AmericasEnvironmentPorts and Logistics

Clean Air Action Plan for ports of LA and Long Beach approved

The San Pedro Bay ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, America’s numbers one and two respectively in terms of container volume, on Thursday unanimously approved their new joint clean-air strategy.

Each port’s board of governors endorsed the 2017 Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) Update, the latest iteration of a plan first introduced in 2006.

The document gives guidance for how one of the world’s busiest maritime port complexes can move towards ambitious goals of having zero emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) for landside goods movement by the year 2035 at the latest, without damaging its economic competitiveness.

These strategies include: identifying clean engine milestones for new trucks entering the port drayage registries; requiring terminal operators to deploy zero-emission equipment, if feasible, or the cleanest equipment available when procuring new cargo-handling equipment; expanding use of on-dock rail towards a target of having 50% of cargo departing by rail; developing infrastructure plans to support terminal equipment electrification and alternative fuels.

In the 11-year history of the CAAP, pollution levels in and around the adjacent ports have been significantly lowered.

Recent air emissions figures show the ports are already ahead of 2023 pollution reduction goals for diesel particulate matter (DPM) and sulfur oxide while nitrogen oxide levels are close to those goals.

Donal Scully

With 28 years experience writing and editing for newspapers in the UK and Hong Kong, Donal is now based in California from where he covers the Americas for Splash as well as ensuring the site is loaded through the Western Hemisphere timezone.
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