Ports Extend Deadline on Clean Trucks Program
After a barrage of comments, the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have delayed by 60 days their vote on the Clean Air Action Plan, which was unveiled earlier this year.
The ports’ harbor commissions were scheduled to consider the new program sometime in July. That now has been pushed back to September, said Arley Baker, a Port of Los Angeles spokesman.
“The program will still be implemented at the beginning of 2008,” Baker said. “What gets switched on at that 2008 date is still being looked at.”
The 60-day extension is needed to examine the hundreds of suggestions coming from trucking companies, independent truck drivers and other stakeholders in the program that will revolutionize the ports’ trucking industry.
In April, the ports unveiled a plan mandating that the 13,000 to 16,000 diesel trucks serving the ports must be retrofitted or scrapped for newer, cleaner models in a five-year program that begins next year. The cost of the program is estimated to be $1.8 billion, which covers 80 percent of a new truck and 100 percent of retrofitting 1994-or-newer models.
The goal is to reduce air pollution in the area by 80 percent over the next five years.
During the 60-day extension, the ports will conduct an economic-impact study to prepare their final proposal.
“Feedback has been constructive and valuable in shaping this plan,” said Geraldine Knatz, executive director at the Port of Los Angeles, in a statement. “Many business stakeholders in particular wanted more economic data, and this extended timeline will enable us to study the economic implications of the plan. The extra time and analysis will make for a stronger program.”
An industry task force also will be looking at the program’s implications. “If someone drives a dirty old truck up to a terminal, what does that mean, and if there are 50 of them in a row, what does that mean?” Baker said. “We want to launch this right. There is a lot riding on it.” —Deborah Belgum
