ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, US — US agriculture groups are urging government officials to deny a request for zero emissions standards for freight locomotives in California, saying such regulations pose “a significant danger” to US agriculture and the supply chain.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is proposing an “In-Use Locomotive Regulation” that would mandate by 2030 the use of only zero-emissions locomotives in California. Rail companies in the state would be required to make annual contributions to a spending account based on emissions during the prior calendar year starting on July 1, 2026.

“If the CARB regulations were authorized by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), we believe freight rail carriers and rail customers would be significantly hindered financially and operationally,” said the National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) and the other members of the Agricultural Transportation Working Group (ATWG). “The inevitable increases in transportation costs and introduction of operational inefficiencies for agricultural shippers and receivers would result in food price inflation.”

CARB’s proposal requires railroads and rail customers to meet untenable regulatory requirements without any solutions available on the market, the ATWG added.

“Specifically, zero emissions locomotives would have to be purchased … but such locomotives are not yet commercially viable and won’t be in the foreseeable future,” the ATWG said in an April 5 letter. “While railroads have conducted limited demonstration projects on battery-powered locomotives, they are not presently commercially viable primarily due to a limited operating range and limitations on battery capacity.”

The proposed regulations would:

• Levy annual fees on rail carriers for deposit in accounts that can only be used to comply with the regulations.
• Require the decommission of locomotives 23 years or older beginning in 2030 and require that new switch, industrial (rail customer) and passenger locomotives operate in zero-emission configuration (2035 for new line haul locomotives).
• Attempt to regulate locomotive emissions by requiring railroads to shut them down while in transit in certain circumstances.
• Impose significant reporting and “administrative payments.”  

The Association of American Railroads and the American Short Line and Regional Rail Association are challenging the rules in the US District Court for the Eastern District of California. In the lawsuit, they said the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act gives the Surface Transportation Board exclusive jurisdiction over the operations of freight rail in interstate commerce and preempts CARB’s regulations. The District Court affirmed the legitimacy of these preemption arguments in an order issued on Feb. 16.