(The following article by David Danelski was posted on the Press-Enterprise website on June 21.)
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — Regional air-quality regulators have agreed not to enforce new rules aimed at cutting train locomotive pollution until a legal challenge is resolved.
The tougher rules were scheduled to take effect Aug. 3 but will be delayed at least five months, said Sam Atwood, South Coast Air Quality Management District spokesman.
The district’s new rules — hailed by many residents who live near 19 Southern California rail yards, including Mira Loma, Colton and San Bernardino — would limit locomotive idling times to 30 minutes. Residents have said some locomotives are left to idle for hours, producing diesel soot that drifts into their neighborhoods.
Railroad companies challenged the rules, contending the air district overstepped its authority. The district agreed to stall enforcement until the case is tried in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles in November. If the district wins, the railroads will have an additional two months to comply.
“We are talking about mid-January at the earliest,” Atwood said.
The agency rejected an offer from Judge John F. Walter to set a July trial date
The district wanted more time to prepare, Atwood said. “We want a rock-solid foundation to be sure we have strong rules in place in the future so we can protect public health.”
The air district’s board approved the idling limits and other rules in February after expressing dissatisfaction with a state accord in which railroads agreed to voluntarily limit idling to one hour. The half-hour limit would reduce residents’ exposure to diesel exhaust, which has been linked to cancer and other illnesses, district officials said at the time.
A month later, Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway Co. and the Association of American Railroads industry group sued.
Union Pacific and railroad association officials declined to comment Wednesday.
Industry officials previously have said that a national railroad would find it difficult, if not impossible, to comply with a patchwork of state and local regulations.
Teresa Lopez, who lives across the street from a BNSF yard in San Bernardino, said she hopes the air district prevails.
“You can smell diesel coming from locomotives,” she said. “It goes over the fence and comes into my house and into the rest of the neighborhood.”