BOARD MEETING DATE: January 6, 2006
AGENDA NO. 24

Approve Workplan to Implement Clean Port Initiative Proposed by Chairman William A. Burke

SYNPOSIS:

At the November 4, 2005 Board meeting, Chairman Burke announced a Clean Port Initiative for 2006 with four guiding principles and seven action items. He directed the AQMD staff to develop a workplan for this initiative within 60 days and present it for approval at the January 6, 2006 Board meeting. This action is to approve a workplan to implement a Clean Port Initiative.

COMMITTEE:

Not Applicable

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS:

Approved attached Clean Port Initiative Workplan and direct staff to proceed with its implementation.

Barry R. Wallerstein, D.Env.
Executive Officer

Background

The marine vessels, harbor craft, cargo handling equipment, locomotives, and trucks that operate to, from and within the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles make those ports the largest emissions sources in the South Coast Air Basin. Port sources are almost entirely powered by diesel engines, and collectively they are responsible for nearly one-quarter of all diesel particulate emissions in the region. This percentage will substantially increase with the current growth in Asian-Pacific Rim trade. Increasing trade has contributed significantly to the region’s job base and economy. At the same time, however, port emissions create cancer risks exceeding 500 in a million for tens of thousands of residents, and contribute significantly to regional particulate and ozone levels that are estimated to cause two thousand premature deaths per year and other significant health impacts. In a region that will need every emission reduction possible to attain ambient air quality standards for particulates and ozone—a region where thousands of businesses have dramatically reduced emissions in response to AQMD rules—emissions from many port sources, notably marine vessel main engines, are relativity uncontrolled and are growing significantly.

Responding to these impacts, Board Chairman Dr. William Burke, at the November 4, 2005 Board meeting, announced a “Clean Port Initiative” intended to achieve more rapid reductions in port emissions. Dr. Burke directed staff to develop a workplan for this initiative within sixty days and present it for approval at the January 6, 2006 Board meeting. This agenda item presents staff’s proposed Clean Port Initiative Workplan.

The Chairman’s Clean Port Initiative included four guiding principles and seven action items. The guiding principles stated by the Chair are:

1. AQMD acknowledges the efforts of both ports to date in recognizing their air pollution problem and taking initial steps to address it. Long Beach has adopted a Green Port Policy, and David Freeman, recently appointed to head the Port of Los Angeles Harbor Commission, has made bold statements about reducing emissions.
2. While the No Net Increase Report for the Port of Los Angeles is a good start, it is not enough. We cannot settle for recent levels of air pollution in our ports. We need to significantly reduce emissions to achieve clean air.
3. The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach must pursue coordinated emissions reduction strategies to ensure equity and to prevent one port from seeking a competitive edge through less stringent environmental standards.
4. The ports and shipping companies should bear their fair share of the cost of cleanup, just as stationary sources do today.

The seven action items are briefly summarized below:

1. A call for a summit meeting between AQMD’s Board Chair and the presidents of the two harbor commissions to discuss development and coordination of control measures;
2. A call for the ports to accelerate their efforts to reduce air pollution, and if they do not act aggressively and in a timely, coordinated manner, AQMD will develop regulations to the maximum extent of its authority to control port sources, including oceangoing ships;
3. Full use of the CEQA process for goods movement projects to ensure that their impacts are thoroughly mitigated;
4. Air quality monitoring within the ports;
5. A call for federal rules or legislation;
6. Development and discussion of emission reduction measures to be implemented here and at the top three ports in Asia; and
7. A call for the state Legislature to adopt a container fee or other mechanism to fund cleanup at the ports.

Proposal

Staff has developed a draft Workplan (Attachment) to implement Chairman Burke's Clean Port Initiative which includes a description of the policy and legal rationale for the components of the Workplan, an outline of the AQMD's role in controlling port pollution, and action items. Staff will report to the Mobile Source Committee on at least a bi-monthly basis regarding implementation progress for Workplan components; and will report to the Administrative and Legislative Committees on an ad-hoc basis regarding proposed resource allocations and proposed legislative efforts (see Reporting Timeframes Table). Staff requests approval of the attached Workplan and Board direction to proceed with its implementation.

Chairman's Clean Port Initiative
REPORTING TIMEFRAMES

Resource Impacts

The attachment contains preliminary information on resource requirements. It appears that with the exception of the Air Quality Monitoring component, the first and second quarters of the Workplan can be accomplished within the existing FY 2005-06 Budget through rearrangement of some task priorities and timelines. For the Air Quality Monitoring component, as mentioned in Addendum A to the Workplan, staff will develop a cost schedule and seek co-funding as part of the monitoring protocol development in conjunction with partnering stakeholders. Funding for the third and fourth quarters' portion of the Workplan will be accounted for within the ongoing draft budget development process for FY 2006-07, which following public input is tentatively scheduled for Board hearing in June 2006.

Attachment (DOC 298kb)
Proposed Clean Port Initiative Workplan and Addenda

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