Rail crew drivers from UE Local 1077 joined environmental justice organizations in persuading the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) board to pass a life-saving regulation for rail yards in the Inland Empire, Los Angeles County, and Orange County. In response to overwhelming public support, including a letter signed by the UE local and its allies, the rule passed unanimously at the board’s meeting in August.
Rule 2306 will limit toxic emissions from the 25 rail yards in operation and any new rail yards built in the region. According to SCAQMD, “The rule is expected to reduce Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) emissions associated with freight rail yards by about 10.5 tons per day between 2027 to 2050.”
The locomotives used in rail yards, called switchers, operate 24 hours, seven days a week spewing a combination of diesel exhaust, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and fine particulate matter (PM2.5). These particles are so fine they are inhaled, enter the bloodstream, and cause heart and lung health conditions. Rule 2306 is SCAQMD’s most recent attempt to address this public health crisis. It’s estimated that 54 percent of all switching activity in the state of California occurs in the South Coast region.
Union-Community Alliance Wins Unanimous Vote
Local 1077 met in June this year with environmental justice groups at a regional rail convening in Ontario, California. The event consisted of visits to rail yards and other toxic sites, and panel discussions focused on the harmful effects of diesel emissions and how to address them.
Local 1077 Chief Steward Diana Martinez was impressed by the knowledge and commitment demonstrated by the representatives from organizations at the gathering. “They’re not helping just the workers in the railroad,” she said, “but also the community! Communities we live in. You don’t see these trains running through Hollywood, or the nice parts of town.”
Afterwards, Martinez said, “I live by a rail yard. I never knew anything about this world. We’re not big on politics, we just go to work.”
This event brought community organizers together with UE members to show they are in the same fight against the world’s biggest railroad corporations, which are making record profits by using old, polluting diesel locomotives to move goods and causing health problems for the people who live near rail yards. The Green Locomotive Project rejects the false choice between public health and a thriving economy. Workers deserve both good union jobs and clean air, and collaboration between unions and residents is the way to get them both.
Following the meeting, the organizations in attendance signed onto a letter to the SCAQMD board demanding that they pass Rule 2036 without delay. The letter notes that “This rule is years in the making,” but warns that “Any delay in adopting the Railyard ISR rule, last-minute change to the proposed regulation, or eleventh-hour deference to industry when the railroads have failed to meaningfully participate in the regulatory process is unacceptable and must not be entertained.”
Other signers of the letter included representatives from Green Locomotive Project ally The Moving Forward Network, EarthJustice, East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, People’s Collective for Environmental Justice, Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, Solutionary Rail, Union of Concerned Scientists, and Respiratory Health Association.
UE representatives joined these groups in flooding the SCAQMD board room on August 2 holding signs and wearing shirts that said things like “my heart is in your hands,” “clean air now/aire limpio ahora,” and “no more deaths/no mas muertes.” Over 120 people signed up to give public comments in person and dozens joined via Zoom. The facility had to open multiple overflow rooms to accommodate the outpouring of support for the regulation. Ultimately, all twelve present board members voted to approve the rule.
A Breakdown of the Regulations
Given the multi-layered regulatory structure for air quality, made up of the SCAQMD at the regional level, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) at the state level, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at the national level), Rule 2306 will only go into effect as intended in 2027 if certain necessary actions are taken by the federal government. These prerequisite regulatory steps are: EPA approval of the CARB In-Use Locomotive Regulation, EPA approval of the CARB Advance Clean Fleets regulation (as it applies to drayage trucks which move shipping containers), and inclusion of Rule 2306 in the California State Implementation Plan.
When this regulation is enforced, it will save an average of 300 lives every year. It is one of many phases of SCAQMD’s effort to end the negative health effects working-class people suffer due to corporate pollution. Overall, the agency intends to rein in pollution from five major sources: warehouses, airports, commercial marine ports, construction projects, and rail yards.
Rule 2306 is intended to ensure the region gets its share of emissions reductions from the In-Use Locomotive Regulation adopted by CARB in 2023, which mandates the railroad industry begin paying into an account according to the amount of diesel emissions it produces. The money will be invested into Tier-4 or cleaner locomotives.
Switching to Green Locomotives will Create Thousands of Jobs and Save Lives
Ultimately, the In-Use Locomotive Regulation aims to begin phasing out diesel trains between 2027 and 2050, creating thousands of manufacturing jobs in the process. The rule will force the railroad industry to put their money into updating their equipment and infrastructure instead of financial schemes and stockholders’ pockets.
Beyond cleaning the air and saving lives in Southern California, this rule is motivated by economic hardship the region might face if it continues to fail to comply with federal air standards. According to an SCAQMD staff report, the region “is in extreme nonattainment for ozone and serious nonattainment for PM2.5.” If the region does not meet federal air standards, it may result in fines and withholding of resources like funding for highway infrastructure.
This major step to improve air quality around rail yards comes after decades of advocacy from people suffering the negative health effects caused by diesel train emissions. Many of these people live just across the street from a train yard and suffer from asthma, COPD, and cancer at higher rates.
By being part of the coalition that successfully passed this rule, UE Local 1077 is recognizing the impact of the rail industry on working people's health throughout Southern California and making a commitment to ending the threats these corporations pose to public health.