GCCA Joins Letter to EPA on Proposed California Rule 2305

GCCA recently joined a coalition led by the California Trucking Association in submitting comments in Opposition to the proposed inclusion of Rule 2305 by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) as a California SIP measure by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

California Rule 2305, the Warehouse Actions and Investments to Reduce Emissions (WAIRE) Program, regulates warehouse facilities with the goal of reducing nitrogen oxide and diesel emissions.  The rule applies to warehouses with at least 100,000 square feet of indoor space in a single building.  The rule is designed as a type of cap-and-trade style regulation: Warehouse operators must earn a certain number of “points” based on the number of truck trips made to and from the warehouse each year.  GCCA and partners are concerned that the rule will place an unnecessary burden on warehouse operators.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) is pushing the EPA to approve the WAIRE rule, so it could be applied state-wide, through California’s State Implementation Plans (SIPs).  This move is inconsistent with federal and state law. GCCA and coalition partners are calling on the EPA to defer consideration of Rule 2305 until questions of legal inconsistency are addressed, or consider Rule 2305 impermissible regulation of mobile source emission, not to be included in California’s SIP.