July marks the 10th anniversary of Wabtec Corporation’s Evolution Series Tier 4—one of the most modern diesel locomotives serving North America and the first freight locomotive to meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Tier 4 emission standards.
The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) on May 12 proposed deregulatory changes for the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in response
On May 5, Congressmen John Moolenaar (R-MI), Jay Obernolte (R-CA), and Craig Goldman (R-TX) introduced the Lifting Overburdensome Commerce Obstructions and Motives Act (the LOCOMOTIVES Act), which aims to “limit the State of California’s ability to place unsustainable regulations on trains crossing into the state.”
California has withdrawn its pending waiver and authorization requests that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not yet acted on. In a win for railroads, this includes the In-Use Locomotive Regulation.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing changes to its Air Emissions Reporting Requirements, which would involve state, local and certain tribal air agencies providing emissions data using different approaches and owners/operators of some facilities reporting additional emissions data. Update: The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) has submitted comments in response to the proposal.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing changes to its Air Emissions Reporting Requirements, which would involve state, local and certain tribal air agencies providing emissions data using different approaches and owners/operators of some facilities reporting additional emissions data.
U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper and U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), along with more than 150 environmental groups, some from as far away as New Jersey, have sent a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg urging the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to reject the use of tax-exempt “private activity bonds” for the Uinta Basin Railway, stating that the project would “undermine President Biden’s priority of addressing the climate crisis, and harm communities through which these oil trains will travel and where this oil will be refined.”
The Biden Administration has released the U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization, “a landmark interagency framework of strategies and actions to remove all emissions from the transportations sector by 2050,” the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced Jan. 10.
NJ Transit’s Board of Directors on Dec. 14 approved a contract with Piscataway, N.J.-based Foley-Caterpillar to perform key state-of-good-repair maintenance on the engines of its ALP-45 fleet, which will allow the dual-powered locomotives to “maintain their current Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Tier III emissions standards and continue the environmental benefits they provide compared to the older locomotives they replaced.”
In support of its newly launched Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) program, Pioneer Lines has joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s SmartWay® Transport Partnership program.
