The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Tuesday that it reached a settlement with Genesee & Wyoming Railroad Services Inc. (GWRSI) to address the company’s Clean Air Act violations. The DOJ and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concurrently filed a complaint against GWRSI for its violations.
In 2019, the EPA asserted that GWRSI violated the Clean Air Act by:
placing Locomotives into service that did not comply with required emissions standards and have an EPA-issued certificate of conformity; failing to implement required maintenance on Locomotives in its fleet; and failing to keep required maintenance records for Locomotives in its fleet.
Tuesday’s complaint alleges that GWRSI’s rebuilt locomotives did not comply with EPA emission standards that require engines to be rebuilt with the latest technology to reduce emissions. The consent decree signed by the parties requires GWRSI to rebuild locomotives in compliance with EPA standards, ensure that it does not buy or sell locomotives that fail to meet those standards, and keep up with necessary maintenance and related records.
GWRSI will pay a $1.35 million civil penalty and estimates that it will spend $42 million to rectify its violations and reduce its emission of nitrogen oxides (NOx). The settlement also requires GWRSI to permanently destroy 88 locomotives that are not subject to EPA emission standards because of their ages.
Assistant Attorney General of the Environmental and Natural Resources Division Todd Kim stated:
By requiring locomotives to follow emissions standards, and requiring dozens of older, higher-polluting locomotives to be scrapped altogether, this consent decree reduces health threats from air pollution nationwide, particularly in those communities that live along railroad corridors.
The settlement will be open for a 30-day public comment period and will be subject to final court approval.
