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HomeMy WebLinkAbout6414_CCv0001.pdf RESOLUTION NO. 6414 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF REDLANDS EXPRESSING THE CITY COUNCIL'S SUPPORT FOR ASSEMBLY BILL 1222 (JONES); ASSEMBLY BILL 888 (DE LA TORRE); AND SENATE BILL 459 (ROMERO); WHICH WOULD ENACT LOCOMOTIVE AND RAIL YARD EMISSIONS REDUCTION AND MITIGATION PROGRAMS; A REMOTE SENSING PROGRAM; AND CALL UPON U.S. EPA TO FURTHER LIMIT LOCOMOTIVE EMISSIONS WHEREAS, the South Coast Air Basin is one of two "extreme nonattainment" air basins for ozone in the United States and to achieve attainment of federal and state public health standards requires extraordinary effort by federal, state and local regulatory authorities working in concert; and WHEREAS, federal and state health-based ambient air quality standards for ozone and PM 10 are exceeded regularly and by a wide margin in the South Coast Air Basin; and WHEREAS, the federal Environmental Protection Agency has recently adopted more stringent 8-hour ozone and PM 2.5 standards that will require even greater emission reductions in the South Coast Air Basin; and WHEREAS, emissions from locomotives and rail yard equipment in the South Coast Air Basin contribute significantly to exceedances of federal and state ozone and PM 10 standards, as well as to emissions of diesel exhaust, a toxic air contaminant; and WHEREAS, in order to attain state and federal standards for ozone and PM2.5, it is necessary that emissions from locomotives and rail yard equipment be controlled or otherwise mitigated; and WHEREAS, the federal Environmental Protection Agency has authority to adopt regulations limiting emissions from locomotives and rail yard equipment, but state and local regulatory authority to control emission from these sources is restricted by federal law. In order to attain state and federal ambient air quality standards, it is necessary that emissions from locomotives and rail yard equipment be controlled or mitigated by the federal government or, if necessary, by state or local governments using authorities available to them; and WHEREAS, in 1998, the California Air Resources Board entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railroad Company, and the Union Pacific Railroad Company, under which the railroads agreed Rev. 2-23-05 KH to utilize locomotives in the South Coast Air Basin that would meet certain emissions limitations; and WHEREAS, in 2003, the South Coast Air Quality Management District adopted the most recent revision to its Air Quality Management Plan. The 2003 Plan includes stringent emissions standards for factories, power plants, on-road and off-road mobile sources and other sources that are within the regulatory jurisdiction of the South Coast District and the California Air Resources Board — including sources powered by diesel engines similar to locomotives and rail yard equipment. The percentage of emission reductions that will be achieved by significant sources subject to state and local authority is substantially greater than the percentage of emissions reductions that will be achieved by locomotives under existing federal regulations and the 1998 MOU; and WHEREAS, the 2003 South Coast District Plan proposes a significant amount of emissions reductions through means that are yet to be specifically determined. To the extent that emissions from locomotives and rail yard equipment are not controlled, additional emissions reductions from sources subject to state and local regulatory jurisdiction, which have already been stringently regulated, will be required; and WHEREAS, one means of mitigating emissions from locomotives is by funding programs to reduce equivalent emissions from other sources that contribute to ozone, PM10, PM2.5, or toxic air pollution. For example, the lack of grade separations between rail lines and surface streets in the South Coast Air Basin contributes to emissions from idling vehicles and is an indirect emissions impact of increasing rail traffic in the Alameda Corridor and Alameda Corridor-East. Funds obtained through a locomotive emissions mitigation program could be utilized to establish additional grade separations, as well as other control strategies; and WHEREAS, unless and until the federal Environmental Protection Agency adopts regulations requiring locomotives in the South Coast Air Basin to achieve all feasible emission reductions as necessary to achieve federal clean air standards, the South Coast Air Quality Management District should be authorized to adopt a locomotive mitigation fee for locomotive emissions that is proportionate to the health and environmental harms resulting from those emissions, provided such mitigation fee does not result in a shift or increase in emissions to other parts of the Basin; and WHEREAS, it is therefore necessary that legislation authorize the South Coast Air Quality Management District to implement a locomotive emission reduction and mitigation program; and a retrofit requirement for rail yard equipment; and WHEREAS, it is therefore necessary that legislation authorize the California Air Resources Board to implement a statewide remote sensing program to detect high polluting locomotives operating in the state; Rev. 2-23-05 KH NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY OF REDLANDS DOES HEREBY DECLARE AND RESOLVE THAT ASSEMBLY BILLS: 1222 & 888; & SENATE BILL 459; • are necessary to protect the health and welfare of our residents from cancer causing toxic air pollutants, especially children and seniors, • are essential to reduce diesel emissions from locomotives in Southern California to meet deadlines between 2010 and 2021 for clean air established by federal government, • are critical in ensuring the burden for emission reductions in the region is not unfairly placed on local businesses, and that significant future reductions are achieved from currently under-regulated locomotives and rail yard equipment, • ensure funding to mitigate locomotive air pollution by creating additional grade separations between rail lines and local surface streets to reduce emissions from idling trains, and for programs to address accompanying health effects from diesel emissions, • ensure that emissions from rail yard equipment impacting local communities will be controlled, • ensure that high polluting locomotives in the state will be identified and that appropriate repairs will be requested, FURTHER RESOLVED, THE CITY COUNCIL HEREBY URGES CALIFORNIA LEGISLATORS TO ENACT AB 1222; AB 888; AND SB 459; AS PROPOSED AND URGES THE GOVERNOR TO SIGN THEM INTO STATE LAW WITHOUT DELAY. ADOPTED, SIGNED AND APPROVED this 21st day of June , 2005. SUSAN PEPPLER, MA R ATTEST: tel / LORRIE POYZEA, CITY CLERK Rev.2-23-05 KH