California Air Resources Board

Q: Why is an In-Use Locomotive Regulation necessary?

A: Locomotives are one of the largest sources of criteria pollutants in California, and 90% of California’s railyards are within one mile of vulnerable residential communities already highly impacted by nitrogen oxide (NOx) and toxic diesel particulate matter (PM) – of which there is no known safe level of exposure.

California has been taking robust steps to reduce emissions from other mobile sources—including heavy duty trucks, passenger cars, off-road equipment, ships docked in California ports, and more. Locomotives are increasingly the outlier. Today, when comparing the transportation of shipping containers, locomotives pollute more NOx and PM than trucks operating in the state. Soon, locomotives will produce more greenhouse gas emissions than trucks on a per-shipping container basis. Railroads in California continue to operate older tier locomotives that are heavily polluting.

The regulation provides operators with flexibility and options to clean their locomotive operations in California over a generous timeframe. Cleaner diesel Tier 4 locomotives have been available since 2015, and most locomotives already have electric motors, giving operators options for retrofitting existing locomotives to cleaner power sources. For more than 100 years, railroads also have had the ability to run locomotives by electric rail.

The reduced NOx and PM from the regulation will bring an estimated $32 billion in health savings by preventing 3,200 premature deaths and 1,500 emergency room visits and hospitalizations. Cancer risk from exposure to air toxins within one mile of locomotive operations is expected to be reduced by 90%.

Q: How does the In-Use Locomotive Regulation work?

A: Over the next 30 years, the In-Use Locomotive Regulation will reduce pollution from diesel-electric locomotives operating in California.            

In line with the U.S. EPA regulations, the In-Use Locomotive Regulation includes a 30-minute idling requirement to reduce lengthy idling times, except in certain circumstances, and the resulting emissions created. Operators also will be required to keep the automatic shut off devices operational, repairing them in a timely fashion if they malfunction.

The regulation also requires locomotive operators to set aside funds in a Spending Account that is held in trust by the locomotive operator. The funds may be spent on cleaner diesel engines known as Tier 4 or zero-emissions (ZE) locomotives, ZE infrastructure and related pilot and demonstration projects. The amount of funding required for the Spending Account is calculated each year using a conservative estimate of health costs to Californians from the emissions from each operator’s locomotives within California. The cleaner an operator’s locomotives, the less funding that needs to be deposited in the Spending Account. Operators can also offset their Spending Account fund requirements by grants or similar funds they may use for qualifying purchases of clean technologies.

Beginning in 2030, the regulation requires that most locomotives 23 years or older operate in a ZE configuration in California. In addition, locomotives built after 2030 (2035 for line-haul) must be operated in a ZE configuration while operating within California. As a result, locomotive operations in California become gradually cleaner.

Q: Do rail operators have options for how they meet the regulation’s requirements?

A: Yes. Each operator can design its own compliance path for the requirements, including which locomotives to operate in California and on which routes as well as when and how to upgrade existing locomotives. They also choose whether, when, and on what type of qualifying purchases to spend any funds from the Spending Account. In addition, the regulation provides two alternative compliance pathways to meet some of the regulation’s requirements, with the exception of the idling requirement.

First, operators can provide CARB with an alternative compliance plan (ACP) that will achieve equivalent or better reductions at and three miles around their rail operations using a variety of reduction measures. This alternative allows operators to continue using existing diesel technology as they work toward compliance with cleaner technology requirements in a timeframe that allows flexibility for meeting individual business needs.

Second, operators can comply using the Alternative Fleet Milestone Option (AFMO), which sets the following fleet milestones:

1. 1. January 1, 2030: 50% of annual fleet usage in California must operate as Tier 4 or cleaner.
   2. January 1, 2035: 100% of annual fleet usage in California must operate as Tier 4 or cleaner.
   3. January 1, 2042: 50% of annual fleet usage in California must operate in a zero- emissions configuration.
   4. January 1, 2047: 100% of annual fleet usage in California must operate in a zero- emissions configuration.

Q: Why are Spending Accounts part of the regulation? Are the funds held by CARB?

A: Operators will be required to fund a trust account they control, and the amount of funding will be based on the emissions created by their locomotive operations in California. The dirtier the locomotive, the more funds must be set aside. Put simply, the Spending Account requires railroads to report to CARB their locomotive activity within the state. CARB has estimated the health costs railroad locomotives impose on California and its residents and railroads must set aside that amount—based on their specific locomotive activity over the course of a year—so that they can invest it in cleaner technology that reduces harms in California.

Operators can get spending account credits for operating ZE locomotives before 2030, providing an incentive for early adoption of cleaner technologies. Operators can also choose to provide CARB with an alternative compliance plan or comply with the Alternative Fleet Milestone Option instead of using the Spending Account.

Q: Do all diesel locomotives need to be replaced by zero-emissions technology by 2030?

A: No. The In-Use Locomotive Regulation does not require that rail companies completely transition to ZE technology by 2030. The exact timeline will depend on the specific locomotives in a company’s fleet, but in general a rail company can continue to use a locomotive for at least 23 years beyond its build date before having to take steps to operate that locomotive in a zero-emission configuration. In fact, companies have the option of using diesel engines with greater emissions controls through, in some instances, 2057, as one of the compliance options. There are multiple ways for operators to achieve compliance with the regulation to allow flexibility for different business needs.

Q: What cleaner technology exists today for the rail industry? Are there cleaner diesel alternatives available that can be deployed immediately?

A: Many of the locomotives that operate in California are at, or below, a Tier 2 emission standard. Upgrading operations to cleaner Tier 4 diesel locomotives, which have been available since 2015, will reduce nitrogen oxide and particulate matter emissions by over 70%. 

Additionally, operators can use hybridization to reduce emissions (as permitted by the regulation). A locomotive is hybridized when batteries are used together with the main source of propulsion power to reduce locomotive emissions and improve energy efficiency. Hybrid technologies can be used on all locomotive types and tiers, and they are available currently for any of the main propulsion sources, including diesel or natural gas engines, fuel cells, or any other type of power generating system.

Q: Can the zero-emission locomotives available today move freight capably through routes with elevation changes?

A: CARB staff have done extensive analysis of the feasibility of using ZE locomotives to move freight. A recently completed study demonstrates that ZE locomotives available for purchase today are feasible, clean alternatives to the dirty diesel locomotives currently operating along one of the more popular goods-movement railway routes, from the Port of Los Angeles to Barstow. That study was submitted to USEPA and can be found here.
 

Q: How will the In-Use Locomotive Regulation impact projects like the Barstow International Gateway (BIG)?

A: BNSF’s BIG project is the perfect opportunity to showcase environmental and public health stewardship and plan associated infrastructure at the design phase of the project. BNSF has the opportunity to include ZE locomotives and infrastructure in the project design. BNSF has touted ZE commitments but those are for non-locomotive sources that ignore the most prevalent sources of particulate matter and oxides of nitrogen from its operations: those from its locomotives. It is estimated that more than 50% of drayage trucks will be ZE when BIG is built out. By comparison, many of the locomotives likely to use the BIG project are old and heavily polluting.

Incorporating ZE projects and infrastructure in the BIG project during the design phase, and making the investments in cleaner operations early on, will allow BNSF to offset its Spending Account obligations and may make better business sense than retrofits later on.