This month, the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) Headquarters was packed with about 100 clean air advocates in attendance, who erupted in cheers as the South Coast AQMD’s governing board voted unanimously to adopt the Railyard Indirect Source Rule (ISR). A big win for clean air, the facility-based measure aims to reduce harmful pollution from trains, trucks, cargo-handling equipment and transport refrigeration units that service new and existing railyards in Southern California. Voting on rules designed to curb transport pollution doesn’t end here: SCAQMD is currently scheduled to vote on the Ports ISR early next year, which also has the potential to drastically impact air quality in the area.

I attended the meeting and celebrated alongside advocates and organizers from T.H.E. Impact Project, including People’s Collective for Environmental Justice, East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, Sierra Club, Earthjustice, Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, Coalition for a Safe Environment and the Natural Resources Defense Council, as well as partner organizations like Coalition for Clean Air and Move LA, who for years have been advocating for a cleaner goods movement system which includes the most recently voted on Railyard ISR.

The rule itself has been in development for three years, but AQMD staff has been pursuing a facility-based measure for emission reductions at railyards and intermodal facilities since 2018. The new rule requires air-polluting nitrous oxides (NOx) emission reductions for each railyard and mandates that operators share zero-emission (ZE) infrastructure plans with SCAQMD, helping to chart a path for wide-scale ZE infrastructure buildout, which will ultimately reduce planet-heating greenhouse gas emissions from heavily polluting railyards.

The ISR, in conjunction with other state regulations, is projected to reduce NOx emissions by over 9 tons per day between 2025 and 2050 and prevent around 275 premature deaths annually. However, there is still room for future improvements to the new Railyard ISR such as stricter emission reduction targets and air quality monitoring with public data reporting, further benefiting the health and safety of nearby communities.

For decades, fossil-fueled locomotives, trucks and ships have traversed our communities, contributing to the South Coast air basin being in extreme nonattainment (areas in the country where air pollution levels persistently exceed federal ambient air quality standards) for safe air quality levels set by the federal government. The region — including Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties — has some of the nation’s worst smog, largely driven by emissions tied to railyards and the transportation sector at-large. 

As a downtown Long Beach resident myself — and having grown up on the Westside — I’ve witnessed the harmful effects of this transport pollution firsthand. It is far too common to know someone from my community with respiratory problems, or other health conditions, that are attributed to the effects of environmental pollution from fossil-fueled shipping, trains and rail. Many of my friends and family members have struggled with asthma, increased allergic responses, cardiovascular diseases and other air pollution-related diseases simply due to the location of their homes.

As residents, we are grateful to see the South Coast Air Quality Management District enacting historic regulation for railyards that will reduce the harmful effects of goods movement pollution on frontline communities. But the momentum can’t stop here: the Ports ISR is scheduled to be voted on later this year. If you want to receive updates or get involved in the movement for clean air, you can follow along and join our work here as we continue to call on SCAQMD to rectify historical environmental injustice in Los Angeles County.

Cristhian Tapia-Delgado serves as Pacific Environment’s Climate Campaigner, Southern California and lives in Long Beach, California.