On Jan. 10, 2024, California Assembly Bill (AB) 1000 by Assemblymember Eloise Gómez Reyes (D-Colton) was pulled from the agenda to be heard by the Assembly Local Government Committee. As a result, AB 1000 will no longer advance this year. However, similar legislation may be reintroduced by or before the Legislature’s February deadline for new bill introductions. 

AB 1000 initially sought to prohibit all cities statewide from permitting warehouses less than 1,000 feet from a sensitive receptor, defined as a residence, school, daycare facility, health care facility, community center, church, playground, prison, or jail. The bill was later modified to place these restrictions only on cities within Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. Similar legislation banning warehouse development in these counties, AB 1748 by Assemblymember James Ramos (D-San Bernardino), also failed to advance in the Assembly.

AB 1000 includes an exception for projects meeting specific mitigation measures, as follows:

• Require all heavy-duty vehicles used to be model 2014 or later;
   
• Require expedited transition of heavy-duty vehicles to be fully zero-emission, with the fleet being fully zero-emission by Dec. 31, 2028; 
   
• Require medium-duty vehicles fleets to be fully zero-emission by Dec. 31, 2028;
   
• Require onsite equipment to be zero emission with the necessary charging or fueling infrastructure provided;
   
• Require off-road construction to be zero-emission where available or hybrid and all diesel fueled equipment to follow the most stringent diesel standards;
   
• Require the installation of zero-emission truck charging or fueling stations;
   
• Require contracting with a third party for a minimum of one year to charge or fuel the zero emission vehicles at an offsite location;
   
• Require electric plugs for electric refrigeration transport at every dock door;
   
• Require solar and battery storage that is equal to or greater than the building’s projected energy needs;
   
• Prohibit trucks onsite from idling for more than five minutes;
   
• Require operators to turn off an engine when not in use; and
   
• Prohibit idling of heavy off-road construction equipment for more than five minutes.

However, even with these mitigation measures in place, the bill stipulated that a warehouse must still impose a minimum setback of 500 feet from any sensitive receptors, as defined.

AB 1000 also allows affected individuals or the Attorney General to bring a private enforcement action.

Opponents to this legislation believe it will lead to the elimination of high-paying jobs, quash mixed-use developments in the region, increase vehicle miles traveled for heavy-duty vehicles coming from California ports, incentivize frivolous litigation, and exacerbate supply chain issues that will increase the costs to move goods, thereby further increasing the cost of living for Californians.