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  - Health costs to Californians, so far this year, of port related pollution in California.
The Ports of LA  Long Beach Clean Air Action Plan passed in November 2006, and 1500 clean trucks service the ports.
Port Pollution Facts
  • In Long Beach, 20% of children under 17 have been diagnosed with asthma - nearly twice the national average.
  • $67 million: The cost of respiratory problems associated with ports in CA.
  • Diesel Exhaust is responsible for 84% of the cancer risk from air pollution in the Southern California Air Basin.
  • $19 BILLION: Cost on health system due to port pollution. average.
  • Each day the Port of LA emits over 30 tons of NOx, while a half a million cars emits less than 24 tons and the average power plant emits less than 5 tons.
  • 2,400 - Estimated number of premature deaths caused by diesel emissions.
  • 800,000: Number of children that pollution reduction could save from lung disease.
  • Each day the Port of Los Angeles emits over 30 tons of NOx, while a half a million cars emits less than 24 tons and the average power plant emits less than 5 tons.

Ports unveil clean-air plan
Ports unveil clean-air plan

Long Beach Press-Telegram
 

Proposal seeks to restrict access to less-polluting trucks.
By Kristopher Hanson, Staff writer

A proposal to overhaul the port trucking industry by restricting terminal access to motor carriers with the cleanest fleets was announced Friday by the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.

The long-awaited Clean Trucks Program seeks to phase out the current "owner-operator" trucking system by awarding annual franchise rights to motor carriers who agree to use less-polluting diesel trucks operated only by drivers with employee status.

Under the plan, container trucks not meeting port clean-air standards by January 2008, including most pre-1994 trucks, would be assessed a gate fee estimated at $34 to $54 for each terminal visit. Eventually, older trucks would be banned under the plan.

A similar fee is being proposed for trucks calling at non-container terminals.

"It's a major undertaking, but it's going to result in major improvements in air quality," said Port of Long Beach Executive Director Richard Steinke. "Over the next five years, there should be a huge air quality benefit for surrounding communities."

The truck plan requires majority approval by both harbor commissions, which port staff hopes to accomplish by mid-summer.

In addition, port officials Friday revealed a tentative
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plan to assess a $24 fee on every twenty-foot-equivalent container moving through the port to pay for infrastructure improvements. The plan would supplement recent state bond monies approved to improve goods movement.

Additional aspects of the proposed container fee, such as who would collect the money and how it would be distributed, are being debated, said Port of Long Beach Spokesman Art Wong.

The ports' goal in their recently approved Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) is to dramatically reduce emissions from the estimated 16,000 diesel trucks calling on waterfront terminals every day. The pollution from these vehicles and other port industry has been linked to increased rates of asthma, cancer and other ailments.

The Clean Trucks Program seeks to replace more than 80 percent of harbor trucks with vehicles meeting 2007 and newer federal EPA standards within five years.

Model-year 2007 diesel trucks, which operate only on low-sulfur diesel fuel and include additional emission-restriction components, are 90 percent cleaner than older trucks, according to the California Air Resources Board.

Environmental and labor groups applauded the decision Friday, saying it will quickly reduce the health impact on surrounding communities and improve the working conditions of drivers, primarily by granting them employee status.

Currently, the mostly immigrant trucking workforce is paid a per-trip fee. Such drivers are responsible for truck purchase, maintenance, fuel and equipment and do not receive health care or other benefits.

As a result, port authorities, which are investing more than $400 million to subsidize truck replacement, believe so-called owner-operators would be unable to purchase or maintain newer trucks on their own.

"The entire trucking industry needs to change for this program to be sustainable," Steinke said.

Labor groups hailed the decision.

"The situation that exists for drivers now is akin to sharecropping," said Teamsters spokesman Barry Broad. "People receive poverty wages and live completely on the edge."

Melissa Lin Perrella, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said accelerated fleet replacement should also help ease asthma and cancer rates in harbor communities.

"We're very supportive of this approach and think it moves much further and faster than anything else we've seen," Perrella said.

The new regulations come following months of intense closed-door sessions involving labor, business and environmental groups and port authorities.

Notably, the proposal opens the door for organized labor, whose harbor membership declined dramatically following the federal Motor Carrier Act of 1980, which deregulated trucking. The act allowed a flood of small "mom-and-pop" firms to receive carrier licenses and begin hauling goods, driving down prices primarily by reducing driver wages and vehicle maintenance costs.

At the least, the proposal severely impacts the current owner-operator system, which opponents criticize as a system of "sweatshops on wheels."

Under the owner-operator system, drivers purchase their own trucks and are paid for each container or cargo load delivered to and from port terminals.

Only a tiny fraction have health care and most do not receive vacation or retirement benefits. They must also pay for vehicle maintenance, fuel, equipment and related costs.

Opponents of the plan, including some smaller trucking firms, said the proposal will raise delivery rates, lead to driver shortage and create unnecessary bureaucracy.

Retailers expressed support Friday for the overall clean-air plan, but were skeptical of the truck replacement approach.

In recent months, retail lobbyists have been advocating statewide standards on diesel trucks.

"We believe the State of California should set emissions standards for diesel trucks, but with that said, we have no problem with replacing these trucks, even if it raises (delivery) prices," said Robin Lanier of the Waterfront Coalition.

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