Judge strikes down tough rules on diesel
Southern California air regulators cannot require railroads to shut down idling locomotives or obey other local laws designed to clean up deadly diesel pollution, a federal judge ruled this week.
The decision invalidates action taken last year by the South Coast Air Quality Management District to reduce a major source of air pollution in the Southland. Locomotives are responsible for more than 32 tons per day of pollutants, an amount equal to that produced by 1.4 million cars, according to figures compiled by state and regional agencies.
The state air board estimates that 5,400 premature deaths annually in Southern California can be linked to air pollution, and studies have found that the sooty particulates put out by trains are particularly harmful.
AQMD officials last year passed three regulations designed to cut idling time and measure health risks in neighborhoods near rail yards, asserting their authority to regulate emissions under the federal Clean Air Act and state policing laws.
Two railroads and a trade group filed suit, saying that under special exemptions passed by Congress more than a century ago, they do not have to abide by local laws that could interfere with interstate commerce. Officials at Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway and Union Pacific said they are spending billions to replace older, dirtier equipment, and have voluntarily cut idling times.
U.S. District Judge John F. Walter, based in Los Angeles, acknowledged the region's dismal air quality but nevertheless ruled in favor of the railroads.
"The rules at issue in this case are exactly the type of local regulation that Congress intended to preempt
He urged the two sides to work together on a voluntary basis to reduce pollution.
Unlike the regional air quality board, state air regulators have operated on the assumption that they have no right to govern the railroads.
Instead, state officials have negotiated voluntary pollution reduction agreements. But AQMD officials have said that the voluntary agreements are too weak, and that railroads voluntarily agreed only to measures designed to cut costs or meet federal laws.
AQMD spokesman Sam Atwood said the board would discuss at its Friday meeting whether to appeal the decision. The district has already spent more than $3 million in legal fees on the case.
