When a package arrives at your door, it has likely traveled through a chain of ports, railyards and warehouses throughout the state. All those ships, trains and trucks leave behind a trail of diesel exhaust as they go, driving some of the highest asthma rates in communities.
For decades, state and federal regulators have tried to clean that up. Now much of their authority is in doubt: the Trump administration revoked California’s authority to mandate electric vehicles and pulled back federal power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions — undermining California’s most effective tools.
A bill moving through the Legislature would try to fill that gap. Assembly bill 1777, authored by Democrat Robert Garcia, who represents parts of San Bernardino County, would give California air regulators authority to hold ports, warehouses and railyards accountable for the pollution they draw to nearby communities — using a regulatory tool called the indirect source rule.
The proposal “reflects this ch... Read more
