2005 RES R-31-05 - Laserfiche WebLink

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RECEIVED South Coast Air Quality Management District 21865 Copley Drive, Diamond Bar CA, 91765 0 2005 Contact: Janet Laiblin Phone: 909-396-2713 Q1TV OF COL I t,1V NArQJ1J QFRGG Fax: 909-396-3968 E-mail: jlaiblin@aqmd.gov Railroad -Yard Equipment Emission Reduction Program ( AB 888 — De La Torre) A Legislative Bill to Reduce Air Pollution from Rail Yard Operations Air pollution from rail yard equipment, including yard -tractors, hostlers, cranes, fork lifts and other mobile source equipment primarily fueled with diesel fuel, contribute to exceedances of federal and state ozone and particulate standards in the South Coast Air Basin. Diesel exhaust emissions are also responsible for 70 percent of the cancer risk from air pollution in California. Communities near rail yards, including, but not limited to, low-income communities, are adversely impacted by toxic exhaust from diesel -powered rail yard equipment. In October 2004, the state board released a study of cancer risks in the vicinity of a railyard in Roseville, California which estimated that persons in the vicinity of the railyard are exposed to diesel exhaust at a level that creates a cancer risk of 500 in one million. Over the years, stringent regulations in California have reduced emissions by over 90 percent from most significant stationary sources and from motor vehicles and other mobile sources under the jurisdiction of state and local authorities. However, rail yard equipment has been controlled far less stringently and therefore has not achieved its fair share of emission reductions needed to meet state and federal clean air standards. New technologies to reduce diesel particulate and ozone precursor emissions at rail yards are available and are cost-effective. Such emission reduction technologies include low sulfur diesel fuel, particulate matter traps, NOx reduction catalysts, and emulsified diesel fuel. This proposal would authorize the south coast district to adopt regulations within its jurisdiction requiring the owner or lessee of any heavy-duty motor vehicle, nonroad engine, or nonroad vehicle to install retrofit controls or replace existing equipment with clean technologies to reduce emissions of air contaminants to the maximum extent feasible if those vehicles or engines operate substantially in a rail yard. This bill would also: • require the California Air Resources Board to submit any AQMD regulations initiated by this program to the United States Environmental Protection Agency for any necessary authorizations prior to their implementation. • not interfere with federal authority over establishing new locomotive exhaust emission standards • not violate any provisions of a 1998 memorandum of understanding between the railroad companies and the state Air Resources Board to accelerate introduction of newer, lower -emitting locomotives into the South Coast Air Basin by 2010. • Not be duplicative of planned USEPA/CARB regulation adoption regarding Diesel fuel sulfur content. The South Coast Air Quality Management is the air pollution control agency for Orange County and the major portions of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties.