COURT UPHOLDS MAYOR VILLARAIGOSA’S CLEAN TRUCK PROGRAM

DC District Court calls Clean Truck Program an “ambitious, multi-faceted program to reduce high levels of air pollution while also striving to improve the Ports’ safety and security.”

LOS ANGELES – April 15, 2009 – The United States District Court for the District of Columbia today upheld Mayor Villaraigosa’s Clean Truck Program calling it an “...ambitious, multi-faceted program to reduce high levels of air pollution while also striving to improve the Ports’ safety and security.”

“This is a clear victory for our Clean Truck Program and the idea that you can both green and grow the Port of Los Angeles at the same time,” Mayor Villaraigosa said.

"We have already removed thousands of polluting port trucks from service and today's victory helps clear the path for more progress,” said Geraldine Knatz, Executive Director of the Port of Los Angeles.

In a ruling released by the Court, Judge Richard Leon rejected the request by the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) for a preliminary injunction against the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach Clean Truck Programs calling FMC's arguments “weak” and “…suffer[ing] from critical flaws.”

Judge Leon concluded that the FMC failed to prove that that the Clean Truck Program reduced competition or caused irreparable economic harm, finding that it was likely to succeed on the merits at trial, that there was irreparable harm, or that an injunction would be in the public interest, finding that the FMC’s arguments were “wholly unsupported in the record.”