Two bills would put a buffer between warehouses and homes. One is much better, activists say

Putting distance between new mega-warehouses and people has long been a goal of Inland environmental justice activists.

But on Friday, April 14, activists gathered outside Assemblymember James Ramos’ San Bernardino office to object to his legislation requiring new warehouses to be at least 300 feet from homes, schools and other so-called “sensitive receptors.”

The issue, activists argue, is that Ramos’ bill doesn’t go far enough. They favor a bill from Assembly Majority Leader Eloise Gómez Reyes, D-San Bernardino, that would put a 1,000-foot buffer between warehouses and places such as homes, daycare centers and houses of worship.

With its relative closeness to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, easy access to freeways and rail lines, plenty of cheap, flat undeveloped land and a blue-collar workforce in need of jobs, the Inland Empire became ground zero for a logistics boom that gained further steam from spiking demand for e-commerce during the coronavirus pandemic.

Today, the region is home to an estimated 1 billion square feet of sleek-walled warehouses, typically hundreds of thousands of square feet in size, that are served by a seemingly endless convoy of trains and trucks ferrying goods from the ports en route to stores in Southern California and across the nation.

Those diesel-powered trucks are blamed for emitting toxic exhaust linked to cancer, asthma and other health threats. The Inland Empire routinely ranks at the bottom of air quality report cards, and activists see racism in how close — literally next door — many new warehouses are to predominantly non-white neighborhoods.

The logistics sector’s supporters note the industry is a top employer and an economic backbone for a region that lacks the education levels or wealth of California’s coastal counties. They argue the industry is taking steps to cut air pollution and be a good neighbor.

AB 1748 from Ramos, D-Highland, would apply to new or expanding warehouses of 400,000 square feet or more in size in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Warehouses could be closer than 300 feet to sensitive land uses like homes and schools if they follow “an industrial guideline framework, good neighbor policy, or sustainability ordinance adopted” by a city or county, the bill reads.

AB 1748 “(is) a drastically watered down version of (Reyes’ bill) that clearly favors the mega-warehouse industrial complex,” Anthony Noriega of the League of United Latin American Citizens said via email. “… It requires the bare minimum from the warehouse industry and lacks the (safeguards) and protections offered by (Reyes’ bill).”

Ana Gonzalez, executive director of the Jurupa Valley-based Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, was among those outside Ramos’ office Friday.

She believes AB 1748 is an effort to derail Reyes’ bill. “We are asking him to collaborate with (Reyes) to make her bill stronger instead of dividing the legislators up in Sacramento,” Gonzalez said.

As someone who lives in Ramos’ district, “I call on him to do the right thing to protect our communities,” she later added.

Maria Lopez, a Ramos spokesperson, said Friday he was not available for an interview. Instead, she referred to Ramos’ news release on his bill.

According to the release, AB 1748 bolsters standards from a settlement regarding warehouse development standards between the city of Fontana, Attorney General Rob Bonta and the Sierra Club San Gorgonio Chapter.

“AB 1748 is a balanced approach to warehouse siting by allowing local jurisdictions to develop policies for their communities or follow the model set out last year after vigorous debate and hard won compromise,” Ramos said in the news release.

“It addresses the need to mitigate vital health concerns important to all of us while protecting critical product supply chains around the globe, nation and state,” Ramos said. “We saw what happens when ports and other transportation hubs are stalled for products such as baby formula, medicine, food products and building materials are held up.”

Reyes’ bill, AB 1000, applies to warehouses 100,000 square feet or larger. The buffer could shrink from 1,000 feet to 750 feet if warehouse developers meet certain benchmarks, such as committing to using zero-emission vehicles and limiting the practice of trucks idling their engines.

Reyes submitted similar legislation last year, but it died amid opposition from the California Chamber of Commerce and other business interests. Her new bill has a scheduled hearing in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee on Monday; the same committee will consider AB 1748 on April 26, according to Ramos’ office.

Asked if Reyes had anything to say about Ramos’ bill, Matthew Hamlett, a Reyes spokesperson, said via email: “The majority leader is focused on AB 1000, its upcoming hearing, and moving it through the legislative process.”