New Jersey Loses Control of Railway Operated Transfer Stations

A federal judge’s decision has put an end to New Jersey’s attempts to regulate operations at transfer stations run by railroads, according to a report in the Jersey Journal (Jersey City, N.J.).

According to the report, U.S. District Court Judge Katherine Hayden has ruled that regulations enacted by the state in November 2004 to control issues such as dust and noise at railroad transfer facilities are pre-empted by laws that give the federal government jurisdiction over railroads and interstate commerce.

The decision is a blow to the state, which had responded to complaints about conditions at the facilities with promises of state crackdowns on their operators. Solid waste and construction and demolition debris is loaded onto to railcars and hauled out of state at these facilities.