About

The Railroad Environmental Conference is hosted on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. RREC features presentations by railroaders, consulting engineers, academics and others involved in all aspects of railroad environmental topics. Presentation topics include: Compliance for Operating Facilities; Environmental Management Systems; Environmental Permitting & Planning; Incident Management; Remediation; Sustainability and Resilience; and Wastewater Management.

The annual railroad environmental conference enables you to meet with your peers throughout the railroad environmental community to exchange views, learn about new techniques and technologies, and generally stay in touch with the direction of the railroad industry’s environmental programs. It is also an excellent opportunity to renew old acquaintances and make new contacts in the ever-changing railroad environmental arena.

All individuals interested in the topics to be presented are encouraged to attend. We expect representatives from all of the Class 1 railroads, as well as short line, passenger, commuter, and rail transit organizations to be in attendance. In addition, most of the major environmental engineering consulting firms serving the railroad industry will be represented. Environmental researchers from academia and representatives from environmental regulatory agencies are also expected.

The conference is co-partnered by The Association of American Railroads (AAR), the American Railway Engineering & Maintenance of Way Association (AREMA), the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRA), the American Railway Development Association (ARDA), and the Railway Association of Canada (RAC).

AREMA Committee 13 and the AAR Environmental Affairs Committee are expected to hold their fall meetings in conjunction with the conference.