WASHINGTON: The ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles will consider approving the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) 2017 Update, a document that would guide emissions reduction strategies for the next 20 years, during a joint public meeting November 2. The CAAP calls for cleaner trucks, improved on-dock rail infrastructure, transitioning the oldest, most polluting ships out of its fleet and speeding up the deployment of cleaner harbor craft in an attempt to transition to zero-emission trucks by 2035 and zero emission terminal equipment by 2030. The governing boards of the two ports will meet Thursday, November 2 at 8:30AM at the Crowne Plaza Los Angeles Harbor Hotel. It will also be broadcast live online at polb.com/webcast and at portoflosangeles.org. The final CAAP document will be available at least one week before the joint board meeting, on both port websites and cleanairactionplan.org.
The CAAP was developed by environmental teams from both ports over the last two years, incorporating input from meetings with industry, regulatory, community and environmental stakeholders, according to a release from the POLB on Monday. In a public meeting in late August, there were multiple tearful testimonies from residents across Southern California, from South Los Angeles to San Pedro to Long Beach who talked about developing chronic diseases like cancer and respiratory damage. They demanded for more to be done, despite costs, if the technology is there to do it. Adopted in 2006, the CAAP’s first update was approved in 2010. “The CAAP 2017 Update aims to reduce emissions from all sources that move cargo, including through the deployment of near-zero emission trucks and cargo-handling equipment, and the expansion of programs that reduce ship pollution,” the release stated. Since 2005 the two ports, which are the largest in the nation, have eliminated 87 percent of diesel particulate matter, cut nitrogen oxides by 56 percent, reduced sulfur oxides by 97 percent and decreased greenhouse gases more than 18 percent through their clean air programs, according to the latest annual inventories. “The results reflect the ports’ efforts to work with stakeholders to aggressively reduce pollution from the ships, trucks, trains, cargo-handling equipment and harbor craft that operate in and around the ports,” the release stated. The Crowne Plaza Los Angeles Harbor Hotel is located at 601 South Palos Verdes Street in San Pedro. Click here to view the CAAP.
