On April 25, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved a two-and-a-half year enforcement delay to the state’s Truck and Bus Regulation for small trucking companies who are struggling to obtain loans and grants to make required improvements on time.
CARB's action will give small fleets, lightly used trucks and those operating in rural areas more time to upgrade to newer, cleaner models or install filters to remove soot from their exhaust. The extended phase-in deadlines for small fleet mean that truck owners with three or fewer trucks now have an extra year to bring their second truck into compliance and an extra two years for their third truck, as CARB extended the phase-in deadlines for second and third trucks from January 1, 2015 and 2016, to January 1, 2016 and 2018, respectively.
The vote marks the second time CARB has relaxed
its diesel truck regulations since 2010, when it made changes to offer
the industry relief after the recession. The extensions, approved by a 10-1 vote, came after pleas from small trucking firms and owner-operators who became subject to new pollution-cutting requirements for the first time this year. The amendments were adopted over fierce objections from another segment of the industry: truck owners who have already made the costly upgrades.
Multiple speakers at Thursday’s public hearing slammed CARB for sparking a civil war between large carriers and owner-operators that counted as small fleets under CARB’s definition. The large carriers said they didn’t like being put in a position to argue against mom and pop trucking operations – many of whom they hire.
Among those urging regulators to hold to the deadlines were environmental groups and students from Oakland who live near freeways with heavy truck traffic and cope with respiratory illnesses. "We understand that cleaning up trucks is expensive, but somebody has to pay," said Pamela Tapia, a community college student from Oakland with asthma. "Right now we're paying with our health and that's not right."
Final versions of the amendments will be produced within the next few months and will have a 15-day public comment period, after which CARB will put them into effect.
Showing posts with label ports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ports. Show all posts
Monday, April 28, 2014
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Port of Oakland Challenges: Competition and Labor Relations
Despite funding victories, challenges remain
Andrew Ross, San Francisco Chronicle, July 10, 2012
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood toured the Oakland Army Base this week, bringing news of a $15 million grant for the $1 billion redevelopment project scheduled to break ground next year. An $80 million rail yard expansion at the former Oakland Army Base is the first phase of the redevelopment project to transform the base into a state-of-the-art logistics center managing cargo flow at the Port.
The redevelopment project has been in the works for 15 years. Late last month, the Oakland City Council managed to save the $242 million in funding the state had threatened to cut off. A regional tax measure would provide an additional $275 million for further infrastructure improvements, including an overpass to separate rail and truck traffic near the port, if voters give their approval on November's ballot.
In addition to its money woes, the Port needs the cooperation of the Service Employees International Union Local 1021. Union members rejected a negotiated contract offer last month and there could be a strike at any time. Like many labor-management disputes, this one revolves around increased health and pension contributions, in part to help fill a huge unfunded pension liability.
Labor disputes could shift business through the new Panama Canal -- scheduled to open in 2014 -- and to east coast ports. The canal's business plan "explicitly assumes that a lot of the trade between Asia and America's east and Gulf coasts will be diverted from California's ports to the canal," the Economist magazine reported in January. The Oakland Army Base rail yard project is slated to begin during the fall of 2013 and be completed in 2015.
Oakland has its advantages, however. It can handle many of the larger containers that other U.S. ports cannot, including the massive, 1,200-foot-long MSC Fabiola, which recently passed through the Port in March. Also, the Port's main business is exports, including food and wine. It's often called "the last port of call leaving America for the Far East," said Jock O'Connell, an international trade analyst at Beacon Economics.
Read the complete article here.
Andrew Ross, San Francisco Chronicle, July 10, 2012
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood toured the Oakland Army Base this week, bringing news of a $15 million grant for the $1 billion redevelopment project scheduled to break ground next year. An $80 million rail yard expansion at the former Oakland Army Base is the first phase of the redevelopment project to transform the base into a state-of-the-art logistics center managing cargo flow at the Port.
The redevelopment project has been in the works for 15 years. Late last month, the Oakland City Council managed to save the $242 million in funding the state had threatened to cut off. A regional tax measure would provide an additional $275 million for further infrastructure improvements, including an overpass to separate rail and truck traffic near the port, if voters give their approval on November's ballot.
In addition to its money woes, the Port needs the cooperation of the Service Employees International Union Local 1021. Union members rejected a negotiated contract offer last month and there could be a strike at any time. Like many labor-management disputes, this one revolves around increased health and pension contributions, in part to help fill a huge unfunded pension liability.
Labor disputes could shift business through the new Panama Canal -- scheduled to open in 2014 -- and to east coast ports. The canal's business plan "explicitly assumes that a lot of the trade between Asia and America's east and Gulf coasts will be diverted from California's ports to the canal," the Economist magazine reported in January. The Oakland Army Base rail yard project is slated to begin during the fall of 2013 and be completed in 2015.
Oakland has its advantages, however. It can handle many of the larger containers that other U.S. ports cannot, including the massive, 1,200-foot-long MSC Fabiola, which recently passed through the Port in March. Also, the Port's main business is exports, including food and wine. It's often called "the last port of call leaving America for the Far East," said Jock O'Connell, an international trade analyst at Beacon Economics.
Read the complete article here.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
A New Type of Hybrid
Building on the success of the first hybrid tug launched into service at the Port of Long Beach in 2009, Foss will retrofit an existing tug with hybrid technology for service in San Pedro Bay, thanks to a $1 million grant from the California Air Resources Board. The project will be implemented through a partnership between Foss, the Port of Long Beach, and the Port of Los Angeles.
Foss will retrofit the Campbell Foss, a conventional dolphin tug currently assisting oceangoing vessels in the San Pedro Bay. The goal is to achieve significant reductions in pollution emissions while enhancing fuel efficiency and operational capabilities. Projected annual emissions reductions per year include:
Read more here. (Found via TriplePundit.)
Foss will retrofit the Campbell Foss, a conventional dolphin tug currently assisting oceangoing vessels in the San Pedro Bay. The goal is to achieve significant reductions in pollution emissions while enhancing fuel efficiency and operational capabilities. Projected annual emissions reductions per year include:
- More than 1.7 tons of diesel particulate matter
- More than 53 tons of oxides of nitrogen
- More than 1.2 tons of reactive organic gases
- More than 1,340 tons of carbon dioxide
Read more here. (Found via TriplePundit.)
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Grace Period for Port of Oakland Truckers
Air board, Port truckers agree on upgrade
Kelly Zito, San Francisco Chronicle, January 5, 2010
A last-minute deal between California Air Resources Board (ARB) and Port of Oakland truckers will allow hundreds of big rigs to operate at the port for two weeks while they work to meet stricter requirements on diesel emissions that officially took effect on January 1st.
Regulations passed in 2007 prohibit large diesel trucks made before 1994 from operating at the state's ports and rail yards and require pricey filters on trucks made between 1994 and 2003.
The ARB said it has located an additional $11 million to aid the truckers. However, last week's showdown between policymakers and the trucking industry will probably play out again in different parts of the state over the next year, when similar rules affecting the rest of the trucking fleet in California - about 1 million trucks - start going into effect.
Read the complete article here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/05/BAML1BDGHJ.DTL
Kelly Zito, San Francisco Chronicle, January 5, 2010
A last-minute deal between California Air Resources Board (ARB) and Port of Oakland truckers will allow hundreds of big rigs to operate at the port for two weeks while they work to meet stricter requirements on diesel emissions that officially took effect on January 1st.
Regulations passed in 2007 prohibit large diesel trucks made before 1994 from operating at the state's ports and rail yards and require pricey filters on trucks made between 1994 and 2003.
The ARB said it has located an additional $11 million to aid the truckers. However, last week's showdown between policymakers and the trucking industry will probably play out again in different parts of the state over the next year, when similar rules affecting the rest of the trucking fleet in California - about 1 million trucks - start going into effect.
Read the complete article here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/05/BAML1BDGHJ.DTL
Friday, October 2, 2009
EPA Pumps $26M Green Stimulus into Southern California
Funding aimed at air quality improvements
Pat Brennan, Green OC, October 1, 2009
Yesterday at the Port of Long Beach, US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson announced more than $26 million in federal stimulus funding, including millions to retrofit trucks and school buses in the South Coast Air Basin.
Much of the funding, authorized under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, is aimed at cutting diesel pollution in the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. Diesel pollution results in more than 2,000 hospitalizations and 50,000 cases of asthma and respiratory illness across the state each year, EPA says.
The funding includes:
Pat Brennan, Green OC, October 1, 2009
Yesterday at the Port of Long Beach, US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson announced more than $26 million in federal stimulus funding, including millions to retrofit trucks and school buses in the South Coast Air Basin.
Much of the funding, authorized under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, is aimed at cutting diesel pollution in the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. Diesel pollution results in more than 2,000 hospitalizations and 50,000 cases of asthma and respiratory illness across the state each year, EPA says.
The funding includes:
- $4 million for research on technology to create cleaner-burning heavy duty trucks for the air district
- more than $4 million to replace or retrofit diesel engines for 112 pieces of cargo-handling equipment at the Port of Long Beach
- $1.9 million to replace or retrofit 27 such pieces of equipment at the Port of Los Angeles
- $8.8 million to “repower” at least eight switch-yard locomotives in Southern California
- $1.7 million to the state Air Resources Board to retrofit school buses in the region, awarded in April
- nearly $1 million to cut emissions from a variety of types of construction equipment, including tractors, excavators and forklifts
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Port of Oakland Diesel Truck Program
Oakland port program to clean up trucks, air
Kelly Zito, San Francisco Chronicle, July 28, 2009
Air quality regulators are taking steps to reduce diesel particulates in a neighborhood where increasing cases of asthma, chronic lung disease, and cancer have sounded the alarm about the long-term health effects of heavy industry.
On Tuesday, representatives from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, US Environmental Protection Agency, California Air Resources Board, and the Port of Oakland will announce a $22 million program designed to replace and retrofit about 1,000 of the approximately 2,000 diesel trucks that service the Port.
About 800 trucks will be outfitted with specially designed particulate filters and 200 more trucks will be replaced. Officials say the project should cut diesel truck emissions by about 85 percent at the port.
Read the complete article here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/27/BALB18TVHV.DTL
Kelly Zito, San Francisco Chronicle, July 28, 2009
Air quality regulators are taking steps to reduce diesel particulates in a neighborhood where increasing cases of asthma, chronic lung disease, and cancer have sounded the alarm about the long-term health effects of heavy industry.
On Tuesday, representatives from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, US Environmental Protection Agency, California Air Resources Board, and the Port of Oakland will announce a $22 million program designed to replace and retrofit about 1,000 of the approximately 2,000 diesel trucks that service the Port.
About 800 trucks will be outfitted with specially designed particulate filters and 200 more trucks will be replaced. Officials say the project should cut diesel truck emissions by about 85 percent at the port.
Read the complete article here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/27/BALB18TVHV.DTL
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Ports' Clean Trucks Programs Under Challenge
Federal Maritime Commission comes under scrutiny
May 19, 2009
The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has sued the Federal Maritime Commission for information about why the agency is involved in challenging the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports' new clean trucks programs.
Back in October, the NRDC filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Commission related to the agency's review of the programs. Over the last year, the Commission filed a lawsuit against the ports, initiated an administrative investigation, and used procedural hurdles to delay collection of a fee that was designed to raise money for cleaner trucks and spur deployment of cleaner, more efficient trucks.
Read more on the issue in the SF Chronicle and on the NRDC's blog.
Meanwhile, the Port of Oakland still faces tough decisions about how to reduce diesel emissions from trucks, ships, and trains after adoption of its first comprehensive master plan for reducing the air pollution last month. The Port Commission also agreed to restore up to $5 million in funding for grants to trucks to install diesel soot filters required of trucks using ports by a January 1, 2010, state deadline. The Commission had pulled back the money last November during a review of port finances hit hard by the economic downturn.
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District, California Air Resources Board, and Environmental Protection Agency said the Marine Air Quality Improvement Plan, approved 5-1 by the Board of Port Commissioners, needs more teeth, as did several local residents and leaders of community groups.
Read more in the SJ Mercury News.
May 19, 2009
The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has sued the Federal Maritime Commission for information about why the agency is involved in challenging the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports' new clean trucks programs.
Back in October, the NRDC filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Commission related to the agency's review of the programs. Over the last year, the Commission filed a lawsuit against the ports, initiated an administrative investigation, and used procedural hurdles to delay collection of a fee that was designed to raise money for cleaner trucks and spur deployment of cleaner, more efficient trucks.
Read more on the issue in the SF Chronicle and on the NRDC's blog.
Meanwhile, the Port of Oakland still faces tough decisions about how to reduce diesel emissions from trucks, ships, and trains after adoption of its first comprehensive master plan for reducing the air pollution last month. The Port Commission also agreed to restore up to $5 million in funding for grants to trucks to install diesel soot filters required of trucks using ports by a January 1, 2010, state deadline. The Commission had pulled back the money last November during a review of port finances hit hard by the economic downturn.
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District, California Air Resources Board, and Environmental Protection Agency said the Marine Air Quality Improvement Plan, approved 5-1 by the Board of Port Commissioners, needs more teeth, as did several local residents and leaders of community groups.
Read more in the SJ Mercury News.
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