SB30 - Diesel-powered on-track equipment: decommissioning: resale and transfer restrictions.

Senate Bill No. 30 CHAPTER 735 An act to add Section 99153.5 to the Public Utilities Code, relating to transportation. [ Approved by Governor October 13, 2025. Filed with Secretary of State October 13, 2025. ] LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 30, Cortese. Diesel-powered on-track equipment: decommissioning: resale and transfer restrictions. Existing law provides various provisions applicable to all public transit and transit districts and includes specific requirements applicable to public entities that operate commuter rail or rail transit systems. This bill would prohibit a public entity that owns diesel-powered on-track equipment from selling, donating, or otherwise transferring ownership of that equipment for continued use after the public entity decommissions the equipment. The bill would exempt the sale, donation, or transfer of the ownership of that equipment from the prohibition if the equipment is deemed to be in one of specified categories of emissions standards designated by the federal government for locomotives, the equipment produces emissions equivalent to any equipment within any of those federal categories, or the diesel engine is removed from the equipment, as specified. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) Diesel-powered locomotives emit multiple air pollutants, including diesel particulate matter, fine particulate matter, oxides of nitrogen, and greenhouse gases. (b) Locomotives travel throughout the state to locations that are near where people work and live. (c) Exposure to toxic and harmful diesel emissions is known to lead to cancer and increases in asthma, cardiopulmonary illness, hospitalizations, and premature mortality. (d) Communities near rail operations bear a disproportionate health burden due to their proximity to harmful emissions. (e) In 2023, the California Senate passed Senate Resolution 34 to formally recognize the obligation to future generations to restore a safe climate, and declare climate restoration, along with achieving net-zero and net-negative carbon dioxide emissions, a climate policy priority. SEC. 2. Section 99153.5 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read: 99153.5. (a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply: (1) “Continued use” means the continued operation of the diesel engine from the diesel-powered on-track equipment as an internal combustion engine to provide power for on-track equipment or any other purpose. (2) “Decommission” means to permanently cease the service of on-track equipment when the public entity owning that on-track equipment replaces it with lower emission on-track equipment. (3) “Diesel-powered on-track equipment” means any locomotive or any other car, rolling stock, equipment, or other device that is operated on stationary rails and has a diesel engine. (b) Except as provided in subdivision (c), a public entity that owns diesel-powered on-track equipment shall not sell, donate, or otherwise transfer ownership of that diesel-powered on-track equipment for continued use after the public entity decommissions the diesel-powered on-track equipment. (c) A public entity may engage in a transaction otherwise prohibited by subdivision (b) if both of the following criteria are satisfied: (1) The diesel-powered on-track equipment meets any of the following conditions: (A) The equipment is deemed to be in Tier 2, Tier 3, or Tier 4, as designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. (B) The equipment produces emissions equivalent to any equipment within any of the tiers described in subparagraph (A). (C) The diesel engine is removed from the equipment. (2) The public entity authorizes the transaction in a public hearing.