FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Sarah Pollo Moo(916) 410-7506
CRA Responds to South Coast Air Quality Management District’s Passage of Warehouse Indirect Source Rule
Rule will substantially impact California’s businesses and consumers and weaken the state’s economic recovery
Sacramento, CA – May 7, 2021 – Today, in response to the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s passage of a Warehouse Indirect Source Rule (ISR) proposal, Rachel Michelin, President and CEO of California Retailers Association issued the following statement:
The ISR has substantial implications for consumers and the businesses who serve them. Warehouses are a vital link in the supply chain, through which we manage the timely distribution of food, clothing and anything else you might find on a store shelf. The new Rule complicates warehouse operations, adding complex reporting requirements for data that operators often do not have, and requires upgrades of trucks that warehouse operators often do not own.
In the alternative, it levies a mitigation fee that amounts to a tax of nearly one billion dollars – costs that will be passed down to the consumer in the form of higher prices on goods. Southern California is already a high-cost region. We do not need additional costs.
We need more and better jobs. Unemployment in Los Angeles County stands at 11.3%. The trade and logistics industry supports more than 850,000 jobs in Southern California. The ISR makes warehousing uneconomical threatening significant job loss throughout Southern California and other California regions and states.
CRA is working with our partners on next steps to continue to fight for our members’ best interests on this important and wide-reaching issue for retail and many other industries. Opposition letters sent to the District on this issue can be viewed here and here.
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About the California Retailers AssociationThe California Retailers Association (CRA) is the only statewide trade association representing all segments of the retail industry including general merchandise, department stores, on-line marketplaces, mass merchandisers, restaurants, convenience stores, supermarkets and grocery stores, chain drug, and specialty retail such as auto, vision, jewelry, hardware and home stores. CRA works on behalf of California’s retail industry, which prior to the pandemic, operated over 418,840 retail establishments with a gross domestic product of $330 billion annually and employed 3,211,805 people—one fourth of California’s total employment. The state of California collected $48.5 billion in revenue from retail sales and use taxes, representing more than 25% of the state revenue. For more information, go to www.calretailers.com.
