Long Beach Port Officials Approve Emissions Plan
Officials with California’s Port of Long Beach have approved a plan aimed at reducing truck emissions at the port, in spite of objections from drivers, public health advocates, and environmentalists, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.
The plan allows trucking companies operating at the Port of Long Beach to utilize employee drivers, independent contractors, or a combination of the two, port officials said in a statement.
Under the plan, all Long Beach port truckers, whether they are company drivers or owner-operators, will have to meet clean truck, maintenance, security and health insurance requirements, register their vehicles with the port, and tag their trucks with radio-frequency identification devices to help monitor compliance, port officials said.
The plan has attracted the ire not only of truck drivers, who are concerned about the affordability of new emission control technology, but of public health advocates and environmentalists, who are concerned that Long Beach officials went ahead with their plan without the support of representatives of the neighboring Port of Los Angeles, according to the Times.
In contrast to the newly approved Long Beach plan, Los Angeles port officials have expressed interest in phasing out owner-operators and having trucking companies hire the independent drivers — an option which has the backing of the Teamsters and environmental groups, the Times said.
In November, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach voted to adopt a clean ports initiative that would set a ban on pre-1989 trucks beginning Oct. 1. By Jan. 1, 2010, only trucks built after 1993 will be allowed into port shipping terminals, and by Jan. 1, 2012 all trucks entering the ports must meet 2007 federal emission standards.
(Click here for prevous coverage.)
