Increased smog days and e-commerce boom is proof that SCAQMD needs Indirect Source Rules

By Justice Sandoval, community organizer with the Sierra Club My Generation Campaign, and Taylor Thomas, co-director of the East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

Southern California is playing a big role in the global economy for some of the largest companies in the world. There’s a chance that if you ordered something online this holiday season, it made a stop at one of the ports, railyards, or warehouses located on the outskirts of our neighborhoods in Southeast Los Angeles and the Inland Empire.

Unfortunately, what many online shoppers are unaware of is that the logistics industry has severe ramifications on working class communities in our region. Thousands of diesel trucks pass through the streets and freeways near our houses everyday, leaving a trail of toxic pollution that is only contributing to serious allergies and chronic respiratory issues for community members. The logistics industry has failed to understand that their operations have created diesel death zones that are sacrificing our quality of life everyday.

Environmental justice communities across the South Coast Basin are urging the Air Quality Management District to do more to demand the industry clean up its act. They can begin by implementing strong regulatory measures to require ports, railyards, and warehouses to address the emissions impacts their facilities create. 

Recent air quality trends are proof that stronger regulations are needed to meet clean air standards. According to South Coast Air Quality Management District’s (SCAQMD) own data, Southern California experienced its worst ozone readings and most consecutive bad air days since the 1990s. While wildfires did have a large impact on this uptick, it should not go unnoticed that this growth in pollution has correlated with the urban sprawl connected to logistics growth. 

Requiring facilities to address their pollution impacts through robust Indirect Source Rules will bring long-term climate and health benefits. Indirect Source Rules will also help transform an industry that has plagued our communities with poor air and jobs for decades. These measures will help speed up the transition to zero-emission vehicles and invest in clean energy infrastructure improvements, while presenting employment and training opportunities to the current and next generation of workers. 

The good news is that electric trucks are here and already proving their worth. Truck companies such as BYD and Volvo are currently piloting programs with logistics companies to haul goods to port and warehouse facilities across the region. In the process of contributing to truck electrification, BYD helped create hundreds of blue-collar jobs for Southern California residents. These holistic business models can be replicated all across the region, if SCAQMD leaders usher in strong regulations to hold the industry accountable. 

For years, residents and community advocates in the Inland Empire, Los Angeles, and the Coachella Valley have urged the SCAQMD to consider these ‘Indirect Source Rules’ of pollution because these facilities are located directly next to our homes. As record-breaking volumes of cargo benefit the industry, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities afflicted by the pandemic continue to pay the costs with their lungs and health.  

The SCAQMD has a clear choice to make. It must stop stalling and push through Indirect Source Rules to hold the profitable logistics industry accountable and give environmental justice communities the health protections they deserve.