Long Beach, L.A. ports issue details of air pollution reduction plan
The ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles on Wednesday announced details of their joint plan to clean up port-related air emissions.
The sweeping San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan, will see the ports and clean air agencies aim to significantly cut health risks posed by air pollution from vessels, trains, trucks, terminal equipment and harbor craft.
The plan proposes hundreds of millions of dollars in investments by the ports, the local air district, the state, and port-related industry to cut particulate matter pollution from all port-related sources by more than 50 percent within the next five years. Measures to be implemented under the plan also will reduce smog forming nitrogen oxide emissions by more than 45 percent, the ports said.
The ports also propose to eliminate 'dirty' diesel trucks from San Pedro Bay cargo terminals within five years by joining with the state and local agencies to finance and pursue funding channels to help finance a new generation of clean or retrofitted vehicles, with the ports pitching in $200 million toward that program. The plan also calls for all major container cargo and cruise ship terminals at the ports to be equipped with shore-side electricity within five to 10 years so that vessels at berth can shut down their diesel-powered auxiliary engines. Ships would also be required to use low-sulfur fuels and employ other emissions reduction measures and technologies.
Within five years, all cargo-handling equipment also would be replaced or retrofitted to meet the toughest U.S. EPA emissions standards for new equipment. Without the plan, much of the cargo-handling equipment not affected by the California air regulators would be allowed to operate at current emission levels until it wears out.
Following a 30-day period for public review, then subsequent staff revisions, the boards of harbor commissioners at both ports will vote on whether to adopt the plan and its proposed lease requirements, tariff changes and incentives.
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union commended the ports for jointly working on the plan, and called on other ports on the West Coast to adopt similar measures.
'As the 'canaries in the coalmine,' ILWU's longshore workers are the first to be affected by port pollution and will be among the first to benefit from the cleanup of toxic particulate matter pouring from ship smokestacks, off-road vehicles used in the yard and port trucks,' the ILWU said in a statement.
'Now the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles have to work with us to help make sure these proposals are replicated at ports all along the West Coast, throughout the U.S., and the world,' said ILWU President James Spinosa.
