The California Air Resources Board (ARB) has opened a solicitation for the $800,000 Advanced Technology Demonstration Project for the demonstration of technologies that meet the Ultra Low-Emitting Locomotive emission level or below. The Advanced Technology Demonstration Project was approved by the Board as part of the AB 118 Air Quality Improvement Program (AQIP) Funding Plan for Fiscal Year 2010-11.
This competitive solicitation is the sole grant opportunity to be awarded for locomotive category projects this fiscal year and will be focused on the demonstration of locomotive engines and/or aftertreatment systems that reduce emissions from locomotives to the Ultra Low-Emitting Locomotive emission level (3.0 g NOx/bhp-hr and 0.1 g/bhp-hr PM), or below.
Significant progress has been made in reducing emissions of criteria pollutant emissions from locomotive engines below the Low-Emitting Locomotive level (4.0 g NOx/bhp-hr and 0.1 g PM/bhp-hr) that potential projects that can only meet this level will not be considered.
Projects that provide additional reductions in NOx and particulate matter (PM) emissions, below the ULEL emission level will be scored higher than those that just meet the ULEL emission level. Projects that provide NOx and PM emission reductions will be given priority to those that only reduce NOx emissions. Strategies that require the use of added reactants (e.g. urea), not typically used on locomotives, to reduce NOx emissions will not be considered.
Locomotives as a source category are ranked sixth for the levels of contributions to statewide NOx emissions. As part of the 2007 PM State Implementation Plan (SIP) for the South Coast Air Basin, the ARB identified the need for an additional ten tons per day of locomotive NOx emission reductions by 2014.
In 2008, ARB health risk assessments (HRAs) determined that railyard diesel PM emissions contribute to areas with some of the highest potential cancer risk levels in the state. Even with regulations in place designed to reduce non-locomotive (e.g. drayage trucks, CHE and TRU) railyard emissions by 90 percent in 2015, ARB’s HRA still suggest that locomotives will continue to be one of the largest contributors to PM and NOx emissions statewide.
In 2008, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) put in place the Tier 4 locomotive emission standards, which provide up to an additional 90% reduction as compared to the current model-year Tier 2 locomotives. However, the Tier 4 standards will not go into effect for new locomotives until 2015. EPA, which has the authority to regulate locomotive emissions, estimates that the national locomotive fleet will take 30 years or more to turnover to the more stringent emissions standards. Based on this schedule, a national fleet turnover to Tier 4 locomotives would not occur until 2045 or later.
ARB Staff believes that locomotive and engine manufacturers can employ advanced combustion engines or use exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) to further reduce locomotive NOx emissions. The non-urea based approaches could make progress below current ARB NOx ULEL levels and ultimately achieve or be below the Tier 4 locomotive NOx emission level of 1.3 g/bhp-hr. However, staff believes that further locomotive NOx reductions, for any proposed AQIP approach, must be achieved while maintaining the progress made to date with PM (i.e., ARB’s below ULEL PM level of 0.1 g/bhp-hr). The ideal AQIP proposal would be to make progress towards or achieve the Tier 4 NOx level of 1.3 g/bhp-hr and make similar progress towards meeting the Tier 4 PM level of 0.03 g/bhp-hr.
This solicitation for the Locomotive Advanced Technology Demonstration Project is open to California-based public agencies such air district, ports, state or local government entities or agencies with expertise implementing demonstration programs and the requisite knowledge of locomotive operations. Applications are due to ARB by 11 May.