On January 14, 2025, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) withdrew its request for EPA authorization to implement the Board’s In-Use Locomotive Regulation. Along with Steven G. Bradbury, a Distinguished Fellow at The Heritage Foundation, WLF had filed a comment urging EPA to deny CARB’s request. The comment explained why, despite its deceptive title as a regulation of locomotive “use,” CARB’s rule would require rail operators in California to buy or lease new locomotives or locomotive engines that meet CARB’s emissions limits. Under Supreme Court precedent, that is a regulation relating to emissions controls for new locomotives and engines that is barred under the plain language of section 209 of the Clean Air Act.
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