Plans To Improve Air Quality at California Ports

The San Pedro Bay Ports – the Port of Los Angeles (POLA) and Port of Long Beach (POLB) – handle 40 percent of the nation’s containerized cargo and are the two largest U.S. container seaports. The amount of containerized cargo mov­ing through the San Pedro Bay region is expected to double by 2020. This presents a challenge since these ports are located in the South Coast Air Basin (SoCAB), which has some of the nation’s worst air quality and is designated a non-attainment area by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). According to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) the two ports are responsible for 21 percent of the total particulate matter (PM) emis­sions in the air basin.

Ocean-going vessels contribute 59 percent of the diesel particulate emis­sions (DPM) and 36 percent of the oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions at the ports, according to recent data. Other sources of emissions are significant but sub­stantially less than vessels, led by cargo handling equipment (14 percent DPM and 12 percent NOx), followed by harbor craft (11 percent PM and 13 percent NOx), heavy-duty vehicles (10 percent PM and 26 percent NOx), and railroad locomotives (6 percent PM and 13 percent NOx).

CARB and EPA have developed the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan to address these emissions. This plan involves hundreds of millions of dol­lars in investments by the ports, the local air district, the State of California, and port-related industry to cut DPM pollu­tion from all port-related sources by more than 50 percent within the next five years. The plan calls for reducing smog forming NOx emissions by more than 45 percent and also aims at reductions of other harmful air emissions like sulfur oxides (SOx). While the plan primarily addresses emissions affecting public health, it could also decrease greenhouse gas emissions.

"The greatest challenge may well be reducing emissions from the approximately 16,300 trucks that account for 80 percent of all port truck traffic."

While major elements of the plan focus on reducing vessel, harbor craft, cargo handling, and locomotive related emis­sions at the ports, the greatest challenge may well be reducing emissions from the approximately 16,300 trucks that account for some 80 percent of all port truck traf­fic. The plan calls for replacing “dirty” pre-1992 and older trucks with ones operating on alternative fuel or with clean diesel engines. Newer, 1993-2003 models would be retrofitted with DPM and NOx reduction equipment. By the end of 2011, all trucks calling at the ports even semi-frequently must meet or exceed EPA 2007 on-road PM emissions standards, and be the cleanest available at the time of replacement or retrofit with respect to NOx.

The ports can capitalize on the new emissions standards affecting the entire trucking industry, plus Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) fuel that enables more sophisticated exhaust emission cleanup devices to help trucks meet these stringent requirements. ULSD (sulfur content 15 parts-per-million) has just recently become available nationwide.

The challenge in accomplishing the Action Plan’s goals is not the technology, but rather the acquisition of new trucks by owner/operators with limited financial resources. Deregulation of port trucking some 25 years ago has resulted in a huge number of decades-old, polluting trucks driven by low-paid drivers. Under the proposed plan, all 16,300 short-haul trucks that move goods from the wharves to nearby rail yards or warehouses would be scrapped or retrofitted, starting next year, at a cost of $1.8 billion. Their drivers, now mostly low-paid independent contractors, would be employed by companies that would bid on port concession contracts that include stringent environmental, equipment maintenance, and workplace requirements.

The cost of replacing the current generation of aging trucks would be funded largely by per-trip fees of $34 to $54 assessed on the licensed firms, with some matching state bonds and taxpayer money. A second portion of the plan would impose a $26 fee on every container of goods moved through the ports to help fund rail and highway improvements. Drivers would get workers' compensation and other benefits. They also would undergo criminal background checks, drug and alcohol testing, and identity screening to improve port security.

As might be expected, the plan is supported by environmental and labor groups, but is of concern to transportation industry associations. These associations fear the ports could lose business to other states and countries and additionally be the target of lawsuits. By definition, the containers represent interstate commerce, so the ports’ authority to make rules governing them could be challenged in court should the actions go into effect on January 1, 2008 as proposed. The plan could also put the many smaller companies currently handling port trucking out of business.

Before the plan was unveiled, POLA was already planning a major shift to road haul trucks and in-port cargo han­dling equipment that operate on liquefied natural gas (LNG), compressed natural gas (CNG), electricity, biofuels, and even­tually hydrogen fuel cells. In October 2005, POLA announced plans to pay the full price of new CNG or LNG trucks, and electric vehicles if and when they become available, up to a specified annual budget as approved by the Harbor Commission.

" POLA plans to pay the full price of new CNG or LNG trucks, and electric vehicles if and when they become available."

The primarily LNG-focused truck mod­ernization program would target truck owner-operators with the oldest, dirti­est diesel trucks that make the highest frequency of calls to container terminals. POLA announced plans to pay the full price of new CNG or LNG trucks, and electric vehicles if and when they become available. The Port would do the same for cargo handling equipment used by its tenants. This is generating activity on many levels.

For example, liquefied and compressed natural gas supplier Clean Energy plans to build three new natural gas fueling sta­tions to service cargo container trucks at POLA and POLB. Clean Energy will also offer financing to help fleets and owner-operators purchase new natural gas powered trucks. The newest generation of natural gas trucks, which are scheduled to go into service beginning this year, will already meet EPA’s most stringent emissions stan­dards. Westport Innovations has shown a new heavy-duty liquefied natural gas (LNG) Class 8 truck that aims at this type of use, featuring the company’s high-pressure direct injection (HDPI) technol­ogy applied to a Cummins ISX, a proven heavy-duty engine.

BNSF Railway Company plans to use only model year 2007 or newer trucks on its proposed Southern California International Gateway (SCIG) that will service POLA and POLB. These cleaner MY 2007 trucks would exceed the requirements of the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan. The SCIG would provide near-dock capacity with direct access to the Alameda Corridor, a 20-mile grade separated rail line between the ports and downtown Los Angeles that could eliminate over a million truck trips per year on the I-710 freeway. Trucks serving SCIG will be limited to traveling on specified non-residential truck routes and also be equipped with global positioning satellite (GPS) devices to monitor and enforce compliance.

Although not a part of the Clean Air Action Plan, several other activities taking place in California will also serve to help clean up truck emissions at these two ports. For example, there’s a new California law aimed at reducing the time that trucks spend idling at ports, with fines levied on shipping companies if they require idling trucks to wait over 30 minutes to load or unload at port facilities. Also, rules go into effect in 2008 that require automatic shutoff of diesel engines after five-minutes of idling. Trucks with sleepers must also use an alternative to truck idling for pro­viding heating and cooling.

Within five years, all cargo-handling equipment would be replaced or retrofit­ted to meet emissions levels that exceed those called for in the toughest EPA standards for new equipment. These will use the cleanest available NOx alterna­tive-fueled engines, most likely natural gas or cleanest-available diesel engines. Cargo-handling yard hostlers are also being tested using diesel-electric and diesel-hydraulic hybrid power. BNSF Railway is now using low-emissions LNG hostler trucks to move containers at its Los Angeles Hobart Intermodal Facility, the busiest rail intermodal terminal in the U.S.

While improving the emissions of the cars and trucks we drive every day is a crucial element in cleaning up our cities’ air quality, it’s also clear that this needs to be done in tandem with other air qual­ity plans. Dealing with emissions at major ports like those in Los Angeles and Long Beach are an important part of the strategy.