East Idaho Times

U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) has joined Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and 30 other Senate Republican colleagues in urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan to reject a California climate change regulation targeting railroads. The Senators argue that the new restriction would significantly burden commerce and threaten one of America’s cleanest and most efficient modes of transportation—rail.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is seeking a waiver from the EPA to enforce its In-Use Locomotive Regulation, known as the California rule. The Senators contend that this rule is extremely costly and infeasible given the current state of technology, asking the EPA to deny CARB’s request entirely.

The CARB rule mandates zero-emission locomotives starting in 2030 or 2035, depending on the type, and caps the lifespan of diesel-electric locomotives. The Senators highlight that zero-emission battery and hydrogen technology for freight locomotives is not yet mature, and full overhead electrification would be prohibitively expensive. Given that roughly half of all Class I freight locomotives pass through California annually, they assert that enforcing this state rule would have national implications, including costs of at least $16 billion through 2050 according to CARB's own estimates.

Railroads are noted for their fuel efficiency due to ongoing investments in technologies that reduce diesel fuel consumption. "The California rule is plainly unworkable," the Senators wrote. "Railroads operating diesel-electric locomotives utilize, on average, just one gallon of fuel to move one ton of freight nearly 500 miles."

They further explained that no economically viable technology for full zero-emission operation on long-haul service exists currently. They added: "Allowing CARB to enforce the California rule would disrupt interstate commerce and drive prices higher." The Senators emphasized that railroad transportation accounts for approximately forty percent of long-distance freight in the U.S., with compliance costs potentially leading some short line railroads to cease operations entirely.

Joining Crapo and Cruz in sending this letter were Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), John Cornyn (R-Texas), John Thune (R-South Dakota), John Barrasso (R-Wyoming), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), John Hoeven (R-North Dakota), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Tim Scott (R-South Carolina), Deb Fischer (R-Nebraska), Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), James Lankford (R-Oklahoma), Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), Steve Daines (R-Montana), Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Todd Young (R-Indiana), John Kennedy (R-Louisiana), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota), Mike Braun (R-Indiana), Rick Scott (R-Florida), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming), Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), Bill Hagerty (R-Tennessee), Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama), Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma), Ted Budd (R-North Carolina), Eric Schmitt (R-Missouri) and Pete Ricketts(R-Nebraska).