Schwarzenegger will veto container fee bill if industry offers option

Schwarzenegger will veto container fee bill if industry offers option An aide to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told Port of Long Beach staff recently that the governor would veto State Sen. Alan Lowenthal’s proposed SB974 container fee bill if an industry-created alternative is devised.
   The SB794 bill, making it's way through the state legislature, proposes a $30-per-TEU fee on containers moving through the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland. The collected funds, which could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, would be used to improve infrastructure and for environmental programs.
   The Long Beach City Council and the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners have each voted support for the bill. However, the council did so unconditionally, while the port commission's support was tentative based on Lowenthal making amendments the commissioners felt were needed.