PORT OF LOS ANGELES APPROVES ADDITIONAL EXTENSION FOR TRUCKERS TO OPERATE PAST JAN. 1, 2010 BAN DATE
SAN PEDRO, Calif. — December 16, 2009 — The Los Angeles Harbor Commission has approved a second set of modifications to the Port of Los Angeles tariff to allow truckers to continue operating their existing trucks past the January 1, 2010 ban date. The tariff modifications are designed to be consistent with a Drayage Truck Rule Advisory issued by the California Air Resources Board on December 8, 2009 which will allow truckers that have purchased a new truck or retrofit with private funds to continue to operate their existing truck until April 30, 2010 while waiting for the new truck to be delivered or the retrofit to be installed.
The Port of Los Angeles tariff will allow the same extension as the Air Resources Board for purchase of a truck with private funds. To qualify for the extension based on private purchase of a retrofit, it must be a Level 3 retrofit and it must also have a 25% NOx reduction capability in order to be able to operate in the Port of Los Angeles. The Port of Long Beach recently approved similar provisions to its tariff. If the retrofit on order does not have this additional NOx reduction capability, it will not meet the San Pedro Bay Ports environmental requirements so the extension will not be allowed in either port.
To sign up for this latest extension, truckers need to be registered on both the State and Port Drayage Truck Registry by December 30 and they must provide a copy of a purchase order or other evidence of a commitment of funds for the new truck or retrofit to the Air Resources Board by December 31, 2009. The State has committed to send stickers allowing entry into ports and rail yards statewide to qualifying truckers by January 15, 2010. The two ports have agreed to update their electronic gate entry system for entrance into port terminals by the same date, January 15, 2010.
The latest Port of Los Angeles tariff modifications, approved December 10, 2009, come after the Board took similar action at its November 19, 2009 meeting. At that time, the Board approved tariff amendments to allow truckers to continue operating existing trucks past the January 1, 2010 ban date while waiting for Prop 1B related grants to be issued by the South Coast Air Quality Management District or other grant agencies. The tariff changes were enacted by the Port of Los Angeles to support parallel actions taken by the State Air Resources Board to provide extensions to the State Drayage Truck Rule ban date which is also set to go into effect January 1, 2010.
“We have worked closely with the Air Resources Board and the South Coast Air Quality Management District in recent months to get as much funding for new trucks into the hands of truck owners as we can,” said John Holmes, Deputy Executive Director of Operations for the Port of Los Angeles. “These tariff ban extensions will allow time for the trucks to be delivered.”
In its Drayage Truck Advisory issued December 8, the Air Resources Board said this latest extension was provided due to “delays in the availability of expected State bond funds” earlier in the year. The Air Resources Board acknowledged that the funding delays resulted in holdups in grant programs for truck replacements and retrofits, and may have caused a time crunch for truck owners who were denied state funding and who are now privately financing the upgrades. The ban extensions issued by the Air Resources Board and the Port of Los Angeles at its December 10 Board meeting are expected to help ease this time crunch for truck owners.
The next phase of the successful Clean Truck Program at the Port of Los Angeles takes effect January 1, 2010, when trucks equipped with engine model years 1993 and older will be banned from the Port. Additionally, trucks equipped with engine model years 1994 to 2003 also will be denied terminal access unless retrofitted with an approved diesel emission control system. The restrictions coincide with similar regulations to take effect at all ports and rail yards in California, established by the California Air Resources Board. The statewide restrictions will also ban trucks with engine model years 1993 and older, and will require retrofits on trucks equipped with engine model years 1994 to 2003.
The Port of Los Angeles is America’s premier port and has a strong commitment to developing innovative strategic and sustainable operations that benefit the economy as well as the quality of life for the region and the nation it serves. As the leading seaport in North America in terms of shipping container volume and cargo value, the Port generates 919,000 regional jobs and $39.1 billion in annual wages and tax revenues. A proprietary department of the City of Los Angeles, the Port is self-supporting and does not receive taxpayer dollars.
The Port of Los Angeles – A cleaner port. A brighter future.