Ports of LA and Long Beach to launch program aimed at incentivizing transition to clean trucks

LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- Starting April 1, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will begin a program to incentivize the transition to zero-emission trucks at the San Pedro Port Complex by charging cargo owners for using trucks that don't meet clean air standards.

The ports will collect a fine of $10 per 20-foot equivalent unit hauled by a truck that does not have an exemption. Zero-emission trucks are exempt from the rate, along with trucks that meet or exceed California's low nitrogen oxide standard through Dec. 31, 2027. Loaded containers entering or leaving marine terminals by on-dock rail will also be exempt. The rate is set to expire on Dec. 31, 2034, according to the port.

The Clean Truck Fund Rate is expected to collect about $45 million annually for each port, which they said will be used to accelerate zero-emission technology development. Each port aims to eliminate all emissions from trucks at the port by 2035.

"The Clean Truck Fund Rate is just one component of the funding needed to achieve our ambitious goals. The transition to ZE trucks will require a broad public-private partnership,'' Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka said after the policy was approved by the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners on Nov. 4.

The Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach first set the rate for planning purposes in March 2020, and it was developed as part of the 2017 Clean Air Action Plan Update with outreach to the industry and community.

Port-related emissions in the San Pedro Bay have decreased since 2005 by 90% for diesel particulate matter, 63% for nitrogen oxides, and 97% for sulfur oxides, according to the port, which aims to reduce greenhouse gases to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030 and 80% below 1990 levels by 2050.