Two sweeping air pollution regulations aimed at removing smog-causing diesel trucks from Southern California roadways and warehouses are being released for public review within the next 30 days.
The measures are part of an executive order issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom to have only zero-emission trucks and buses — most would be electric — on the roads by 2045. The changeover would impact 2 million medium- and heavy-duty trucks operating in California, including about 500,000 in Southern California.
A local Southern California measure would require trucks serving 3,000 warehouses to be electrified.
Trucks moving packages and all kinds of goods account for 47% of all the NOx, shorthand for oxides of nitrogen, in the South Coast Air Basin which encompasses Orange County and the non-desert portions of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties. NOx is a component of ground-level ozone, a gas that damages the lungs. The basin has the highest levels of ozone as part of smog in the nation.
Air pollution studies show ozone, produced when pollutants “cook” in sunlight, and fine particulates, a direct component of diesel soot, can trigger asthma attacks, emergency room visits, heart attacks and cause lung damage. Fine particulates, or PM 2.5, pass more easily into the lungs and even the brain.
Transportation sources account for 40% of the greenhouse gases in California, according to state environmental agencies. These gases, such as carbon dioxide, contribute to global climate change, which is melting polar ice caps and causing extreme weather events, according to climate scientists.
The Inland Empire has seen numerous large-scale warehouses, logistics and fulfillment centers pop up in the past 10 years, which are served by diesel semitrucks and delivery vans for companies such as Wal-Mart and Amazon. The two proposed regulations would reduce local air pollution around warehouses often located in low-income communities, as well as in and out of the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, according to Andrea Vidaurre, senior policy analyst for the People’s Collective For Environmental Justice (PCFEJ) in the Inland Empire.
“What used to be freeways, railways and ports are now pollution sources formed into an inland port,” Vidaurre said. “Forty percent of the nation’s stuff goes through those ports and come to warehouses in the communities of Bloomington, Muscoy, Highland, Moreno Valley, Perris and other areas in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.”
The two regulations are different in scope and approach but both target diesel trucks:
• An informational webinar will be presented at 1 p.m. Thursday, March 4, by the California Air Resources Board on its proposed Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) program. The program sets targets for buying electric vehicles for public fleet owners such as cities and counties; private fleet companies such as those running airport shuttles, as well as owners of drayage trucks, defined as on-road, diesel-fueled, heavy-duty trucks that transport containers to and from ports and railyards.
The CARB program calls for phasing in zero-emission trucks as follows: For public fleets: 50% by the 2024-2026 model years; 100% starting with 2027 model year trucks. All drayage trucks must be zero-emission by 2035, while diesel trucks on the road can operate until reaching 800,000 miles or 18 years of age. Private fleet owners are to phase in zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) truck models starting at 10% in 2025 and up to 100% by 2035 for most truck varieties. Sleeper-cab trucks, the largest, have until 2042 to reach 100%.
• The South Coast Air Quality Management District is scheduled to hold a hearing April 2 on its Warehouse Indirect Source Rule (ISR). About 3,000 existing warehouses over 100,000 square feet in size located within the air district would be required to reduce truck tailpipe emissions that serve their facilities by replacing them with electric or fuel-cell trucks and installing electric charging infrastructure. Otherwise, each warehouse owner must pay a “mitigation fee,” estimated at $0.90 per square foot to the AQMD, to be used by others to buy clean-fuel trucks and equipment.
While environmental groups, from the PCFEJ to the Sierra Club and the American Lung Association support both rules, some industry groups have deep concerns.
The Southern California chapter of the National Association of Office and Industrial Parks opposes the AQMD warehouse measure, saying it will cost Southern California warehouses $1 billion a year and will result in higher consumer prices on everything from medicine to groceries to electronics.
“We share the goal to reduce air emissions but it needs to be done in a way that makes sense,” said Timothy Jemal, CEO of NAIOP SoCal. Jemal said the association’s 1,300 members will continue to oppose the measure.
There are too few electric trucks are on the market to meet the demand, according to Jemal, so most warehouse owners will pay the fee, which he said is illegal.
“We believe this is a tax that requires two-thirds voter approval in order to be adopted,” he added.
In an earlier webinar on the CARB’s clean truck fleets measure, Brandon Rose, a representative of the board, said there are 93 ZEV truck models on the market today and that will increase to 109 by 2023.
“There really is a wide variety of zero-emission trucks and buses available,” Rose said Tuesday, March 2. “You are starting to see this become more mainstream.”
Costs are going down, he added.
Investor-owned utilities have received approvals by the California Public Utilities Commission for $700 million to install electric-charging infrastructure through 2023, enough to support 18,000 trucks, buses and off-road vehicles, he said.
In the Tuesday meeting, some operators of public fleets asked if exemptions were allowed if the costs were too high. Though the rule is still in the early stage and could be changed, Tony Brasil of CARB answered: “We wouldn’t use cost as a direct criteria.”
However, CARB said it would work with cities and counties to avoid having to buy two electric trucks to replace one.
As far as large trucks that take containers from the ports to warehouses and rail yards, the proposed fleet rule from CARB is an extension of a similar truck regulation that sunsets in 2022. These trucks would be required to be 100% emission-free by 2035 in order to operate at a rail yard or sea port, according to the proposal.
“The concept will focus on minimizing negative health impacts these drayage trucks have on nearby communities,” such as those near a rail yard or the ports of LA and Long Beach, said Jessica Johnston of CARB.
“What we need is the shift from delay and confusion (regarding state and local clean-truck mandates) to investing in the infrastructure we need to fuel these zero-emission vehicles,” said William Barrett, American Lung Association’s California Clean Air Advocacy Director.
“We want to see CARB follow through with the governor’s vision — that all trucks operating in California must be zero emission. That would require a strong fleet rule,” Barrett said.
CARB plans additional online workshops for its clean fleet rule in April and June. No date has been set for adoption.
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