South Coast AQMD has commenced an enforcement initiative to bring warehouses into compliance with its Warehouse Indirect Source Rule (Rule 2305). The agency has been initially focusing on warehouses located in Environmental Justice communities.
As of December 2023, South Coast AQMD has issued a total of 109 Notices of Violation (NOV) to warehouse owners and operators that have failed to meet the deadlines for required actions under the rule.
In May 2021, the agency’s Governing Board passed the Warehouse Indirect Source Rule, which requires warehouses greater than 100,000 square feet to take actions to reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) and diesel particulate matter (PM) emissions or to otherwise limit exposures to air pollution in nearby communities. In September, South Coast AQMD issued a notice advising that the agency’s enforcement staff was preparing to take action against facility owners and operators that had failed to meet the deadlines for required actions.
About 1,000 warehouses were required to take actions in calendar year 2022 to reduce their air quality impacts. The rule is being phased in over a five-year period, and the number of warehouses that are required to take action this year will grow to about 2,000 facilities. Violators of air quality rules can face civil penalties of up to $11,700 per day of noncompliance with greater penalties available for negligent and intentional violations.
Warehouses are a key destination for heavy-duty trucks and have other sources of emissions like cargo handling equipment, all of which contribute to local pollution. Emissions from sources associated with warehouses account for almost as much NOx emissions as all of the refineries, power plants, and other stationary sources in the South Coast Air Basin combined. Those living within a half mile of warehouses are more likely to have higher rates of asthma and heart attacks and must endure a greater environmental burden. The rule is expected to reduce smog-forming emissions by 10-15 percent from warehouse-related sources.
More information can be found at: www.aqmd.gov/waire.