Put the Brakes On Locomotive Pollution

Sample Letter

Please personalize this letter for your Assembly Member.

The Honorable (First and Last Name)
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814

(Today's Date), 2004

Dear Assemblymember __________,

As a resident of California and your constituent, I urge you to support Senate Bill 1397, authored by Senator Martha Escutia, which would help reduce railroad-generated pollution, one of the most significant and under-recognized sources of air pollution in southern California.

Air pollution originating from railroad operations are a serious problem, exceeding emissions from one hundred of the largest oil refineries, power plants, chemical plants, and manufacturing industries combined. Diesel exhaust is a known cancer-causing toxin, and is directly connected to 71 percent of the cancer risk in the LA basin. Moreover, locomotive emissions have a higher impact on urban communities, particularly where rail lines intersect major streets and highways and result in vehicles idling at the crossing. The communities that line the Alameda corridor, for example, suffer some of the heaviest emissions of particulate matter in the air basin as hundreds of trains idle every day.

Emissions from locomotives remain unacceptably high because the federal regulation pre-empts state action, and the U.S. EPA has simply failed to require rail operators to do their fair share to reduce their pollution. SB 1397 authorizes the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) to adopt regulations requiring operators of locomotives and other qualified vehicles to install retrofit controls to reduce emissions and to impose a reasonable fee on railroads operating in the SCAQMD region to lessen the impact of their emissions. SB 1397 establishes criteria to ensure fair treatment of those regulated as well as affected communities. The bill also creates an incentive for all affected railroad companies to avoid the fee by entering into an agreement with the air district to meet their fair share of emission reductions.

Please support SB 1397 both in committee and on the floor.

Sincerely,

(Your Name)