The San Pedro Bay Port Complex, comprised of the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, unanimously approved the 2017 Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) Update on November 2, 2017, bringing in a new era of aggressive environmental strategies for cargo transportation throughout the Nation’s busiest container port complex.
The document provides high-level guidance toward a zero-emission future while protecting and strengthening the ports’ competitive position in the global economy.
“The San Pedro Bay ports are the driving forces of our region’s economy — and they should also be global models for sustainability and clean air,” said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. “This update to the Clean Air Action Plan is an important step toward our ambitious goal of zero-emissions landside goods movement by 2035, and I look forward to making even more progress with our partners in the months and years to come.”
“These new policies and strategies are some of the most progressive air quality rules in the nation,” said Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia. “We are serious about fighting climate change, protecting local residents, and promoting economic success at our ports.”
The CAAP strategies include:
- Identifying clean engine milestones for new trucks entering the port drayage registries and creating a rate structure and incentives that encourage faster turnover to near-zero and zero-emission trucks, with the goal of transitioning to a zero-emission on-road drayage fleet by 2035.
- Developing a universal truck reservation system, staging yards, intelligent transportation systems and other efficiency programs to reduce emissions while improving the flow of cargo.
- Beginning in 2020, requiring terminal operators to deploy zero-emission equipment, if feasible, or the cleanest equipment available when procuring new cargo-handling equipment, with the goal of transitioning all terminal equipment to zero emissions by 2030.
- Developing infrastructure plans to support terminal equipment electrification, alternative fuels and other energy resource goals.
- Expanding use of on-dock rail, with the long-term goal of moving 50 percent of all cargo leaving the ports by rail.
Targets for reducing greenhouse gases (GHGs) from port-related sources to combat global warming and climate change are a new element of the 2017 CAAP. The document calls for the ports to reduce GHGs 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 and 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.
For more information on the CAAP please visit www.cleanairactionplan.org, www.polb.com, or https://www.portoflosangeles.