The Los Angeles harbour commission today approved a measure that will place a US$35 charge on every loaded TEU entering or leaving the port of Los Angeles cargo terminals by short-haul (or drayage) trucks beginning on June 1, 2008.
This follows the unanimous vote of support for the Clean Trucks Fee tariff approved on Monday by the port of Long Beach harbour commissioners.
The nationĄŻs two largest container ports will use the proceeds to fund a $2 billion Clean Trucks Programme ¨C $1.6 billion generated by the Clean Trucks Fee and an additional $400,000 million in anticipated grant funding from the state of California -- initiative that will replace or retrofit the existing fleet of trucks that serve the San Pedro Bay Ports over the next five years ¨C reducing port related truck emissions 80 percent.
The $35 fee per loaded TEU will be collected by the portsĄŻ shipping terminals. The fee will not apply to containers entering or leaving the port by train.
Trucks will be monitored for compliance by radio frequency tracking devices or similar identification technologies. All funds collected by the two ports would be used for the replacement of about 16,800 trucks by 2012 with clean diesel trucks, or trucks fueled by liquefied natural gas (LNG) or other approved technologies that can achieve the 2007 standard adopted in the portsĄŻ Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP).
The fee tariff will end when the fleet of drayage trucks meet CAAP requirements, around 2012.
In November, the Long Beach and Los Angeles Boards of harbour commissioners approved a ban on old, dirty trucks that call at the ports.
The ban will be phased in, beginning on October 1, with a ban on all trucks built before 1989. By January 1, 2010, only trucks built after 1993 will be allowed, and by January 1, 2012 all trucks must meet 2007 federal EPA standards.
|
