Taking an unprecedented joint action to improve air quality in the South Coast Air Basin, the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles have adopted the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan, a sweeping plan aimed at significantly reducing the health risks posed by air pollution from port-related ships, trains, trucks, terminal equipment and harbor craft.

The San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan was created with the cooperation and participation of the South Coast Air Quality Management District, California Air Resources Board and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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 (PM) pollution from all port-related sources by at least 47 percent within the next five years. Measures to be implemented under the plan also will reduce smog forming nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by more than 45 percent, and will also result in reductions of sulfur oxides (SOx) by at least 52 percent. NOx is a precursor of smog; SOx contributes to particulate matter; and PM has been shown to lead to health problems.

Under the Plan, the ports propose to eliminate “dirty” diesel trucks from San Pedro Bay cargo terminals within five years by helping to finance a new generation of clean or retrofitted vehicles.

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 ten years so that vessels at berth can shut down their diesel-powered auxiliary engines. To reduce emissions of air pollutants, ships would also be required to reduce their speeds when entering or leaving the harbor region, use low-sulfur fuels, and employ other emission-reduction measures and technologies.

The Clean Air Action Plan accelerates the efforts of a California Air Resources Board pollution reduction plan by requiring faster replacement of existing cargo-handling equipment with new equipment that will meet the toughest U.S. Environmental Protection Agency emissions standards.

Under the Clean Air Action Plan, diesel PM from all port-related sources would be reduced by a total of 1,200 tons a year, NOx would be reduced by 12,000 tons a year, and SOx by 8,900 tons a year.