New California Law Regulates Warehouse Pollution

California’s South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) has issued 475 emissions violations to warehouses since 2023 under the Indirect Source Rule, signaling rampant pollution and noncompliance with state air quality laws, reports Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News.

A new bill that takes effect in 2026, Assembly Bill 98, sets new, statewide design and build standards for warehouses and requires updated truck route plans to “reduce the adverse air quality impacts of truck traffic near warehouses.” According to Noroozi, “Since the warehouse Indirect Source Rule was enacted in 2021, AQMD has taken a firm stance. Violators may face civil penalties of up to $10,000 per day, with higher fines for negligent or intentional breaches.”

Under the law, all new or expanded warehouses will have to meet stricter standards for energy efficiency, noise mitigation, and traffic routing. “The new law also requires the implementation of light and noise mitigation measures, and design features such as relocating truck entry gates and posting anti-idling and directional signage at loading docks.”

Cities with a high concentration of warehouses are also required to update their circulation elements with designated truck routes by 2026 or, for some cities, 2028.