Ports Propose Clean Trucks Program
Initiative to Cut Air Pollution from Harbor Trucks by 80%

The ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles have launched a Clean Trucks Program that will reduce air pollution from harbor trucks by more than 80 percent within five years.

The Clean Trucks Program is outlined in the Clean Air Action Plan, and will be administered jointly by the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. Diesel-powered harbor trucks are a major source of air pollution. The Clean Trucks Program calls for drayage truck owners to scrap and replace about 16,000 polluting trucks working at the ports, with the assistance of a port-sponsored grant or loan subsidy.

Beginning October 1, 2008, pre-1989 trucks will be banned. The program progressively bans all trucks that don't meet 2007 emission standards by 2012. To finance the $2 billion truck replacement program, the ports will levy on loaded containers ($35 per loaded twenty-foot equivalent unit) beginning during the summer of 2008. (Beginning January 2009, the ports will also collect a separate, $15 per TEU cargo fee to finance $1.4 billion in roadway, rail and bridge projects.) 

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.