Commission Approves Cargo Fee to Fund Clean Trucks
Container charges to generate $1.6 billion for fleet turnover, air quality improvements
December 17, 2007
Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners on Monday, December 17, 2007, approved a cargo fee that will generate about $1.6 billion to help fund cleaner trucks and improve air quality.
The fee will help support the replacement of nearly 17,000 trucks in the short-haul (or "drayage") fleet that serves the ports. The Port will use the funds to ensure that the old, polluting trucks will be scrapped and taken out of circulation, rather than continuing to work outside the ports. The result will be an 80 percent reduction in air pollution from the drayage fleet in the next five years.
"Today's vote will help ensure that in a short time, only the cleanest trucks will operate at the ports," said Harbor Commission President Mario Cordero. "The next step will be to work with the trucking industry and other stakeholders to coordinate a smooth transition to a cleaner truck fleet."
In early 2008 the Port will consider additional clean trucks measures, including a possible incentive program for companies that invest in the 2007 compliant trucks ahead of schedule.
"This tariff is an important milestone for our community," said Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster. "It puts the costs for cleaner air where it belongs - on the price of goods sold. I congratulate the Port of Long Beach for taking this bold step for better air quality."
The fee will place a $35 charge on every loaded twenty-foot equivalent (TEU) cargo container entering or leaving any terminal by short-haul (or "drayage") truck beginning June 1, 2008. The fee will not apply to containers entering or leaving the Port by train and will end when the fleet of drayage trucks meets Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) requirements in about 2012.
The fees will be collected by the ports' shipping terminals, and the trucks will be monitored for compliance by radio frequency tracking devices or similar identification technologies. The Port of Los Angeles is scheduled to consider a similar fee December 20, which would apply the Clean Truck Fee to the entire San Pedro Bay.
In November the Long Beach and Los Angeles Boards of Harbor Commissioners approved a ban on old, dirty trucks that call at the ports. The Port requirement will result in an 80 percent reduction in air pollution from drayage trucks by 2012. The ban will be phased in, beginning October 1, 2008 with a ban on all trucks built before 1989. By January 1, 2010, only trucks built after 1993 will be allowed, and by January 1, 2012 all trucks must meet 2007 federal EPA standards.
While the ports do not own or operate the drayage trucks that serve port terminals, the Commission has decided that a progressive ban on dirty trucks, supported by the newly approved Clean Trucks Fee, will be the quickest way to cut air pollution and reduce public health risks posed by dirty diesel trucks.
All funds collected by the two ports would be used for the replacement of about 16,800 trucks by 2012 with clean diesel trucks, or trucks fueled by liquefied natural gas (LNG), or other approved technologies that can achieve the 2007 standard adopted in the CAAP.
The Commission acknowledged that the fee may result in minor additional costs to cargo owners and may ultimately increase the cost of goods shipped by container. However, commissioners said, the ports cannot continue to effectively move goods without reducing air pollution and public health risks.
Following final approval of the fee, the Long Beach and Los Angeles Boards of Harbor Commissioners will reconvene in early 2008 to consider a series of measures to establish a more specific framework for the implementation of the Clean Trucks Program.
Port staff will prepare recommendations on the following: A permit or license program; funding and financing options for truck retrofits or replacements; a plan for integration of the U.S. Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program; an incentive program for companies that invest in 2007 compliant trucks; and a cargo fee to support port-related goods movement infrastructure. The fee would be separate from the Clean Truck Fee.
The governing boards of the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles will host a special informational workshop with trucking, environmental and goods movement industry experts on the proposed Clean Trucks Program. The 8 a.m. October 12 workshop at the Doubletree Hotel in San Pedro will be the first joint board meeting of the two Harbor Commissions since they approved the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan on November 20, 2006.
A key component of the Clean Air Action Plan is a proposed Clean Trucks Program that aims to reduce air pollution from harbor drayage trucks by more than 80 percent within five years. The commissioners will not be voting on whether to implement the proposed truck program at the October 12 public workshop.
After months of public comment, stakeholder input and economic analyses, several unresolved questions have prompted the commissioners to schedule the public workshop to give key stakeholders another opportunity to provide input on how the ports can move ahead with the Clean Trucks Program without disrupting the flow of cargo. Public comment will be limited to two minutes per person at this special workshop.
"We remain committed to moving forward as quickly as we can to improve air quality," said Long Beach Harbor Commission President Mario Cordero. "Our Clean Trucks Program is a bold step forward. This is an extremely complex issue. We just want to make sure we're taking the right steps to minimize economic disruption while maximizing reductions in air pollution. We want to hear first-hand from the experts."
"This will be the first time that all 10 commissioners from both ports will be in the same room to hear from those most affected by our Clean Trucks Program," said Los Angeles Harbor Commission President S. David Freeman. "This workshop will help us get to a place where we are comfortable that the Plan we will ultimately approve is the best for the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach."
The proposed Clean Trucks Program calls for drayage truck owners to scrap and replace the oldest of about 16,000 trucks working at the ports, and retrofit the others, with the assistance of a port-sponsored grant subsidy.
The program under development by the port staffs would only allow port-licensed concessionaires, operating "clean trucks", to enter port terminals without having to pay a new truck impact gate fee. "Clean trucks" are defined as 2007 or newer trucks, retrofitted trucks manufactured in 1994 or newer, or trucks that have been replaced through the Gateway Cities truck modernization program.
The 2007 and newer trucks are 90 percent cleaner than older trucks. Year by year, the oldest trucks would be barred from the ports until only trucks meeting the CAAP "clean truck" standard would be permitted to work in the ports.
The ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles adopted the landmark San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) in November 2006 to curb port-related air pollution from trucks, ships, locomotives and other equipment by at least 45 percent in five years. A model for seaports around the world, the CAAP is the boldest air quality initiative by any seaport, consisting of wide-reaching measures to significantly reduce air emissions and health risks while allowing for the development of much-needed port efficiency projects.
The site for the October 12 workshop, the Doubletree Hotel, is located at 2800 Via Cabrillo Marina in San Pedro.