Los Angeles and Long Beach officials voted Monday to impose a modest fee on shipping containers moving through the nation’s biggest port complex, marking a first step toward helping truck drivers replace their diesel rigs with cleaner models.
Regulators are mulling tougher pollution restrictions on docked ships, set to become the biggest source of smog-forming pollution in Southern California.
The ports’ plan exempts zero-emission trucks from the fee. But commissioners delayed action on how long to exempt lower-polluting natural gas trucks, saying they will return in four months to decide that before the fees take effect later this year. Port officials have argued that setting truck fee too high would lead importers to route more of their shipments through less costly ports in on the East Coast and the Gulf.
Environmental groups pushed for a fee of $100 per container, which they said would create incentives to replace thousands of diesel trucks with lower-polluting models in the next few years. They, along with state and local air quality officials, asked harbor commissioners to postpone their vote to allow time to negotiate a higher fee.
Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of L.A., said in an interview that a higher fee would increase pressure on truckers, who would ultimately shoulder the increased costs, while generating money for more natural gas trucks than manufacturers currently have the capacity to make. Pollution from the L.A.-Long Beach ports has declined dramatically since they launched a sweeping Clean Air Action Plan in 2006, targeting the dirtiest source of diesel pollution, including heavy-duty trucks and cargo ships.
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