CCAEJ Applauds Attorney General Bonta for Holding Inland Empire Cities and Counties Accountable on Warehouse Truck Routes

Nine months after the AB 98 deadline, jurisdictions in the Warehouse Concentration Region still owe residents legally required truck routes. CCAEJ calls on local leaders to act now and bring the community to the table.

JURUPA VALLEY, CA - The Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice (CCAEJ) applauds California Attorney General Rob Bonta for issuing an enforcement advisory on October 5, 2026, to cities and counties in the Inland Empire that missed the January 1, 2026 deadline under Assembly Bill 98 to establish truck routes that protect homes, schools, and other sensitive places from diesel traffic.

"Our families have waited long enough," said Ana Gonzalez, Executive Director of CCAEJ. "Diesel trucks roll past our homes, our schools, and our parks every single day. The law set a clear deadline to fix that, and the Attorney General is right to enforce it. Inland Empire residents deserve clean air and safe streets now, not years from now."

AB 98 (Carrillo, Reyes) requires every jurisdiction in the state's Warehouse Concentration Region to update the circulation element of its general plan with designated truck routes. The region includes Riverside and San Bernardino Counties and the Cities of Chino, Colton, Fontana, Jurupa Valley, Moreno Valley, Ontario, Perris, Rancho Cucamonga, Redlands, Rialto, Riverside, and San Bernardino. The Attorney General's letter makes clear that these requirements are mandatory, including the deadline.

Eight of those jurisdictions remain out of compliance: the Cities of Chino, Moreno Valley, Ontario, Perris, Rancho Cucamonga, Rialto, and Riverside, along with Riverside County.

What the Attorney General Made Clear

The enforcement advisory sets firm expectations for how jurisdictions must design truck routes:

• Protect sensitive receptors first. Routes must avoid residences, schools, day cares, parks, playgrounds, nursing homes, and hospitals. Roads near these places may be used only when strictly necessary.

• Use highways and commercial corridors. Jurisdictions must maximize interstate and state highways, followed by arterial roads, major thoroughfares, and predominantly commercial streets.

• Keep future warehouse plans out of the equation. Potential future rezoning for new warehouses should play no role in truck route designation.

• Show the work. Proposed route maps should come with a written analysis explaining how each road was selected, especially any road that passes sensitive receptors.

• Prepare for 2028. Starting January 1, 2028, all proposed logistics developments must be accessible by arterial roads, major thoroughfares, or roads that predominantly serve commercial uses.

Community Voices Are Required, Not Optional

The Attorney General called community outreach a cornerstone of the AB 98 process. The advisory recommends that jurisdictions hold multiple meetings in affected neighborhoods, outside normal working hours, with childcare and Spanish interpretation. It also recommends surveys in every language spoken by a significant share of the community, direct notice to residents and schools along proposed routes, a dedicated public website, a telephone comment line, and partnerships with community-based organizations.

These recommendations reflect who lives here. San Bernardino and Riverside Counties are majority Latino, at 56 percent and 52 percent respectively, and the neighborhoods closest to large warehouses carry higher rates of asthma, cardiovascular disease, and diesel exposure.

"Truck routes drawn behind closed doors will fail the people who breathe the exhaust," Gonzalez said. "Residents know which streets their kids walk to school on and which corners shake when the big rigs pass. CCAEJ is ready to work with every city and county in the region to make sure those voices shape the final maps."

CCAEJ's Call to Action

CCAEJ calls on every jurisdiction in the Warehouse Concentration Region to:

1. Publicly release a timeline for adopting compliant truck routes.

2. Begin route planning by mapping homes, schools, day cares, parks, and other sensitive receptors.

3. Publish draft maps and supporting analysis on a dedicated website in English and Spanish.

4. Hold neighborhood meetings in the evenings and on weekends, with interpretation and childcare.

5. Partner with community organizations to reach residents who do not attend city hall meetings.

CCAEJ will monitor each jurisdiction's progress and keep residents informed about upcoming hearings and opportunities to comment.

Residents and jurisdictions with questions about AB 98 can contact the Attorney General's Bureau of Environmental Justice at EJ@doj.ca.gov.

About CCAEJ

The Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice (CCAEJ) is a community-based organization in the Inland Empire that builds grassroots power to improve the environmental health and quality of life of communities impacted by pollution. Since 1978, CCAEJ has organized residents to win cleaner air, safer neighborhoods, and a real voice in the decisions that shape their communities.