California has enacted two new laws that increase potential fines and establish new emergency financial requirements for certain large cold-storage facilities. The legislation follows the June 2026 fire at a nearly 500,000-square-foot Lineage cold-storage facility in Boyle Heights that burned for eight days and left millions of pounds of food, including meat and seafood, requiring extensive cleanup.
SB 716, authored by Senator María Elena Durazo, increases local enforcement penalties for violations involving specified nonresidential structures of 20,000 square feet or more when those violations threaten public health or safety. Under the new law, fines can increase for repeat violations and may reach $50,000 per violation under qualifying circumstances involving a state or federal disaster declaration.
AB 817, authored by Assemblymember Mark González, establishes new contingency-fund requirements for certain large cold-storage facilities. The requirements initially apply to facilities within the Boyle Heights Community Plan area and are scheduled to expand statewide beginning July 1, 2028. The legislation is intended to provide resources for emergency response and community needs following a major facility incident.
The Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA) opposed the legislation, arguing that the new requirements could increase operating and construction costs for cold-storage facilities and potentially affect the cost and availability of cold-storage capacity. GCCA said it intends to work with lawmakers and other stakeholders during the next legislative session on potential improvements to the new requirements.