NRDC slams SoCal ports over inaction on air quality measures

NRDC slams SoCal ports over inaction on air quality measures The ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles are failing to implement air quality measures adopted by the two agencies last November, a formerly supportive environmental group charged Thursday.
   The Natural Resources Defense Council, once a staunch voice of support for the ports' environmental efforts, blasted port officials for breaking their 'green' promises and for falling behind in implementing the 'Clean Air Action Plan' — an omnibus collection of air quality programs created by the ports' staff last year. In approving the plan late last year, port officials claimed the plan would dramatically cut air pollution from the adjacent ports by 2011.
   The ports, identified as the single-largest source of diesel air pollution in Southern California, have come under intense political and public pressure to cut port-generated emissions from yard equipment, trucks, trains and ocean-going vessels. The ports, under the gun from revenue-generating tenants to expand port facilities, have seen their development plans virtually stopped for more than three years by the threat of legal action from groups like the NRDC.
   One major component of the ports' CAAP, a controversial $1.8 billion port trucking re-regulation scheme being heavily lobbied in the public by labor and environmental groups, seeks to consolidate the 1,300 port trucking companies into a handful of licensed operators that only hire truck drivers as employees. Licensed trucks would be required to meet 2007 emission standards or pay a fee to enter port terminals. The fee, along with port and state funds, would be used to purchase new trucks or retrofit older models to meet the port-wide standards.
   Originally set to be approved by the ports' commissioners back in July, the boards have postponed several self-imposed deadlines to approve the truck plan, including one originally set for today. Insiders at the ports report that dissatisfaction with portions of the plan is growing among some harbor commissioners, though publicly the two governing commissions still express their full commitment to the plan, set to take affect as currently written on Jan. 1.
   David Pettit, director of NRDC's Southern California Air Program said in a Thursday statement that while his group originally supported the ports' creation and adoption of the plan, that was the easy part for the ports.
   'The implementation is where you show commitment,' Pettit said, 'and, unfortunately, the ports are slipping further and further behind.'
   The NRDC, well known for putting political and legal pressure on the ports regarding environmental issues, cited four major deadlines within the air plan already missed by the ports. The group said that port officials have broken their promises made in the CAAP regarding each deadline:
   ' The ports failed to adopt by the first quarter an implementation plan for reducing emissions from port trucks.
   ' The ports failed to adopt by spring 'San Pedro Bay Standards,' limits that would commit the ports to reducing air pollution to levels that would help the region attain federal air quality standards.
   ' The ports failed to evaluate by the second quarter the use of 'tariffs' to require port tenants to use cleaner marine fuels.
   ' The ports failed to bring before their governing boards by the third quarter any appropriate tariff for adoption.
   'Many supported the [ports'] plan because we believed it was more than just another bureaucratic exercise,' said Adrian Martinez, NRDC project attorney, in the Thursday statement. 'We thought the ports were moving away from a business-as-usual approach that compromises people's health.'