Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 38, September 20, 2024
(a) A Locomotive Operator may apply to the
Executive Officer to use an Alternative Compliance Plan (ACP). An approved ACP
shall replace the requirements of section
2478.4, section
2478.5, or both, for the duration
of the ACP. An approved ACP shall be valid for a Five-Year Verification Period,
subject to subsection (i), and shall apply to the Locomotive Operator's entire
Locomotive fleet Operating in California.
(b) The ACP shall reduce PM, NOx, and GHG
emissions in California in amounts equivalent to or greater than the reductions
that would have been achieved during the Five-Year Verification Period by the
Locomotive Operator directly complying with the requirements set forth in
section 2478.4, section
2478.5, or both (as applicable),
using the assumptions listed below.
(1) All
ACPs shall assume:
(A) Annual Locomotive
Usage is calculated using the immediately preceding Calendar Year's data,
and
(B) The annual activity
estimated in subsection (b)(1)(A) is multiplied by five, representing the
number of years in the Five-Year Verification Period. If the Five-Year
Verification Period is less than five years, use the pro-rated number of
years.
(2) ACPs intended
to replace the requirements in section
2478.4 shall assume:
(A) Per the Spending Account Funding
Requirement calculated under the Spending Account Requirements in subsection
2478.4(c), all
Spending Account funds would have been used to purchase, at Fair Market Value,
Tier 4 Locomotives until December 31, 2028, and ZE Locomotives from January 1,
2029, onward.
(B) The Tier 4 or ZE
Locomotive that would have been purchased using Spending Account funds would
have been introduced into use in California within one year of the sufficient
accumulation of funds to purchase a Tier 4 or ZE Locomotive.
(C) A Tier 4 Locomotive would Operate for 23
years prior to being removed from California service.
(3) ACPs intended to replace the direct
compliance requirements in section
2478.5 shall assume:
(A) Beginning January 1, 2030, the Locomotive
Operator's Locomotives with an Original Engine Build Date of 23 years and older
would no longer be Operated in California as specified in subsection
2478.5(a).
(B) Beginning January 1, 2030, any Switch,
Industrial, or Passenger Locomotive Operating in California with an Original
Engine Build Date of 2030 or newer would always be Operated in a ZE
Configuration in California as specified in subsection
2478.5(b).
(C) Beginning January 1, 2035, any Freight
Line Haul Locomotive Operating in California with an Original Engine Build Date
of 2035 or newer would always be Operated in a ZE Configuration in California
as specified in subsection
2478.5(c).
(c) ACP emission reductions for PM and NOx
shall be achieved at or within three miles of an applicant's California
Locomotive Operations. This subsection does not apply to ACP emission
reductions for GHGs.
(d) Applicants
seeking approval of an ACP shall submit their applications to CARB at least six
months prior to the requested start date of the ACP, following the requirements
set forth in section
2478.15. The Locomotive Operator
shall submit the following information in the ACP application:
(1) Locomotive Operator name and contact
information, including an email address and phone number.
(2) Whether the ACP is meant to be used
instead of direct compliance with the Spending Account, the In-Use Operational
Requirements, or both.
(3) The
following for each Locomotive in the Locomotive fleet:
(A) Engine Tier.
(B) Original Engine Build Date.
(C) If using an ACP instead of direct
compliance with the Spending Account, detailed calculations and assumptions
made to calculate costs and emission reductions that would have been achieved
through direct compliance with the Spending Account during the Five-Year
Verification Period.
(D) If using
an ACP instead of direct compliance with the In-Use Operational Requirements,
detailed calculations and assumptions made to calculate emission reductions
that would have been achieved through direct compliance with the In-Use
Operational Requirements during the Five-Year Verification Period.
(E) A detailed explanation of the
calculations, assumptions, and information used to demonstrate that the
applicant's proposed ACP emission reduction measures will achieve Quantifiable,
Verifiable, and Enforceable Emission Reductions from the Locomotive Operations
covered by the ACP in the amount required by subsection (b).
(F) A detailed description of the proposed
emission calculation methodologies, recordkeeping, annual reporting, and
monitoring that the applicant plans to use to demonstrate that the emission
reductions satisfy the requirements of subsection (b) throughout the Five-Year
Verification Period.
(G) A
statement explaining whether the ACP is intended to span five years or a lesser
timeframe.
(H) An attestation
statement pursuant to subsection
2478.15(a)(2).
(e) Applicants shall submit an application
payment to CARB along with their ACP application following the requirements set
forth in section
2478.12.
(f)
Approval. The Executive
Officer may approve an ACP application that satisfies the requirements for
submittal only upon finding all the following:
(1) The ACP application complies with the
applicable requirements set forth in subsections (b), (c), and (d).
(2) The ACP application provides sufficient
information to accurately estimate the emission reductions required during the
Five-Year Verification Period, including a detailed explanation of the
information and calculations used to determine the amount of emission
reductions that must be achieved by the ACP throughout the Five-Year
Verification Period.
(3) The ACP
application provides sufficient information to verify that the applicable
assumptions set forth in subsection (b) were properly applied, including a
detailed explanation of the information and calculations used in applying these
assumptions.
(4) The ACP
application demonstrates that the ACP proposed emission reduction measures will
achieve reductions of PM, NOx, and GHG emissions equivalent to or greater than
the level that would have been achieved by directly complying with the
requirements set forth in section
2478.4 and section
2478.5 (as applicable) using the
assumptions set forth in subsection (b) and demonstrates that these reductions
will be Quantifiable, Verifiable, and Enforceable, including a detailed
explanation of the information and calculations used to demonstrate that the
emission reductions to be achieved by the ACP will satisfy the requirements of
subsection (b) throughout the Five-Year Verification Period.
(5) The ACP application includes an
attestation statement pursuant to subsection
2478.15(a)(2).
(g)
Notice of Approval.
Within 45 business days after the Executive Officer has received a complete
application for an ACP, the Executive Officer shall issue a notice of approval
if the application meets the requirements of this section.
(1) The Executive Officer's approval of an
ACP shall not serve as a substitute for any other approvals that may be
required by the federal, state, or local government. Approval is contingent on
the ACP's compliance with all applicable laws, ordinances, and regulations,
including obtaining any permits or approvals necessary to undertake the
activities constituting the ACP, and complying with all environmental review
requirements associated with such activities.
(2) If the ACP is approved, upon the start
date for the ACP listed in the Executive Order approving the ACP and until
expiration or revocation as described in subsection (i), the Operator shall be
exempt from its regulatory obligations under the Spending Account, the In-Use
Operational Requirements, or both, as indicated in the Executive
Order.
(h)
Notice
of Disapproval. Within 45 business days after the Executive Officer
has received an ACP application, the Executive Officer shall issue a notice of
disapproval if the application is incomplete or does not meet the requirements
of this section. The Executive Officer shall summarize the application
deficiencies in the notice of disapproval.
(i)
Expiration and
Revocation. An ACP that has expired or has been revoked shall not be
used for compliance with this Locomotive Regulation as of the date of
expiration or revocation.
(1) An approved ACP
is only valid for the Five-Year Verification Period as specified in the
Executive Order and shall expire after the Five-Year Verification
Period.
(2) An approved ACP may be
revoked at any time by the Executive Officer for any of the following reasons:
(A) The Locomotive Operator fails to meet any
of the requirements of this section, including the submittal of a complete,
accurate, and timely annual report.
(B) The Locomotive Operator fails to meet any
of the requirements set forth in the ACP's Executive Order, including the
reductions required to be achieved by the ACP.
(C) The ACP is not in compliance with
approvals that may be required by the federal, state, or local government, or
with applicable laws, ordinances, or regulations, or the Locomotive Operator
did not obtain the permits or approvals necessary to undertake the activities
constituting the ACP, or the Locomotive Operator has not complied with all
environmental review requirements associated with the ACP.
(D) The Locomotive Operator fails to meet any
other applicable requirement of this Locomotive Regulation, including Idling,
Registration, and annual Reporting Requirements.
(3) If any of the circumstances listed in
subsection
2478.7(i)(2)(A)
through 2478.7(i)(2)(D)
occur, the Locomotive Operator shall submit a notification to CARB following
the requirements for submittals set forth in section
2478.15 within 15 calendar days of
the date when the Locomotive Operator discovers or reasonably should have
discovered that one of these circumstances has occurred.
(4) CARB will provide notice of the
revocation, including the date of the official revocation, to the applicant in
writing at least 30 calendar days prior to the official
revocation.
(j)
Amendment. Applicants seeking approval of an amendment to an
ACP shall submit their application for proposed amendment in
strikeout/underline format to the Executive Officer at least six months prior
to the requested start date of the amended ACP, following the requirements set
forth in section
2478.15.
(1) The application for proposed amendment
must include a new attestation statement pursuant to subsection
2478.15(a)(2).
(2) The application for proposed amendment is
subject to all requirements and conditions set forth in this section.
(3) The application must include an
application payment following the requirements set forth in section
2478.12.
(4) The end-date of any amended ACP remains
the same as the original.
(k)
Reapplication. If an
applicant would like to continue to use an ACP for another Five-Year
Verification Period without any gaps in time between the expiration of the
previous Five-Year Verification Period and the start date of the subsequent
Five-Year Verification Period, they shall submit a reapplication and
application payment as set forth in section
2478.12 for the ACP no more than
one year prior to, but at least six months prior to, the expiration of the
current ACP. The requirements set forth in section
2478.7 apply to reapplications. A
reapplication shall use the Operator's Locomotive fleet at the time of the
reapplication for all calculations required for the reapplication.
(l)
Annual ACP Reports.
Locomotive Operators using an approved ACP shall annually report any activity
under the approved ACP. These reports shall be submitted no later than July 1
of each year throughout the Five-Year Verification Period pursuant to the
applicable requirements specified in section
2478.11.
(m)
Public Transparency.
CARB will upload all approved ACP applications, reapplications, and amendments
to the CARB "Reducing Rail Emissions in California" webpage for public access.
CARB shall provide notice on its webpage of any disapproved ACP application or
revoked ACP. Applicants may identify specific portions of an application as
confidential and if so, CARB shall keep such information confidential to the
extent permitted under California's Public Records Act, Government Code,
section 7920.000 et seq.
Note: Authority cited: Sections 38560, 39600, 39601,
39658, 39659, 39666, 41511, 43013 and 43018, Health and Safety Code. Reference:
Sections 39650, 39659, 41511, 43013 and 43018, Health and Safety Code.
