ALBANY, N.Y. – Consumer Reports (CR) applauded the New York State Senate for yesterday’s passage of the Clean Deliveries Act, a bill that would direct the State Department of Environmental Conservation to establish new air pollution restrictions that apply to heavy distribution warehouses. This rule—known as an indirect source rule—seeks to regulate air quality and emissions associated with the operations of these warehouse facilities, taking into account both stationary and mobile sources.
In 2021, Consumer Reports and The Guardian US published an investigative report about the rapid expansion of large Amazon warehouse facilities across the United States, which showed that these warehouse facilities are typically built in neighborhoods with a disproportionately high number of people of color and low-income residents. Amazon is one of the main corporations locating warehouses in overburdened communities, but this issue is not limited to just Amazon.
Dylan Jaff, sustainability policy analyst at Consumer Reports, said, “Consumer Reports applauds the New York Senate for the passage of the Clean Deliveries Act. This critical policy will promote deployment of zero-emission vehicles and other clean energy investments in priority communities. The communities and workers that have to live with and work around massive freight and logistics centers should be first in line to reap the benefits of zero-emission technology.”
With the rise of e-commerce across the country and in New York, many companies are causing significant impacts to the communities living around warehouse facilities. In many cases, these communities are already burdened with environmental and health problems linked to decades of heavy commercial and industrial development. The expansion of these warehouses adds to these impacts, causing, among other things, increased air pollution from diesel-based delivery trucks. Unlike traditional warehouses, e-commerce mega-warehouses can exceed several hundred thousand square feet – with many surpassing one million square feet.
Consumer Reports previously wrote New York state legislators to encourage them to pass the bill and organized consumers to contact their officials. The bill now goes to the State Assembly for a potential vote before the legislature adjourns for the year.