The boards of the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach, the nation’s two largest ports, recently approved the 2017 update to the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan.
The updates include a strategy for becoming a zero-emission on-road drayage fleet by 2035, a plan for transitioning to zero-emission terminal equipment by 2030, expanding on-dock rail so that half of all cargo leaves the ports by rail, and developing an energy plan that includes alternative fuels.
Another change is the requirement to reduce greenhouse gases by 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2030 and by 80 percent by 2050. Diesel particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur oxides must be reduced by 77 percent, 59 percent, and 96 percent, respectively, from 2005 levels by 2023.
“Collaboration will be critical to our success,” Lou Anne Bynum, Long Beach Harbor commission president, said. “Moving the needle to zero requires all of us – the ports, industry, regulatory agencies, environmental groups and our communities – to pool our agency, expertise, and resources.”
Implementing the plan will cost between $7 billion and $14 billion.
The original plan was developed in conjunction with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the California Air Resources Board and the South Coast Air Quality Management District.