Clean Air Action Plan
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 20, 2008
MAYOR VILLARAIGOSA, PORT LEADERS HAIL UNPRECEDENTED ACTION TO CLEAN LOS ANGELES’ AIR
Vote sets in motion LA's Clean Truck Program - the first of its kind in America - taking more than 16,000 dirty diesel trucks off the road and slashing harmful emissions by 80 percent
LOS ANGELES - Delivering on his promise to green one of Southern California’s economic engines and protect public health, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today announced the Port of Los Angeles’ historic passage of the Clean Truck Program, requiring all 16,000 diesel trucks at the Port of Los Angeles to meet some of the toughest environmental standards in the nation.
“Today, Los Angeles has said enough is enough. When 1,200 lives are cut short every year by toxic emissions coming from the Port, we have a moral mandate to act fast and effectively,” said Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
“Quick fixes are not enough, and when we say we want to slash air pollution at the Port of LA, we mean for the long haul.”
Responding to the Mayor’s call for a comprehensive, sustainable strategy to cut port-related emissions, the LA Harbor Commission voted unanimously today in favor of the Clean Truck Program, which will slash diesel truck emissions by 80 percent at the region’s leading source of air pollution.
Developed by the Port and management-consulting firm Boston Consulting Group, the program tackles the pollution problem at its roots: transforming the broken system currently operating at the Port to one that can pay for and sustain environmental gains now and in the future.
“The passage of LA’s Clean Truck Program puts Los Angeles on the road toward cleaner air,” said Los Angeles Harbor Commission President S. David Freeman. “This historic vote is a victory for our environment, our health and our economy.”
“The LA Clean Truck Program takes the high road to clean air because it is modeled after a sustainable business policy designed to reduce air pollution and keep emission levels down over the long-term in order to better protect the health of current and future generations of children and residents of the Los Angeles area,” said Colleen Callahan, Manager of Air Quality Policy and Advocacy, American Lung Association of California
The program combines three elements: incentives and fees for clean trucks; a shift to an asset-based employee model; and creating community-friendly provisions for areas near the Port.
In November 2007, the Mayor and Harbor Commission set a five-year timetable for the greening of the 16,000 trucks now serving the Ports, requiring all trucks to be replaced or retrofitted to meet 2007 US Environmental Protection Agency diesel truck emissions standards by 2012.
In December 2007, the Port laid down the financial groundwork to pay for the retrofitting, by approving a $35 fee for every container entering or leaving the Ports on a truck as of June 1, 2008.
Under the Clean Truck Program passed today, the Port will put in place a series of concrete incentives and fee exemptions to encourage the replacement of these trucks ahead of schedule.
Included are fee exemptions for cutting-edge alternative fuel trucks; privately-funded truck retrofits that meet the 2007 EPA standards; and offering $5,000 to current truck-owners for any trucks dating from before 1989 trucks - big-rigs that cause some of the worst pollution in the Harbor area, and which will be banned outright beginning October 1, 2008.
In order to create a long-term, sustainable system to meet the Port’s environmental goals over the long haul, the Clean Truck Program approved today also sets in motion an “asset-based employee model” that shifts accountability to licensed trucking companies.
The Program will require trucks operating at the Port to be owned and registered by companies given a five-year permit - concession - in order to access the Port.
These concessionaires will employ truck drivers and be held accountable for ensuring that all trucks meet the requirements of the Clean Truck Program over the long run - from proper maintenance of trucks to security and licensing - a departure from the loose, independent structure without safeguards now in effect at the Port.
By fixing this broken system at the root of the Port’s truck pollution problem, LA’s strategy improves security and public safety at the region’s most important trade center. Creating a registry of credentialed drivers and trucks, the program will help state and local law enforcement to identify trucks and employees, and connect trucks to their owners.
"Working together, we have found a way to not only remove dirty trucks from operation, but to also address the terrible working conditions being faced by our port truckers," said Councilwoman Janice Hahn, whose district includes the Port. "We are finally going to give these truckers the wages and benefits they deserve. This is a great opportunity to create good jobs for people all over Los Angeles so that more people can benefit from our booming international trade industry."
The final major component of the Clean Truck Program entails creating community-friendly provisions to alleviate the burden of truck activity placed on communities near the Port.
These will require employers to have a legitimate place of business and provide proof of adequate off-street parking.
Tighter controls over on-street parking, coupled with employer control over when and where drivers can operate their trucks, will help reduce the number of big-rigs driving through and parking in residential neighborhoods - especially in port-adjacent communities.
For more details about the plan, please visit: www.portoflosangeles.org.
About health and the Port
Every year 2,400 premature deaths statewide and 1,200 in the South Coast Basin are caused by port related pollution, according to the California Air Resource Board.
Asthma rates among children living in neighborhoods within the vicinity of the ports - 15 percent of all children under 17 - are double the national average, while dock workers and truck drivers face significantly elevated risks of lung and oropharyngeal (throat) cancer, according to US Census figures and local studies.
The Ports account for more than 20 percent of the toxic air emissions in the South Coast Air Basin - and more smog and particulate-forming nitrogen oxide emissions than all 6 million cars in the region, according the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
Studies by the South Coast Air Quality Management District and the California Air Resources Board put the economic impact of premature deaths due to port pollution alone to reach $5.9 billion by 2025.
An economic impact study commissioned by the San Pedro Bay ports indicates that replacing the present truck fleet and accomplishing the other measures outlined in the Clean Air Action Plan will create 300,000 to 600,000 jobs over the next two decades.
Together, the neighboring ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach - which handle 44 percent of all container goods entering America - are the world’s fifth busiest port complex by container volume and are expected to see container volumes triple by 2020.
About the Clean Air Action Plan
In order to address health and environmental issues, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach adopted the Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) in November 2006 - under the leadership of Mayor Villaraigosa - a comprehensive plan to address and curb emissions from port-related sources - ships, trains, trucks, terminal equipment and harbor craft. The CAAP:
- Will cut port related emissions by 45 percent or more over a five-year period, including: 47 percent reduction in diesel particulate matter; 45 percent reduction in nitrogen oxides; 52 reduction in sulfur oxides.
- Relies on pollution-based impact fees, ensuring the worst polluters pay their part to improve air quality
- Encourages ships entering and exiting the harbor to reduce speed limits and use low-sulfur, clean-burning fuels to minimize diesel emissions in the area
- Calls for cargo ships to shut down dirty diesel-powered auxiliary engines while docked and instead use shore-side electricity by 2016
- Commits to eliminating dirty trucks by helping finance a generation of clean big-rigs
The CAAP is the first of its kind in the world, partnering the two largest ports in the United States with the support of local, state and federal agencies that regulate air-quality standards (the South Coast Air Quality Management District; the California Air Resources Board and the United States Environmental Protection Agency).
Drafted with extensive input from environmental, community, industry stakeholders, the CAAP also commits the Ports to invest in hundreds of millions of dollars in air-quality improvement programs.
About the Dirty Truck Ban
In November 2007, the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach approved a ban on dirty trucks, which will require all trucks serving the Ports to meet aggressive emissions standards or face a flat $35 per TEU fee regardless of specific model year for any truck that is not compliant with the 2007 EPA standards. The ban will:
- Cut truck diesel emissions by 80 percent
- Call for replacement or retrofit of thousand of port trucks to meet 2007 diesel emissions standards by 2012
- Prohibit all pre-1989 trucks from entering the port terminals beginning Oct. 1, 2008
Trucks meeting the Ports’ emissions standards will carry electronic identification tags, allowing ID tag readers at Port terminals to monitor entry and allow only 2007-compliant trucks to enter the Ports beginning in 2012.
All trucks will be entered into a ports-managed Drayage Truck Registry (drayage trucks carry containers from the docks to off-site warehouses), allowing the ports to keep track of a truck’s model year, retrofit status, compliance with the ban, and owner information.