rules limit idling to 30 minutes compared to 60 minutes in the
statewide agreement, thereby achieving greater emission reductions within
the Southland; and
- Exemptions in AQMD’s rules are strictly limited vs. CARB’s agreement,
which allows broad and vaguely defined exemptions.
AQMD’s stricter requirements address the urgent need to reduce
smog-forming and toxic emissions from Southland railroad operations.
Adoption of Rule 3501 and Rule 3502 follows a thorough review by AQMD’s
legal staff and outside counsel of federal and state statutes that
demonstrates AQMD’s legal authority for adopting the rules, AQMD officials
said.
In other action today, the Board:
- Awarded a contract to Environmental Systems Products Holdings, Inc. to
use remote sensing technology to identify high emitting vehicles within
the four-county area; and
- Approved $300,000 to help fund a pilot project to determine if remote
sensing devices can accurately measure emissions from locomotives.
AQMD is the air pollution control agency for Orange County and major
portions of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
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