Illinois communities face a growing crisis: deadly pollution from the warehousing industry is putting our families and workers at higher risk of asthma, heart and lung disease—and even premature death. Please cosponsor and support SB 3732/HB 5600, the Warehouse Pollution Reduction Act (WPRA), to protect clean air for Illinois communities.
The science is clear. In Illinois, warehouses have exploded in size and numbers due to the e-commerce boom—adding over 100 million square feet in just five years. As a result, more than 3 million Illinoisans now live within half a mile of over 4,300 warehouses, breathing the exhaust from roughly 646,000 truck trips every single day. Diesel trucks release disproportionate amounts of damaging pollutants like nitrogen oxide and small particulate matter, that are responsible for an estimated 7,200 new childhood asthma cases, 400 deaths, and $4 billion in health costs each year, in addition to climate warming gases.
Black and Latino communities bear the brunt of this pollution, living closest to warehouses and composing 85 percent of the warehouse workforce. Warehouse locations are also often inaccessible, which means that communities cannot get access to key data such as the identities of operators and owners of warehouses.
The WPRA (SB 3732/HB 5600) would cut pollution at the source. It will hold the warehousing industry accountable by requiring warehouses to reduce pollution and health damage through a flexible menu of actions such as clean trucks, electric vehicle charging, solar energy, local hiring, and air filters in schools. It also requires faster action in already overburdened communities. The bill will establish strong pollution permit conditions for new warehouses, like requiring a minimal distance from locations with sensitive populations and pollution limits. It will also create a publicly accessible registry that includes information such as warehouse locations, associated truck traffic, and pollution reduction actions. In addition, the WPRA will expand public participation so that affected communities can monitor air quality, request warehouse inspections, intervene in permit review, and push for stronger protections.
Thank you for cosponsoring and supporting the WPRA. Please do all that you can to help pass this bill to protect our air, our children, and our future. Thank you for your time and leadership.
