A landmark rule described as historic that would require warehouses and the diesel-fueled trucks serving them to cut chronic air pollution linked to asthma, cancer and deaths in Southern California is being discussed Friday, May 7, by the regional air quality board.
More than 140 people signed up to speak on the Warehouse Indirect Source Rule, a regulatory framework by the South Coast Air Quality Management District supported by environmentalists and social justice advocates and opposed by warehouse operators responsible for a growing segment of the local economy that sends goods throughout the United States.
The South Coast district is responsible for improving air quality for more than 17 million people in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties. Its 13-member board includes county supervisors and city council members from the region.
Following a presentation on the rule, Los Angeles County Supervisor and board member Sheila Kuehl said the sanctions the region would face by not complying with federal air standards are more painful than the costs associated with the rule.
“We’re weighing lives and health” against record profits enjoyed by the logistics industry, she said. “ … (The rule is) going to make an enormous difference in people’s lives.”
Long Beach City Councilman and board member Rex Richardson called the rule “one of the most meaningful and consequential steps in addressing air pollution in decades.”
“Economic recovery is not good enough if it’s not inclusive (and) clean …,” he said. “We have a responsibility to commit to a clean and modern goods movement system …”
San Bernardino County Supervisor and board member Janice Rutherford said that, while there’s “no question” the region needs to do more to improve air quality, she questioned whether the rule was the best way to do it.
“We all very much hope that truck fleets turn over (to zero-emission technology) as quickly as possible,” she said. “I just don’t believe this rule gets us there.”
Later, she said: “I disagree with the concept of an indirect source rule … The start point for these trucks are ports. If we’re talking about charging the indirect sources, I implore you to look at the ports” and freeways.
Other regulations and technology advancements will lead to more zero- and near-zero emission trucks, Rutherford said, adding the rule will cause “great pain” in the near future to the logistics industry.
Those urging the board to pass the rule included San Bernardino City Councilman Ben Reynoso.
“The reality is without this rule being implemented, nothing is going to change,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what the economic benefits are if no one’s around to spend it.”
Ana Gonzalez of the Riverside County-based Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice said her son has developed asthma that his doctor blames on pollution from diesel exhaust.
“Make a difference in my community … my son cannot play baseball because of his condition,” she said. “Please, please pass this (rule) today.”
Business groups were among those opposed, saying the rule would kill jobs while doing little to address air pollution.
“Imposing a rule that will cost hundreds of millions of dollars (and) is not likely in the board’s jurisdiction … is simply bad policy,” said Sarah Wiltfong of the Los Angeles County Business Federation.
Paul Granillo, president and CEO of the Inland Empire Economic Partnership, said people of color will be especially hard hit with job losses stemming from the rule.
“As we emerge from the pandemic, the last thing regulators should be doing is threatening jobs,” he said.
The Inland Empire and Los Angeles County are among the nation’s worst regions for air quality, with much of the pollution blamed on diesel trucks delivering goods from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach into a burgeoning landscape of mega-warehouses that employ thousands.
Diesel exhaust can aggravate allergies and lead to breathing problems, heart problems and cancer, according to the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. Nitrogen oxide from diesel fumes combines with other air pollutants to form ozone, a key contributor to smog.
Neighborhoods near warehouses “face substantially higher burdens” than other neighborhoods, including higher rates of asthma and heart attacks, a district report on the rule states. Communities next to warehouses tend to have higher poverty rates and more African Americans and Hispanics living in them, according to the report.
The rule, which seeks to comply with 2023 and 2031 federal deadlines for reducing ozone that carry sanctions if they’re not met, would apply to warehouses greater than 100,000 square feet. It sets up a system in which warehouses choose from a menu of options — installing rooftop solar panels and using zero-emission or near-zero emission trucks, for example — to score a required number of points.
Warehouses also could pay a mitigation fee funding air-quality improvement efforts in communities near warehouses. The rule, which is expected to affect about 3,000 warehouses, would be phased in over a three-year period.
If implemented, the district’s staff estimates the rule would cut nitrogen oxide emissions by 1 1/2 to 3 tons a day, or 10% to 15% by 2031. Between 2022 and 2031, the rule could lead to 150 to 300 fewer deaths, 2,500 to 5,800 fewer asthma attacks, and 9,000 to 20,000 fewer work loss days and public health benefits worth $1.2 billion to $2.7 billion, the report found.
The logistics industry, which provides thousands of jobs in the ports and Inland warehouses, has pushed back against the rule, saying it’s too costly and will lead to higher prices for consumers. The district lacks the authority to implement the rule, which amounts to an illegal tax, the industry argues.
The staff report found implementation costs could be as high as $979 million and that 11,100 jobs from 2022 to 2031 potentially won’t be created as warehouses switch to clean emission technologies.
District staff addressed the concern that there’s not enough electric trucks available to comply with the rule. The rule’s phase-in period corresponds with the expectation that more electric trucks will hit the market, and there are other ways warehouses can comply, staff wrote in their analysis.
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