Politico By ALEX NIEVES
02/24/2026 07:30 PM EST
WAREHOUSE WAGER: California might be able to add a new tool to its anti-Trump climate policy quiver — if it can survive the affordability gauntlet.
State officials, who are searching for new authority to boost electric vehicle adoption after President Donald Trump revoked California’s sales mandates for cars and trucks last year, have honed in on “indirect sources” like warehouses, railyards and ports that attract large numbers of trucks.
Federal law already allows regional air quality districts to enforce rules requiring facility operators to use electric trucks and install chargers, or face penalties. That’s a tactic Southern California officials have employed to reduce emissions from warehouses, and states like New York and New Jersey are trying to emulate.
But state regulators say it’s unclear whether they have the same power. A new bill from Assemblymember Robert Garcia, who represents warehouse-heavy San Bernardino County, would enshrine the California Air Resources Board’s authority to expand those regulations statewide.
The proposal, AB 1777, could represent the most impactful bill in the transportation sector — which accounts for roughly half of California’s carbon emissions — that emerged ahead of Friday’s bill introduction deadline.
“It’s very high on the list, if not at the top of it,” said Will Barrett, a senior director for the American Lung Association.
That’s if it can avoid the fate of a similar measure that died last year without receiving a vote on the Assembly floor, amid concerns that it could raise the price of goods and services at a moment when Democrats are hyper-focused on the cost of living.
Powerful industry groups, including the California Trucking Association and the California Chamber of Commerce, are gearing up for a fight as the bill moves through the Legislature.
Chris Shimoda, a lobbyist who represents CTA and other trucking groups, argued that the measure would give CARB nearly unfettered power to regulate transportation infrastructure, such as roads, bridges and parking lots, and slap businesses with fees that would be passed on to consumers.
“Are the new regulations that we’re adopting cost-effective? Are they really achieving the purpose of what they’re intended to do?” Shimoda said. “Or is it just another layer of cost for somewhat dubious benefits?”
He pointed to the Southern California warehouse rule, which industry groups said they anticipate will cost warehouses roughly $1 billion each year.
The political landscape has shifted dramatically since the South Coast Air Quality Management District passed the warehouse rule in 2021. The agency rejected a proposal last year to phase out gas space and water heaters in homes and businesses, and stopped short of establishing an indirect source rule for the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. In both cases, board members cited the risk of increased costs.
That hesitancy has also crept into the state Capitol, where lawmakers have abandoned high-profile policies, such as the push to force oil and gas companies to pay into a “superfund” for climate-related damages.
Environmental groups are betting that Trump’s unrelenting attacks on climate policy — including his recent decision to abandon the federal government’s authority to develop greenhouse gas rules — will help them flip the script in CARB’s favor.
“I think there was some optimism left that the bark was worse than the bite, as the Trump administration was making these threats,” said Ada Waelder, Earthjustice’s senior California legislative representative. “What we’ve seen over the last year is that’s not the case at all, and I think that makes this bill even more tangibly relevant than it was last year.”
Whether that’s enough to sway Democratic leadership is the question. Spokespeople for Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and Senate President Pro Tem Monique Limón didn’t respond to questions about whether they support the indirect source rule concept.
And other top Democrats say they still need to see the fine print before signing on.
“It certainly sounds like something that I will be supporting,” Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris, chair of the Utilities and Energy Committee, said during a press briefing earlier this month. “But gotta read the details in the small print.” — AN