Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) has touted green energy policies throughout his governorship, and while he can only rule over the Golden State, the Biden administration has allowed climate rules from California to go forward.
The latest Golden State policy the Environmental Protection Agency has permitted is a regulation requiring railroad operators to replace diesel locomotives with zero-emission ones. The policy was approved by the California Air Resources Board, and the EPA changed its rules on preempting local regulations on locomotives earlier this month to allow the regulation to go into place in California.
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“This rule implements a policy change that will no longer categorically preempt certain state regulations of non-new locomotives and engines, while retaining exclusive federal authority for the regulation of new locomotives and new locomotive engines. EPA’s regulatory revisions will preserve the ability of California to adopt and enforce certain emission standards regulating non-new locomotives and engines if EPA has authorized such standards. Other states may, in turn, adopt those same California standards,” the summary of the rule change said.
The California regulation will ban locomotives 23 years or older from operating in the state after 2029. It also requires passenger locomotives made in 2030 or later, along with freight trains made in 2035 or later, to operate in a zero-emission configuration while in the Golden State.
With railroads regularly crossing state lines with passengers and freight, as well as operators not changing the locomotive they use depending on the state, it will almost certainly affect trains operating in other states.
The rule change was the latest in the Biden administration’s string of approvals allowing California to go forward with its green policy initiatives.
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In March, Newsom celebrated the EPA granting a waiver to allow the state’s heavy-duty truck emissions standards to go into place. The standards require truck manufacturers to speed up their sales of zero-emission vehicles by increasing the manufacturing standards for zero-emission vehicles until 2035.
“This is a big deal for climate action. Last year, California became one of the first jurisdictions in the world with a real plan to end tailpipe emissions for cars. Now, thanks to the Biden Administration, we’re getting more zero-emission heavy duty trucks on the roads, expanding our world-leading efforts to cut air pollution and protect public health,” Newsom said in a statement at the time. “We’re leading the charge to get dirty trucks and buses – the most polluting vehicles – off our streets, and other states and countries are lining up to follow our lead around the world.”
