Austin News

On July 2, 2024, U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-Texas) led a letter with 31 of his Senate Republican colleagues to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan, voicing their objection to a California climate change regulation targeting railroads. 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 (California rule). The Senators argue that the rule is extremely costly and infeasible given the current state of technology. They have asked the EPA to deny CARB’s request entirely.

The CARB rule would require zero-emission locomotives beginning in 2030 or 2035, depending on the type, and artificially cap the lifespan of diesel-electric locomotives. According to the Senators, zero-emission battery and hydrogen technology for freight locomotives is not mature, and full overhead electrification would be cost-prohibitive. With roughly half of all Class I freight locomotives passing through California each year, enforcement of this state rule would have national implications, including costs of at least $16 billion through 2050 as admitted by CARB.

As stated by the Senators: “The California rule is plainly unworkable. Railroads operating diesel-electric locomotives utilize, on average, just one gallon of fuel to move one ton of freight nearly 500 miles. This impressive efficiency is the result of substantial investments... Still, no economically-viable technology for full zero-emission operation on long haul service exists... The most powerful battery locomotive in the world stores barely one-sixth of the energy a diesel-electric locomotive might use in one long-haul run.”

They further added: “Allowing CARB to enforce the California rule would disrupt interstate commerce and drive prices higher... The costs of the California rule would be staggering: CARB acknowledges an impact on over 11,700 Class I locomotives... Those costs and resultant reduction in competition would be passed on to shippers who... would in turn pass increased expenses to consumers.”

Joining Sen. Cruz in sending this letter are Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Michael Crapo (R-Idaho), John Cornyn (R-Texas), John Thune (R-S.D.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Todd Young (R-Ind.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Markwayne Mullin(R-Okla.) Ted Budd(R-N.C.) Eric Schmitt(R-Mo.) Pete Ricketts(R-Neb.).