New report examines potential impacts on goods movement industry

SAN PEDRO, Calif. – Dec. 17, 2019 –  The public is invited to comment on a draft economic study conducted to assist in establishing a Clean Truck Rate that will help the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles meet a goal of a zero-emissions truck fleet by 2035.

The draft economic study for the Clean Truck Rate examines the rate’s potential effect on cargo diversion and the local drayage truck industry.

Comments will be accepted through Friday, Jan. 31, 2020, and can be emailed to trucks@cleanairactionplan.org.

A previously scheduled workshop to discuss the proposed Clean Truck Rate and study will be held from 9 a.m. to noon Wednesday, Dec. 18, in the Bob Foster Civic Chambers at Long Beach City Hall, 411 W. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach 90802. There is no visitor parking onsite. The workshop will also be broadcast at www.polb.com/webcast.

Early next year, the Boards of Harbor Commissioners from each port are expected to vote on establishing a Clean Truck Rate. It is anticipated to be instituted later in 2020 and would apply to cargo owners that hire trucks to transport loaded containers, with rebates if they use trucks that meet low-nitrogen oxide (NOx) or zero-emissions standards.

The Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) has established a goal of zero-emissions trucks by 2035. A key component of the overall strategy to transition to a zero-emissions truck fleet is the establishment of a Clean Truck Rate structure.  In addition, the ports completed a truck technology feasibility assessment in April 2019. Early next year, port staffs will present a proposed rate to their respective Boards of Harbor Commissioners for their consideration. The rate would be instituted in a subsequent action by the Boards after the California Air Resources Board sets its low-NOx engine emission standard, which is currently anticipated to occur in March/April 2020.
 
Updated in 2017, the CAAP contains a comprehensive strategy to accelerate progress toward a zero-emissions future while protecting and strengthening the ports’ competitive position in the global economy. Since 2005, port-related air pollution emissions in San Pedro Bay have dropped 87% for diesel particulate matter, 58% for NOx and 97% for sulfur oxides. Targets for reducing greenhouse gases (GHGs) from port-related sources were introduced as part of the 2017 CAAP Update. The document calls for the ports to reduce GHGs to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030 and 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. The CAAP was originally approved in 2006.

The Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach are the two largest ports in the nation, first and second respectively, and combined are the ninth-largest port complex in the world. The two ports handle nearly 40% of the nation’s total containerized import traffic and 25% of its total exports. Trade that flows through the San Pedro Bay ports complex generates more than 3 million jobs nationwide.