Increasing E-Commerce Warehouses Spark Community Concerns in New York
WASHINGTON: Maddy Jenkins, a native of New York City’s Red Hook neighborhood, recalls a time when the streets were devoid of the multitude of delivery trucks now common.
“Since the pandemic, online shopping has surged,” Jenkins notes. “That’s when we began to witness an uptick in trucks and the rapid proliferation of warehouses.”
Currently, Red Hook hosts several e-commerce warehouses, positioned alarmingly close to local schools and parks.
“These warehouses emerged without any consultation with the community … they materialized overnight,” asserted Jenkins, the communications manager for Red Hook Initiative, a local nonprofit organization.
In response to growing concerns, an Amazon representative indicated that the company is implementing a comprehensive multi-year strategy to deploy 100,000 electric delivery vehicles and began piloting a novel model of e-bikes in Brooklyn in 2024.
Efforts to engage FedEx and UPS for comments on this situation yielded no response.
A similar phenomenon is manifesting in other urban centers, as logistics firms expand their facilities into densely populated locales.
Such encroachment has prompted city and state officials in New York, along with counterparts in multiple states, to explore the nuanced regulatory instrument known as an “indirect source rule” (ISR) to mitigate residents’ apprehensions regarding pollution.
These ISRs, though utilized in limited scenarios, offer a powerful means to tackle localized “pollution hotspots,” explained Sam Becker, a project manager with the Environmental Defense Fund, a prominent advocacy organization.
This approach is particularly poignant given the current federal trajectory, under the Trump administration, which aims to diminish regulations aimed at protecting low-income communities from pollution.
“ISRs empower jurisdictions—whether states, air quality districts, counties, or cities—to effectuate local air quality improvements from activities that generate significant traffic, such as warehouses,” Becker added.
California’s Rising Challenges
A recent report by the Environmental Defense Fund found that e-commerce revenue in the United States has nearly doubled in the past five years. In a sample spanning ten states, it was estimated that approximately 15 million individuals reside within half a mile of a large warehouse, with minority communities disproportionately susceptible to public health hazards linked to increased air pollution.
Specifically, in New York, the emergence of new e-commerce warehouses has translated into roughly 260,000 additional diesel truck trips each day.
Amidst escalating resident grievances, local policymakers have recognized their limitations. While direct regulation of a warehouse is feasible, addressing indirectly linked pollution from delivery systems remains a complex challenge. Similar anxieties have surfaced concerning ports, railway hubs, and airports.
In 2021, a dedicated ISR was established in the Los Angeles area, aimed at achieving a 15% reduction in local air pollution. This framework is now informing proposed regulations in New York, New Jersey, Illinois, California, and beyond.
Brennon Mendez, an environmental law fellow at UCLA School of Law, remarked that ISRs “have been viable for quite some time, yet many air districts have yet to fully employ them.” He emphasized that bulky trucks servicing ports exhibit a lead role in exacerbating air pollution.
With many advocates seeking state and local solutions to further environmental causes despite federal pushback, Mendez stated, “It’s crucial to convey that the legal framework is firmly supportive of ISRs.”
In California, truckers have expressed their opposition to these regulations due to anticipated compliance costs, while highlighting existing emissions reductions from warehouse operations.
Last November, regulators sanctioned a partnership with ports in two major California cities to devise strategies for zero-emission infrastructure.
This regulatory landscape also stimulates fresh investments in cleaner vehicular technology. From 2021 to 2023, warehouses governed by the new ISR witnessed a more than 20-fold rise in electric truck charging usage and an impressive jump in solar energy utilization from 3 gigawatts to 85 gigawatts, according to senior analyst Sam Wilson from the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Even as the Trump administration seeks to dismantle electric-vehicle initiatives, ISRs present a vital opportunity to advance the decarbonization of the U.S. freight network, which remains heavily reliant on trucking. “It’s a seed planted that could influence broader electrification,” Wilson remarked.
New York’s Legislative Movement
Inspired by grassroots activism in neighborhoods like Red Hook, New York is poised to initiate a potential expansion of ISRs, with ongoing discussions at both the city and state levels.
“The Trump administration has prioritized the elimination of essential environmental safeguards, notably those regulating vehicle emissions,” stated New York State Assembly member Marcela Mitaynes in an email statement.
Mitaynes emphasized, “This deregulation coincides with an explosive growth in last-mile warehouses, jeopardizing all New Yorkers’ health and well-being.”
Nearly 40% of New York City’s residents live within a half-mile of a warehouse, a demographic heavily weighted towards low-income, Black, and Hispanic communities.
Mitaynes is sponsoring the state Clean Deliveries Act, which is designed to mandate air quality improvements from warehouse operators. Local zoning laws for warehouses date back to the 1960s, a period when the infrastructure was tailored for modestly sized bakeries with minimal truck traffic.
This historical context has enabled rapid warehouse development during the pandemic with scant oversight.
“Communities only began to awaken to the implications of these new warehouses recently,” Garcia noted. In October, Mitaynes and her colleagues mobilized efforts to garner public support for the Clean Deliveries Act, which Garcia anticipates will be enacted next year without the need for federal authorization. “The state can implement this immediately, presenting a chance for decisive action,” he concluded.
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