A California Assembly bill that would expand the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) regulatory reach has advanced to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, over the objections of dozens of industry groups, including NAIOP SoCal. In a LinkedIn posting, NAIOP SoCal said the measure, AB 1777, sponsored by Assembly Member Robert Garcia, would create “serious consequences for Southern California’s commercial real estate, goods movement and logistics sectors.”

At a hearing earlier this week by the Assembly Natural Resources Committee, Chris Shimoda, representing the Supply Chain Federation and the California Trucking Association, and Jonathan Kendrick of California Chamber of Commerce, served as the lead voices of a 58-organization coalition opposed to the bill. CalMatters reported that AB 1777 would give California air regulators, including CARB, the 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. 

“AB 1777 is not simply declarative,” according to NAIOP SoCal. “It would open the door to broader regulation of indirect sources, including warehouse and logistics facilities, roads, highways and parking areas, while increasing the risk of double regulation, new mitigation fees that function like taxes, and added costs that would further strain California’s affordability and economic competitiveness.”

The association vowed to continue working with coalition partners to oppose the measure “and to advocate for common-sense and practical policies that protect jobs, investments and the efficient movement of goods across California.”