Photo by Carlo De La Cruz
On May 7, the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) approved the Warehouse Indirect Sources Rule, one of the first electrification and zero-emissions rules in the nation (and the world) that applies to large warehouses. This groundbreaking policy would require all new and existing Southern California warehouses larger than 100,000 square feet to make an annual investment in facilitating the transition to cleaner technologies, or pay a fee if such investments aren’t feasible. The investments can range from installing rooftop solar or electric vehicle (EV) chargers to acquiring or attracting cleaner zero-emission vehicles to the facility. These investments will help operators and truck drivers gain access to sufficient charging stations across the region to ensure a smoother transition to zero-emission and electric vehicles, in line with the Governor Newsom’s goal of a wider shift to electric vehicles by 2035.
Approved in a 9-4 vote, this rule will move the region’s logistics and goods movements industries towards zero-emissions and clean energy. The rule comes at a critical time, after a decade of stagnating air quality gains. Southern California has some of the worst air quality in the nation, and for communities living near freeways, ports, and warehouses, diesel pollution can be deadly.
As the pandemic continues, the goods delivery and warehouse industry has continued to boom. Areas such as Long Beach, Southeast Los Angeles, and cities in the Inland Region like Moreno Valley bear the worst impacts of this poor air quality due to goods movement. Some communities are literally boxed in on all sides by mega-warehouses that moved into the area.The pandemic has only exacerbated the inequality and environmental injustice that these communities were already experiencing.
The Largest Warehouse Hub in the Nation
Everytime we shop online and use e-commerce to get packages delivered to our door, we are supporting an industry that brings thousands of trucks in and out of already polluted communities, making air quality worse for the larger region. The South Coast region, which includes Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, is home to over a billion square feet of warehousing space. In 2015, the Inland Region, which already sees the worst ozone spikes in the South Coast region, saw an unprecedented explosion of cheap warehouse development, so much that a new warehouse the size of a football field was being added every day. This boom has been devastating for nearby residents, who saw their mostly residential, suburban, or agricultural communities transformed into freight and goods movement corridors. Today, the Inland Region teems with tens of thousands of trucks coming in and out of warehouse facilities, spewing pollutants and particulate matter, contributing to the worsening air quality.
Even as early as 2015, when we had no roadmap for the Warehouse Indirect Sources Rule (ISR), our communities knew that we needed to phase out fossil fuels in the goods movement industry and transition as quickly as possible to zero emission technologies and electrification. To do this, the industry would need to move away from fossil fuels, invest in electric infrastructure, and make sure that workers in Black and brown communities are taken care of in the transition. Yet we could not imagine back in 2015 the journey it would take to get the rule across the finish line.
It Takes a Village -- Equity Tour
The passage of the ISR is the result of a multiyear campaign and coalition effort. We want to thank all of our community members, coalition partners, volunteers, and advocates who helped push for this rule over the years and shined a light on the health and human impacts of the smog and poor air quality from the moving of goods.
The same communities living on the frontlines of the goods movement industry were the first to advocate for zero emissions. We often hear that zero-emission trucks and heavy-duty vehicles are still at least five years away, especially for the warehouses and port facilities that have the worst diesel emissions.
That’s why, in 2019, we went on our first Equity Tour of warehouse facilities. We wanted to show our policymakers and air quality regulators that zero-emission vehicles including trucks, forklifts, and yard holsters were already in use at warehouse facilities in Los Angeles and the Inland Region. We brought our tour to the communities affected most and to the few warehouses leading the way toward zero-emission goods movement. Together with our partners, we brought local leaders, AQMD officials, environmental partners, and labor partners to tour communities in the Inland Region and discuss their air quality issues.
Our Equity Tour was an important moment when our air-quality regulators saw the potential for a zero-emissions future in goods movement in the region. A noticeable shift happened: They went talking about if zero emissions would be a reality, to talking about when.
As our movement for zero emissions matured and developed, so did the deployment of zero-emission technologies and commercial operators’ understanding of the benefits of zero-emission vehicles.
Members of Sierra Club's My Generation Campaign, Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, The Moving Forward Network, and South Coast AQMD, 2019- Photo by Kristiana Faddoul
Members of Sierra Club’s My Generation Campaign, Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, The Moving Forward Network, and South Coast AQMD, 2019- Photo by Kristiana Faddoul
Benefits of Warehouse Electrification
The Warehouse ISR is a transformational regulation that will not only shift the warehousing and goods movement industries to cleaner and zero-emission vehicles, but will also require all large warehouses to attract or purchase more zero-emission vehicles. For the first time, this industry is being asked to limit their pollution and adopt clean technology that will have both environmental and public health benefits.
The frontline communities that have suffered first and worst from the freight pollution and truck emissions, have advocated a shift to zero emissions for the sake of clean air. Thanks to their fearless leadership in this campaign, those communities will soon see some relief from the ongoing truck traffic and pollution from goods movement We consider this a win for frontline communities because this rule will prioritize investments made locally to abate pollution, and will dedicate funds collected from industry to clean air projects in local communities. It is estimated that the rule will bring up to $2.7 billion in health benefits to these communities, saving up to 300 lives and preventing 5,800 asthma attacks.
Workers will also soon see better health outcomes; an estimated 20,000 fewer sick days will be taken thanks to cleaner air both inside and outside the warehouses. As a result of the investments made in rooftop solar, EV charging and other clean energy infrastructure; we anticipate a boost in local and union jobs created by these investments. Additionally, Southern California is well positioned to benefit from the adoption of more zero-emission vehicles, as the region is home to a number of zero-emission and electric vehicle manufacturers, like Orange EV, Proterra, and BYD, all are companies that operate facilities in the region and are currently delivering zero-emission products to commercial customers. Our partners at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 11 and the National Electrical Contractors Association, along with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters have all supported this rule because they saw that it would help create jobs in the growing electrical and clean energy economy.
We’ve seen the awareness of the benefits of zero emissions and clean air steadily grow as public awareness of climate change became as thick as the smoke that blanketed the skies during last year’s wildfire season. So we continued to work to create a movement with labor, environmental, health, and local communities that shaped the Warehouse ISR rule and built the political will to make it a reality.
Other Freight Electrification Bright Spots
We’ve already seen some great local victories in the freight and goods movement sector this month. These victories are much deserved after years (or decades!) of advocacy and behind-the-scenes work by volunteers and partners.
A week before the Warehouse ISR was adopted, the Sierra Club and our partners reached an historic settlement with one of the largest warehouse developments in Moreno Valley, the World Logistics Center, to secure life saving investments in clean energy that will prevent worsening air quality and reduce the facility’s greenhouse gas emissions.
A week later, our partners fighting the expansion of the I-710 freeway received news that the EPA had rejected LA Metro’s expansion plans for the freeway, which sets the stage for the community solutions of a zero-emissions-centered approach to finally be back on the table for further consideration. Additionally, the EPA letter signaled a new direction in questioning the value of any future freeway expansion project, which has immediate community and climate impacts.
Every decision that moves the needle on zero emissions is a critical step toward saving lives and combating the climate crisis. We thank you for being part of this movement and helping in your way to achieve this week’s win for zero emissions. Onward!