Long haul rail services in Southern California has been working with the California Air Resources Board on reducing the level of pollution released due to rail freight movements in California, for about a decade, according to sources. Residents of Southern California still concerned about the pollution being added to the air of the United States and California by freight shipping rail yards operating in this region of America want more stringent rules and regulations put in place in order to speed up the process. Recent public meetings held in Sacramento showed that people are generally opposed to the idea, according to many, and it might be that the cries of the people have finally been heard?
The latest reports around this affair indicate that state air regulators in California gave their approval for a set of voluntary pollution cuts to be made at the rail yards in Southern California deemed the dirtiest. This news wasn’t met with applause by residents, port officials, environmental groups and local air regulators who have called the idea weak and made sure their objections have been heard. The plan calls for heavy haul rail services at four rail yards to be reduced that could reduce 2005 emission levels by 85 percent by the time we reach 2020. The board members that voted for the plan admitted that the plan wasn’t percent in their comments, but that they needed to make sure they saw some progress in this area, now.
The residents of Southern California that have been asking for some action on this problem with air pollution from the rail industry continue to be unimpressed by the progress though and we can certainly expect that we haven’t heard the last of this affair. The state of California does deserve credit for trying to do something about the pollution problem associated with rail transport in America though and hopefully we’ll see more progress in this affair as we travel further into the century of the environment.
Tags: freight shipping, heavy haul, long haul