Explainer: The Indirect Source Rule for railyards

Explainer: The Indirect Source Rule for railyards
BNSF Intermodal yard in San Bernardino (Photo: Anthony Victoria)

What's happening later this week?

On Friday, the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) will consider adopting a rule that aims to reduce pollution from trains, trucks and other equipment at rail yards. This rule is known as the Indirect Source Rule for railyards.  

A similar rule for warehouses was adopted by the agency in 2021 that regulates truck and other mobile infrastructure activity for warehouse facilities across most of Southern California. 

AQMD considers both mobile source regulations, and similar rules for seaport and airport facilities, as critical for the area’s emissions reductions goals

What are the key details of the proposed Indirect Source Rule for railyards?

The Indirect Source Rule for railyards, or railyard ISR, applies to all current and future rail yards handling freight in the Southern California Air Basin, which covers Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. 

Railroad companies like BNSF Railways and Union Pacific will be required to transition locomotives, cargo handling equipment, drayage trucks, transport refrigeration units, or TRUs, and yard goats to all electric by 2050. 

“The regulation will require railyards to clean up their operations and provide zero-emission infrastructure to ensure all operations can ultimately run on zero emissions," said Yasmine Agelidis, an attorney and policy advocate with legal nonprofit Earthjustice.  

Agelidis also pointed out that transparency and accountability reporting measures will require railroad operators to submit detailed information on their operations, giving the air district and community members direct insights into the company’s activity in their neighborhoods. 

Why do people think this rule is important?

The rule aims to cut down on pollution that harms air quality and public health. Southern California has the distinction of having some of the worst air quality in the nation, according to the American Lung Association (ALA). 

Health experts like the ALA say reducing nitrogen oxide and particulate emissions can lower respiratory illnesses like asthma and chronic bronchitis, while preventing premature deaths.

Environmental justice groups across the basin and public health advocates want stronger pollution controls. These groups help support residents who live near rail yards in Southeast Los Angeles and across the Inland Empire. 

AQMD and railroad companies initially pursued a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), a voluntary approach that would have required the agency to rely on acts of good faith from the industry. Instead, the air quality district ended any possibility of an agreement when it announced late last year that railroad companies wanted them to front all the costs for an all-electric transition. 

“Voluntary agreements do not work,” said Andrea Vidaurre with the People’s Collective for Environmental Justice (PC4EJ). “I think that one of the big wins of our communities was to force the air district to say that a voluntary approach is not the way and that we need actual regulatory and forcible action.”

Why is the railroad industry concerned about the rule?

BNSF Railways and Union Pacific, along with industry associations who support them, are expected to speak against the railyard ISR on Friday. A Union Pacific spokeswoman shared with KVCR News last November that they were disappointed about AQMD’s decision to end discussions about a voluntary approach.

“Union Pacific expressed an interest in pursuing public funding opportunities in partnership with SCAQMD, consistent with other public/private partnerships that have been successfully completed in California, benefiting the community and railroad,” reads the full statement.

BNSF and Union Pacific did not respond to requests for comment in time for publication. 

How you can attend the meeting and submit public comments:

The AQMD meeting is on Friday August 2 at 9 am at the agency’s headquarters in Diamond Bar. You can attend in person or watch the meeting online.

The period to submit written public comment has closed, but members of the public are allowed a few minutes to speak during the comment portion of the public hearing.