A handful of cities and states, from New York to California, are exploring the idea of regulating pollution from the warehouse industry now that the federal government has largely rolled back their authority to control truck pollution.
Many of the efforts are inspired by regulators in the Los Angeles area. In 2022, the South Coast Air Quality Management District — whose mission is to reduce local air pollution — started enforcing an “indirect source” rule on warehouses. The move was designed to cut smog-forming emissions from the region’s trucking industry.
The way the rule works is that warehouses larger than 100,000 square feet — think the size of a small, suburban SuperTarget — are assigned points based on the number of truck trips the building generates.
Warehouse operators are then required to offset those points using a combination of strategies, such as running electric trucks, installing solar panels or building electric charging stations. Companies also can pay a fee to offset the points.
