 |
BNSF CEO Matthew Rose Speaks at
Los Angeles Infrastructure Conference
On September 14, 2006, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation Chairman, President and CEO Matthew K. Rose gave the keynote address at a Town Hall Los Angeles conference on the future of Los Angeles’ infrastructure. In his remarks, Rose emphasized the shortage of rail capacity and how it impacts Southern California and our nation’s ability to move goods to meet the increasing appetites of consumers and industry. He also pointed out that a strong railroad network can provide particular value to a region in regards to air quality and efficient movement of goods and people.
Following Rose’s keynote, S. David Freeman, president of the Los Angeles Harbor Commision, Dr. Jon Haveman, program director of the Public Policy Institute of California and Jack Kyser, senior vice president and chief economist of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation participated in a panel about the ports and the region moderated by KPCC correspondent Kitty Felde.
Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach Release Clean Air Action Plan
In June 2006, the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach released their first-ever Clean Air Action Plan. This joint plan outlines a variety of measures to improve air quality near the ports and throughout the Los Angeles region. BNSF Railway submitted its comments on the plan at the end of August and expressed its support for the plan’s goal of expanding critical infrastructure, significantly improving velocity and reducing emissions. BNSF also noted its support for research into locomotive-engine technology to reduce air emissions:
- BNSF is the only US railroad operating LNG locomotives.
- BNSF has co-funded a five-year research and development project investigating performance, durability and applicability of diesel particulate filters to older switching locomotives.
- BNSF will use state-of-the-art wide span electric cranes and LNG yard tractors at its proposed Southern California International Gateway near-dock facility.
BNSF also supports the future study of “Green Container Transport” solutions and endorses the use of on-dock infrastructure and operational improvements to improve air quality. In fact, BNSF increased its on-dock loading 26 percent in 2005 over the previous year and is on pace to increase on-dock rail use again this year.
Although BNSF has concerns about certain provisions in the Plan, BNSF is encouraged that the ports are seeking to formulate a comprehensive clean air policy that focuses on all modes of transportation in the San Pedro Basin. The ports must avoid a mode-selective focus that leads to the expenditure of resources in areas that will not yield the greatest benefits, and which could cause shifts among modes of transport that actually have detrimental environmental consequences.
BNSF looks forward to working closely with the ports as the plan moves forward to do our part to improve air quality in Southern California.
Update on Implementation of Railroad Agreement with CARB
In July 2005, BNSF began implementation of the terms of its voluntary agreement with the California Air Resources Board to contribute to efforts based on the key principles of California’s goods movement efforts – (a) that the state’s economy and quality of life depend upon the efficient and safe delivery of goods to and from our ports, rail yards, and borders, and, at the same time, (b) the environmental impacts associated with California’s goods movement must be managed to ensure the protection of public health.
In the summer of 2006, BNSF submitted a report detailing the progress it has made in meeting the requirements of the agreement. Overall, BNSF has met all of the requirements for the first year:
- Installed idle-reduction devices on more than 33% of its unequipped intrastate locomotives
- Developed procedures, training and other appropriate educational programs to implement idle reduction and visible emissions reduction procedures
- Agreed to retrofit a Southern California switch engine with a diesel particulate filter before the end of the year for external evaluation
- Continued to modernize its fleet – 2,800 new cleaner-burning fuel-efficient locomotives put into service in the last 10 years
- Established procedures to process and respond to community concerns
- Held community meetings at eight railyards statewide
- Expect to achieve 99 percent of locomotive visible emissions compliance rate
- Implementing plans to comply with CARB’s low-sulfur fuel requirement, which goes into effect in January 2007
In addition, BNSF is currently developing emissions inventories for all of its California railyards and will submit data this fall. BNSF is committed to meeting the requirements of the CARB agreement and will continue to do so.
|
|
