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A federal court heard motions for summary judgment in challenge to first-in-nation rule requiring warehouses to adopt clean technologies.

By Joshua Bledsoe, Nick Cox, and Jennifer Garlock

On April 17, 2023, a US federal judge heard arguments in a lawsuit challenging the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD or the District) adoption of Rule 2305 and will now decide whether to grant summary judgment to the plaintiffs and vacate the rule.

Rule 2305 is the Warehouse Indirect Source Rule (ISR) — Warehouse Actions and Investments to Reduce Emissions (WAIRE) Program. As described in this June 2021 blog post, the WAIRE Program applies to certain warehouses in the South Coast Air Basin and imposes a compliance obligation based on the number of truck visits to that warehouse per year. Warehouse operators can meet that obligation by taking any number of emissions-reducing actions, either from the “WAIRE Menu” or through a custom plan approved by the District.

The State and eNGOs seek to defend an emissions rule that trucking and airline trade groups are challenging in federal court.

By Joshua T. Bledsoe and Jennifer Garlock

On October 13, 2021, the State of California, on behalf of the Office of the Attorney General and the California Air Resources Board (CARB, and together, the State), filed a motion to intervene in a federal lawsuit challenging the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD or the District) adoption of Rule 2305. Rule 2305 is the Warehouse Indirect Source Rule (ISR) – Warehouse Actions and Investments to Reduce Emissions (WAIRE) Program. Plaintiff, the California Trucking Association (CTA), filed a complaint in the US District Court for the Central District of California on August 5, 2021, to which the District filed an answer on October 7, 2021.[i] In addition to the State, Airlines for America filed a motion to intervene as a proposed plaintiff, while a group of environmental NGOs seek to intervene as proposed defendants. Each proposed intervenor is discussed further below.

A local air district approved a rule requiring warehouses to adopt clean technologies or pay a mitigation fee.

By Joshua T. Bledsoe and Jennifer Garlock

At a contentious board hearing on May 7, 2021, the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) approved a first-in-the-nation rule to regulate trucking emissions from warehouses by a 9-4 vote. Rule 2305, the Warehouse Indirect Source Rule (ISR), establishes the Warehouse Actions and Investments to Reduce Emissions (WAIRE) Program to reduce emissions associated with warehouse activity. The WAIRE Program essentially requires warehouse operators to take actions to electrify warehouse activities and the trucks that visit warehouses in order to reduce nitrogen oxides (NOx) and diesel particulate matter (DPM) emissions. As previewed in a 2019 Latham blog post, despite the warehouse sector’s limited control over the types of trucks servicing its facilities (warehouses generally do not own or operate trucking fleets), the ISR imposes obligations on warehouses to indirectly reduce trucking emissions. The WAIRE Program applies to warehouses with more than 100,000 square feet of warehouse space in a single building, and will phase in over three years based on warehouse size, with the largest warehouses (i.e., more than 250,000 square feet) having the earliest compliance period.