Addressing Freight Pollution at the Source

Growth in e-commerce has driven the construction of larger, increasingly clustered warehouses, and UCS research shows that higher concentrations of nearby warehouses are associated with greater environmental and health impacts in freight-adjacent areas. Because the US freight system largely runs on fossil fuels that pollute the air, people living around freight facilities and corridors are often exposed to elevated levels of harmful pollutants. Public health issues resulting from exposure include chronic and lethal illnesses that disproportionately affect people of color and people with lower incomes.

But indirect source rules (ISRs) for freight hubs can reduce emissions in the near term and direct investments to the people most burdened by freight pollution. This policy tool requires facilities that are pollution sources to begin to address pollution attracted by their operations.