On Oct 30, Clean Water Action, in collaboration with some of our partners from Coalition of Healthy Ports and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) held a virtual Town Hall focused on the recently introduced Warehouse and Port Pollution Reduction bill (A4679/S3546) in New Jersey.
Featured speakers included NJ state lawmakers, Assemblywoman Katz (LD-8), Assemblywoman Murphy, (LD-7), and Gaige Kerr, Assistant Research Professor at the Milken Institute School of Public Health. Check out a recording of the town hall on YouTube, which includes really insightful information and data about the growing warehouse development in the Garden State.
Air pollution associated with diesel trucks that serve warehouses and ports has become a growing health concern in New Jersey communities. At least one in three New Jersey residents live within a half mile of a warehouse. Freight trucks make up 11% of the on-road fleet but are responsible for emitting 56% of the transportation sector’s nitrogen oxides (NOx) and 33% of its fine particulate matter (known as PM2.5). Air pollutants deriving from diesel-fueled freight vehicles has led to 340 deaths, nearly 3,000 cancer cases, 164 heart attacks, 3,921 asthma flareups and 110 asthma emergency room visits in the state in 2023 alone!
The recent introduction of (A4679/S3546) would curb pollution at warehouses, ports and other truck attracting facilities by requiring them to implement concrete emission reduction measures through an “indirect source review” program. If passed into law, the NJ Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) would establish flexible compliance options alongside permitting requirements to achieve these reductions, with higher thresholds for environmental justice communities that are disproportionately burdened by port operations, trucking and multitude of other sources of pollution that cause harm due to their race and/or income. This bill focuses on combining “carrot” and “stick” measures that create incentives for operators to reduce on-site pollution. These include an emissions reduction mandate and a flexible menu of investments that facilities can choose to come into compliance.
The NJ warehouse and port pollution bill (A4679/S3546) was inspired by a regulation known as an Indirect Source Rule (ISR) in California’s South Coast Air Quality Management District. Since 2021, it is already driving down truck pollution in Southern California.
Residents across NJ, frontline and overburdened communities, freight and goods movement workers deserve better. They deserve to breathe clean air to live and thrive in a healthy environment. Getting this bill to the finish line would be a critical step towards righting the wrongs of the environmental injustices that are still happening to this day.
Another important piece of legislation right now that is also focused on reducing pollution from trucks used in our freight and goods movement is the ACT Rule. ACT Advanced Clean Trucks was developed as a life-saving standard to be phased in over time in order to address the devastating truck pollution that is causing severe respiratory issues for frontline communities in addition to worsening the climate crisis.
Unfortunately, state legislators are trying to advance legislation, A4967/S3817, which is focused on delaying ACT for two years! However, NJ is in fact ready to start implementation. The NJDEP has been working hard since rule adoption back in 2021 to get to this stage, the official implementation.
Sending a message NOW to your NJ State Legislators and tell them to continue to ADVANCE ACT, and not delay this life-saving program because of bad faith actors in the trucking industry and why this rule is important to you!
To learn more on how you can get more involved or get more information on the status of these bills, please contact Tolani Taylor, Clean Water Action Zero Emissions & Warehouse Organizer. You can also check out our website to find more warehouse campaign resources here.
