SACRAMENTO - The California Air Resources Board reached settlements with Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF) and Union Pacific Railroad Company (UPRR) to resolve violations of the state’s drayage truck regulation, which requires cleanup of trucks servicing the state’s busy ports and intermodal rail yards.
 
An investigation by CARB’s Enforcement Division documented that both companies had failed to accurately report all the required information for noncompliant trucks entering 12 separate intermodal terminals.  Intermodal terminals facilitate transfer of goods from train to truck or vice-versa.

BNSF agreed to pay a total of $720,000; UPRR will pay $525,000. The cases highlight CARB’s efforts to mitigate the damaging impact that older, dirtier trucks have on nearby communities that have traditionally borne the brunt of diesel pollution due to the high volume of truck traffic near the rail yards.

“CARB’s commitment to protecting these disadvantaged communities near rail yards is unwavering,” said CARB Executive Officer Richard Corey.  “Union Pacific and BNSF have done the right thing by acknowledging their mistakes and agreeing to take steps that will reduce emissions and immediately improve the quality of life for those who live and breathe near the yards.”

BNSF will pay $625,000 as a mitigation project to the South Coast Air Quality Management District to fund installation of high efficiency air filtration systems in several schools located near rail yards in the greater Los Angeles/San Bernardino area.  These systems dramatically reduce children’s exposure to diesel particulate and other toxic air contaminants.  In addition, the company will pay $95,000 to the Air Pollution Control Fund, which provides funding for projects and research to improve California’s air quality, and upgrade its data collection system so that the required information on each non-compliant truck entering a BNSF facility is accurately reported to CARB.

UPRR will pay $525,000 to the Air Pollution Control Fund, and agreed to initiate a “truck turn away program” at rail yards for trucks that are not in compliance with the Drayage Truck Regulation, thereby eliminating the need to report data on these vehicles to CARB.