Jan. 6, 2006
The Southland’s clean air agency approved a
workplan (pdf, 186kb*) today for its
“Clean Port Initiative” including the proposed adoption of “backstop”
regulations to limit emissions from port facilities.
“With the steady increase in port activity and associated goods movement,
it is imperative that the AQMD take all feasible measures to protect public
health from the ports, which are the No. 1 fixed source of air pollution in
this region,” said William Burke, Ed.D., Governing Board Chairman of the
South Coast Air Quality Management District.
AQMD’s Clean Port Initiative, announced by Burke at a special meeting in
Long Beach in November, includes four guiding principles and seven action
items outlining steps that the AQMD, along with federal and state agencies
and local and international ports can take to help reduce port pollution in
the region.
A key component of the plan calls for the development and adoption this
year of AQMD “backstop” rules that would take effect if the ports and other
agencies did not take sufficient actions in a timely manner to reduce
emissions. Such AQMD rules could:
- Prohibit emissions increases from new or expanded port facilities
unless state-of-the-art pollution controls are used;
- Limit cancer and other health risks -- initially from new and
expanding port facilities, and later from existing port terminals; and
- Reduce facility emissions to levels needed to achieve air quality
standards, through mass emission limits, emission rate limits, an overall
percentage reduction or other measures.
Other measures in the work plan include:
- Conducting air monitoring in and around the port at on-dock as well as
residential sites. The monitoring would start following the formation of
a Clean Port Air Monitoring Partnership to solicit input from the
community, labor and environmental groups, the ports and other
environmental agencies;
- Developing an enhanced review of the air quality impact of port and
goods movement projects using the California Environmental Quality Act
process resulting in detailed recommendations for project alternatives or
emissions mitigation measures;
- Conducting a summit early this year between AQMD Chairman Burke and
the chairs of the Los Angeles and Long Beach harbor commissions to
establish a joint schedule of actions for the next 18 months;
- Conducting summit meetings this year with leaders of the largest Asian
ports with the goal of implementing coordinated emission control measures
on both sides of the Pacific;
- Continuing to support legislative efforts to fund cleanup at the
ports, including SB760 (Lowenthal), which would establish a $30 per
container fee for port environmental mitigation. In addition, evaluating
other potential sources for cleanup funding, including bond proposals and
mechanisms in the State Goods Movement Action Plan; and
- Continuing to urge the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to adopt
stricter emission standards for ocean-going ships, and at the same time
developing federal legislative proposals this year for more stringent
standards for marine vessels and locomotives.
The work plan also includes a discussion of why additional AQMD actions
are needed to supplement state, federal and international port air pollution
regulations, and an analysis of AQMD’s legal authority to regulate air
pollution sources in the ports.
The twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are the largest in the
nation as well as the single largest fixed source of air pollution in
Southern California. Collectively, sources at the port are responsible for
more than 100 tons per day of smog- and particulate-forming nitrogen oxides
– more than the daily emissions from all 6 million cars in the region. In
addition, the California Air Resources Board estimates that port air
pollution creates cancer risks exceeding 500 in 1 million for tens of
thousands of residents.
In other action today, the Board:
- Approved an additional $250,000 in funding available to schools to
install emission control equipment on existing diesel backup generators
located on or near schools to protect schoolchildren from diesel
particulate matter emissions. To date, 18 schools have received grants to
retrofit 40 diesel generators. Since July 2002 more than $1 million has
been approved to assist schools;
- Conducted a study session to review more than 220 proposals, valued at
$70 million, for $6 million in available funding for air quality
improvement programs. The funds come from a 2005 penalty settlement with
BP’s Carson refinery for air pollution violations; and
- Set a public hearing for Feb. 3 to receive public input on the
executive officer’s goals and objectives for the coming year.
AQMD is the air pollution control agency for Orange County and major
portions of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
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