USA, California
Just before Christmas, the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach approved a plan to raise $1.6 billion over the next five years, and use those funds to accelerate the use of natural gas and other cleaner burning trucks that serve both ports.
In November, the ports approved a clean trucks regulation that will ban
old, dirty drayage trucks from the ports. Only trucks that run on
natural gas or other clean fuels and meet new truck emission standards
will be allowed to operate in and out of the ports. This is critical
since about 25 percent of the diesel emissions in the Los Angeles basin
originate from the ports. To accelerate the replacement or retrofit of
the 16,800 dirty trucks, both ports have now approved a cargo fee of
$35 for each of the millions of 20-foot container units that enter or
exit the ports by trucks. This fee will be paid by the cargo owners,
and the monies collected (expected to be $1.6 billion over five years)
will be used exclusively for replacement or retrofit of drayage trucks
that serve the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
The day after this decision by the ports, NGVAmerica issued a news
release lauding the ports. In that release NGVAmerica stated: “This is an
innovative and far-reaching program. Every major port in the country
faces the same diesel pollution problems. Only the ports of LA and
Long Beach are taking such a dramatic step to solve them. Importantly,
it’s expected that thousands of the replacement trucks won’t operate on
diesel fuel at all. They’ll run on natural gas. These are the
cleanest trucks available. They’ll also help reduce greenhouse gases
and our dependence on foreign oil. The ports’ executives should be
commended for their leadership and vision.”
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