Bay Area air regulators propose port emission cap, inventory rule

Bay Area air regulators propose port emission cap, inventory rule    Bay Area air regulators are prosing sweeping plans to reduce harmful diesel emissions from activities at the ports of Oakland, San Francisco, Richmond, Benicia and Redwood City.
   Announced Monday, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District Board draft rule calls for the creation of a Bay Area inventory to detail the emissions coming from port-generated activity including ships, trains and trucks. The inventory would itemize sources and amounts of diesel particulate matter, sulfur dioxide and other smog-forming gases from activity at the five ports.
   Using the inventory, the BAAQMD would then set an overall cap on port-generated emission of each pollutant and set a series of reduction goals to be met.
   Mitigation measures suggested by the agency include cleaner diesel trucks and requiring berthed oceangoing cargo vessels to use landside power instead of their diesel auxiliary engines to provide maintenance power. Studies at other ports, such as Long Beach and Los Angeles, have shown that oceangoing vessels can generate up to 90 percent of certain port-generated emissions.
   Despite the agency's call for reductions, it does not plan to discontinue offering grants and subsidies supporting existing programs to retrofit or convert Bay Area ships, trains and trucks with less polluting power sources.
   While the agency is proposing a cap on port-generated emissions, BAAQMD staff are also considering a plan that would not involve a cap but more stringent plans for the switch to cleaner engines.
   The Port of Oakland operates several emission reduction programs such as assisting some local drayage drivers in funding truck replacements.
   The BAAQMD is accepting public comment on the proposed rule and is expected to vote on the rule within the next several months. ' Keith Higginbotham