As Senate Rolls Back Life-Saving Clean Air Policy, New York is Left in the Lurch with Dirty Diesel Pollution

U.S. Senate Republicans abused the Congressional Review Act in an unlawful maneuver to overturn California’s Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) Rule, which has been adopted by numerous states, including New York. This has never been done in the history of the Clean Air Act or the Congressional Review Act. In the course of the vote, Republican senators pushed aside the rules of the Senate and overrode the Senate Parliamentarian, who concluded in April that the EPA waivers approving California’s rule are not subject to the Congressional Review Act.

In 2021, New York adopted California’s ACT rule to clean New York’s air. The rule requires truck manufacturers to gradually increase the sales of zero-emission trucks in New York over the coming decade. Following this attack from the Senate on New York’s right to clean its air, Earthjustice issued the following statement to call on New York’s Legislature to pass the Clean Deliveries Act:

“The only winners from the Senate’s reckless vote to revoke the Advanced Clean Trucks rule are dirty corporate polluters,” said Liz Moran, New York policy advocate for Earthjustice. “The decision flies in the face of over 50 years of Senate precedent, and it will reverberate throughout communities across New York who live with the harmful effects of diesel truck pollution. It’s clear the Trump administration wants to keep the country at a polluting standstill, but we can’t let them drag New York back.

Now is not the time for New York to back down. The Senate’s vote should kick New York lawmakers into high gear to protect New Yorkers from dirty air. One immediate step they can take is passing the Clean Deliveries Act, a critically important bill currently on the agenda in the state legislature. The bill reduces pollution from mega-warehouses across New York by requiring the state to review emissions related to the operations of all large e-commerce warehouses. We need New York to pursue strategies that don’t require action from the federal government, and passing the Clean Deliveries Act is a great place to start.”

Background

New York has seen a surge in dangerous pollution from diesel trucks, driven by the rise of online shopping. New research from the Environmental Defense Fund shows that five million New Yorkers now live within half a mile of a mega-warehouse, and that four times more warehouse square footage was built over the last decade compared to the prior 10 years. As decades of research show, the toxic air spewed out of diesel tailpipes contributes to increased cases of pulmonary and heart diseases and elevated rates of pediatric asthma.

The good news is that the New York State legislature is currently considering a bill that would give policymakers a new tool to tackle this growing crisis. The law would require the state to review emissions related to the operations of all e-commerce warehouses that are over 50,000 square feet, and warehouse operators would be tasked with creating plans for how they would reduce their pollution. Plans could include committing to acquiring more zero-emission vehicles and charging infrastructure, installing solar panels, or paying additional fees.