San Pedro Bay Ports seek comment on second drayage truck assessment

The public is invited to comment on a draft feasibility assessment of cleaner drayage truck technologies needed to help the San Pedro Bay ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach reduce air pollution and reach the ambitious zero-emission goals adopted in the 2017 Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) Update.

The draft 2021 assessment, which builds upon the inaugural 2018 assessment, examines the current state of technology, operational characteristics, economic considerations, infrastructure availability and commercial readiness related to zero-emission and low-emission drayage trucks.

The draft 2021 feasibility assessment is available on the Clean Air Action Plan website, posted here.

Comments on the 2021 draft feasibility assessment for drayage trucks will be accepted through Sept. 27 and can be emailed to caap@CleanAirActionPlan.org.

The updated plan established goals of zero-emission trucks by 2035 and zero-emission terminal equipment by 2030. As part of this strategy, the ports committed to developing feasibility assessments every three years for drayage trucks and terminal equipment to inform the ports’ approach to meeting those goals.

Currently, the San Pedro Bay ports are demonstrating 56 pieces of cargo-handling equipment, including zero-emission yard tractors, top handlers, forklifts, and rubber-tired gantry cranes, and 16 Class 8 on-road trucks, including hybrid, battery-electric, and hydrogen fuel cell technologies, with a number of additional terminal equipment and on-road trucks to be commissioned by the end of the year.

Updated in 2017, the CAAP contains a comprehensive strategy to accelerate progress toward a zero-emissions future while protecting and strengthening the ports’ competitive position in the global economy. Since 2005, port-related air pollution emissions in San Pedro Bay have dropped 90% for diesel particulate matter, 63% for nitrogen oxides and 97% for sulfur oxides.

Targets for reducing greenhouse gases from port-related sources were introduced as part of the 2017 CAAP Update. The document calls for the ports to reduce greenhouse gases to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030 and 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. The plan was originally approved in 2006.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are the two largest ports in the nation, first and second respectively, and combined are the ninth-largest port complex in the world. Trade that flows through the San Pedro Bay ports complex generates more than 3 million jobs nationwide, according to the ports. LL

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