More than half of the Southern California warehouses required to comply with a 2-year-old clean-air rule haven’t done so, an air-quality regulator said Wednesday, Sept. 20, in announcing a crackdown on those violating the landmark standard.

Elected officials on the South Coast Air Quality Management District board voted in May 2021 to enact the Warehouse Indirect Source Rule, which seeks to clear Southern California skies of diesel exhaust from trucks ferrying goods from ports to warehouses.

Diesel emissions are linked to cancer, asthma and other health problems in a region notorious for poor air quality. Low-income and predominantly non-White communities near warehouses are especially hard hit, according to environmental justice advocates and air quality district officials.

The rule, which applies to warehouses greater than 100,000 square feet, sets up a system in which warehouses choose from a menu of options — installing rooftop solar panels and using zero-emission or near-zero emission trucks, for example — to score a required number of points.

But since the rule’s passage, 1,400 of the 2,000 warehouses subject to the rule aren’t in compliance, a district news release states.

“Time is up for those not complying with our rule,” Wayne Nastri, the district’s executive officer, said in the release.

“Owners and operators of warehouses have known about these deadlines for two years,” Nastri said. “Communities near these facilities deserve to breathe clean air and our enforcement teams will work quickly to ensure that the facilities come into compliance as quickly as possible.”

The district this week sent warnings to noncompliant warehouses and the district “is preparing to issue notices of violation that can result in daily penalties and further legal action,” the release states.

Violators face civil fines of up to $11,710 per day.

The district is tasked with protecting air quality in Orange County and urban parts of Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Roughly 17 million people live within the district’s boundaries.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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