Long Beach, L.A. ports tout completion of clean truck program, cleaner air

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach on Jan. 1 will officially complete an effort to ban all trucks with engine models older than 2007, characterized by local officials as the strictest clean air standard of any major port in the world.

By the new year, a final group of 1,400 older trucks will be replaced with newer models, according to officials at the ports.

The Clean Truck Program was enacted in 2008 to clean the notoriously smoggy air around the two ports, which together handle close to 40 percent of the nation's shipping imports.

The program is part of the larger 2006 San Pedro Bay Clean Air Action Plan, which includes requiring ships to use plug-in electricity when docked at the ports, rather than idling their engines.

The path to completion of the Clean Truck Program was not altogether smooth. A federal appeals court in September threw out a part of the Clean Truck Program that banned independent big-rig drivers, instead requiring them to work for a company. The trucking industry said the requirement would have regulated motor carriers' rates and routes, rather than competition.

"The Port of Los Angeles, along with our industry partners, has made the business of moving cargo cleaner," Port Executive Director Geraldine Knatz said. "The results speak for themselves, and we couldn't be more proud of reaching this milestone."

By the start of the new year, all 11,772 drayage trucks -- the ones that move cargo from ships to locations where long-haul truckers can pick up container cargo -- will meet the new standards.

The transition to younger engine models has reduced truck emissions at the ports by 89 percent since 2008, officials said.

"The Clean Truck Program has shown that you can be green and grow the Port of Los Angeles at the same time," Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said.

Martin Schlageter, a campaign director with the Coalition for Clean Air, applauded the achievement but said the completion announcement is mostly a formality.

"The goals of the Clean Truck Program have already largely been achieved. We're certainly energized by it and think it's a great achievement of the ports," Schlageter said. "But it's one step in the process. We have a long way to go to get to clean air in our region."

Schlageter said the ports should be trying to work toward newer 2010 truck standards, in addition to increasing the number of trucks at the port that run on alternative fuels. About 7 percent of the cargo moves at the ports are currently made by trucks that run on liquefied or compressed natural gas.

Schlageter said a new terminal at the Port of Long Beach is a good opportunity to try requiring all trucks to run on cleaner fuels that release less sulfur oxide and nitrogen oxide -- the main components of smog -- into the air. "But they haven't yet proposed that," he said.

Port officials said they are also testing the ability of a commercially available zero-emission truck to see if it can handle daily operations at the ports.