(The following article by Jim Miller was posted on the Press Enterprise website on April 5.)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A second attempt to make railroad companies pay for locomotives’ pollution in Southern California cleared its first legislative test Monday despite strong opposition from the railroad industry.
“It’s simply unfair to ask others to bear the burden of air pollution when railroads are not meeting their fair share,” said Riverside County Supervisor Roy Wilson, vice-chairman of the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the bill’s sponsor.
Freight-train traffic between coastal shipping ports and switching yards in western San Bernardino and Riverside counties is projected to double during the next 20 years.
Air-quality officials contend that locomotive pollution already exceeds the combined emissions of 350 of the largest power plants, oil refineries and other industrial facilities in the South Coast district.
The bill by state Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, would let the air district impose fees on locomotives. The charges would raise an estimated $14.5 million a year. If passed, the bill would take effect in 2006.
The money would pay for low-pollution technology for locomotives and other pollution sources in the air district, officials said.
“Every day I see emissions coming from the locomotives. We see it, we smell it,” said Teresa Lopez of San Bernardino, whose husband is a railroad laborer.
Railroad officials who testified against the bill said the proposal would discourage the use of trains to move freight through the region. Instead, shippers would shift more of their cargo to trucks, worsening the region’s traffic congestion, they said.
Also, they said, the bill would undermine an agreement between railroads and the California Air Resources Board that calls for a 60 percent reduction in locomotive pollution by 2010.
“I think it’s irresponsible for the sponsor of the bill to suggest that railroads aren’t doing their fair share,” said Kirk Marckwald, a railroad lobbyist.
But Barry Wallerstein, the air district’s executive director, called the agreement with the state air board inadequate.
Monday’s vote in the Senate Environmental Quality Committee broke down along partisan lines, with Republican members defending the railroad industry.
“This is just a tax to raise money for the South Coast Air Quality Management District,” said state Sen. John Campbell, R-Irvine.
The bill approved Monday is the second time in less than a year that lawmakers have considered legislation targeting locomotive pollution.
Last August, a similar measure failed in the Assembly after several Democrats joined Republicans in voting against the bill.
The debate over locomotive pollution isn’t just about policy. Also at issue is whether the air district even has the legal authority to impose the fees.
Railroad officials contend that only the federal government has the power to regulate locomotive pollution.
Wallerstein argued that the district is not trying to force railroads to cut emissions. He said proponents of the bill are just trying to make the industry pay for its pollution.