A new report from South Coast Air Quality Management District shows the District’s groundbreaking warehouse Indirect Source Rule is catalyzing hundreds of zero emission truck acquisitions and, as result, reducing hundreds of tons of health-harming nitrogen oxide and small particulate matter pollution.
The report, which charts compliance with the Indirect Source Rule from 2021 through 2023, shows that the rule has resulted in the acquisition of 203 zero emission yard trucks across 109 warehouses, 172 ZE Class 8 trucks across 25 warehouses, 53 ZE Class 4-7 trucks across nine warehouses and 389 Class 2b-3 Trucks across 16 warehouses. It has also spurred adoption of nearly 340 charging stations.
The result? It’s reducing 0.86 tons of nitrogen oxide pollution per day, demonstrating it is well on its way to reducing the projected 1.5-3.0 tons of nitrogen oxide pollution per day — an amount expected to result in 150 to 300 fewer deaths, 2,500 to 5,800 fewer asthma attacks, 9,000 to 20,000 fewer work loss days and $1.2 to $2.7 billion in health savings from 2022-2031.
Despite the implementation challenges, the warehouse ISR has spurred a higher number of zero-emission vehicle deployments in the District over its first three years than California’s HVIP program did during its first three years. Furthermore, data shows that warehouse operators that are in compliance with the rule are earning a surplus of points. The surplus demonstrates that warehouse operators are finding compliance feasible thanks to the combination of state and federal incentives and the already-competitive total cost of ownership for ZE vehicles. For example, NFI — one of the largest logistics fleets and warehouse operators in the country — is achieving WAIRE compliance for its large Southern California presence by purchasing a portion of its electric fleet of Class 8 trucks and terminal tractors through the Joint Electric Truck Scaling Initiative. Jointly funded by the California Air Resources Board and the California Energy Commission, the initiative is also supported by South Coast Air Quality Management District.
