The Safe Routes Partnership has been working with environmental justice groups, including the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice to raise awareness about the impact of freight and warehouses on the pollution levels and traffic safety of schools and neighborhoods throughout the Inland Empire and Southern California. At an April meeting of the California Air Resources Board, we and other partners provided comments asking CARB to work with the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), which regulates pollution in Southern California, to lower pollution impacts from freight. In a surprise vote, at the May board meeting, SCAQMD ruled in favor of developing an “indirect source measure,” which would increase regulations of air pollution produced by regional warehouses, ports and rail yards. SCAQMD instructed their staff to develop a proposed rule and an economic impact study on the impacts of the proposal on the logistics industry. There will be a lot of work ahead to monitor this effort, but the vote is a hopeful step towards lowering the impact of freight and warehouse pollution on people’s lungs.
