U.S. Congressman Jay Obernolte (CA-23) led 73 of his colleagues in a letter opposing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) granting a waiver to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) for its regulation requiring zero-emission locomotives. If the EPA were to grant this waiver, it could have significant ramifications nationwide and impact jobs in California’s 23rd Congressional District. Additionally, it may counterproductively increase greenhouse gas emissions rather than decrease them.
On Wednesday, EPA Administrator Michael Regan appeared before the House Energy and Commerce Environment, Manufacturing and Critical Minerals Subcommittee. Rep. Obernolte used this opportunity to urge him to deny the California waiver. To highlight the importance of this issue, Congressman Obernolte delivered nearly 2000 letters from constituents, agencies, and organizations expressing concerns about the potential economic and supply chain impacts.
“Nearly every American desires fewer emissions and a cleaner environment, but CARB’s nonsensical regulations on locomotives will not accomplish that,” said Rep. Obernolte. “According to the EPA’s own analysis in 2021, Medium- and Heavy-Duty Trucks contributed 23% of total transportation greenhouse gas emissions, while rail only contributed 2%. Instead of working to shut down vital infrastructure like BNSF’s Barstow International Gateway, CARB and the EPA should be supporting its construction to strengthen our ability to efficiently get cargo out of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach by rail instead of on trucks that statistically emit far more greenhouse gasses.”
The California Air Resources Board adopted the In-Use Locomotive Regulation requiring zero-emission locomotives by prohibiting any locomotive that is 23 years or older from operating in California starting in 2030 for switch, industrial, and passenger locomotives; and starting in 2035 for line-haul locomotives unless they are zero-emissions compliant.
Although this rule went into effect on January 1, 2024, CARB must obtain approval from the EPA before fully enforcing it. Currently, there are no commercially available freight locomotives that meet zero-emissions standards. The best batteries today hold less than 10 megawatt hours (MWh) of energy in a locomotive form factor; however, an electric locomotive would need between 80 and 100 MWh to match a diesel engine’s duty cycle.
In California’s 23rd Congressional District, the Barstow International Gateway (BIG) project is expected to create up to 20,000 direct and indirect jobs by facilitating direct container transfers from ships at Los Angeles and Long Beach ports to Barstow. If CARB’s rule goes into full effect without suitable alternatives available, this project might be canceled entirely—contrary to both CARB’s and EPA’s goals—as it aims to reduce port congestion significantly through expanded rail systems which can lower traffic congestion and greenhouse gas emissions across Southern California.
