(The following article by Ben Baeder was posted on the San Bernardino Sun website on September 23.)
EL MONTE, Calif. — A coalition of environmental groups from communities ranging from Wilmington to San Bernardino on Thursday blasted a deal struck between the California Air Resources Board and the railroads aimed at curbing railroad engine exhaust emissions.
At a news conference at the Air Resources Board office in El Monte, members of the Modesta Avila Coalition said the deal was made in secret and did not go far enough to reduce smog from the trains.
They also said it undercut proposed legislation that would have forced train companies to do more to reduce smog.
“You don’t set public policy as far-reaching as railroad emission control in Southern California in private negotiations with the polluter,” said Penny Newman, an environmental activist and spokeswoman from the Modesta Avila Coalition. “This is public policy, and it should be made in a public setting.”
The main element of the agreement calls for a 20 percent reduction in emissions from train engines, according to a statement from the Air Resources Board.
It also calls for the railroads to reduce the time that engines idle.
Opponents, including South Coast Air Quality Management District board members, say the agreement is too vague, has loopholes and pre-empts any other laws that might apply to train-produced smog.
The AQMD covers Orange County and parts of San Bernardino, Riverside and Los Angeles counties.
Am Air Resources Board spokeswoman said the agreement, which was adopted in June, was the most far-reaching smog-reduction deal ever made with the railroads. The board said it has the right to negotiate a deal with the railroads without a public hearing.
Spokeswoman Karen Caesar also said any state law aimed at reducing train emissions would be difficult or impossible to enforce since the railroads are primarily regulated by the federal government.
“The feeling is this is offering a 20 percent reduction in smoke and noise, and that is the best we have ever had,” she said.
“There is a big risk in these proposed state laws. They could just end up in court for four or five years. What we are saying is, `Why not get this reduction now?’ ”
BNSF Railway spokeswoman Lena Kent agreed.
“It we sat at the table with all the different agencies to work something out, it could have taken months or even years to reach an agreement,” she said. “This provides immediate benefits.”
In addition, Caesar said people in most of the state were happy with the deal.
“Of 35 air-quality districts in the state, only people from the South Coast Air Quality Management District are showing significant opposition,” she said. “The (Air Resources) board views this agreement as a big step forward.”
An Air Resources Board meeting regarding the agreement scheduled for Thursday was canceled because the board was awaiting the appointment of a new chairman, Caesar said. A make-up meeting is scheduled for Oct. 27.
Newman said the Air Resources Board is stalling.
“What we need to remember is there are real homes with real people living right next to these railroad switching yards who are breathing all this smog,” she said.
Modesta Avila was a woman convicted in 1889 of obstructing a train by hanging her laundry across train rails in San Juan Capistrano because the rail companies built a railroad on land she claimed belonged to her mother, according to a story posted on the Internet by the city of San Juan Capistrano.