Long Beach gives out 100 clean truck grants

Long Beach gives out 100 clean truck grants    The Port of Long Beach said Friday it has recently awarded subsidies for 100 new trucks, of which 98 were alternatively fueled liquefied natural gas models, as part of the port's ongoing program to replace older trucks with newer, cleaner models.
   Long Beach, in association with the neighboring Port of Los Angeles, is in the midst of a clean truck program that will see all pre-2007 trucks banned from the port by 2012.
   'While a majority of the older trucks are being replaced by private industry, port and state bond money are also helping to speed the turnover, particularly to alternative fuels,' the port said in a statement.
   More than 5,000 trucks considered clean by the port's parameters have already registered.
   The 100 new truck subsidies were awarded through a lottery on July 7 from more than 1,200 applicants that included trucking companies and independent operators, the port said.
   The Port of Long Beach Harbor Board also approved entering into an agreement with the Port of Los Angeles, the South Coast Air Quality Management District and the California Air Resources Board (the regional and state air regulatory agencies) to distribute $46.5 million in money from Prop. 1B (a 2006 statewide transportation measure) to subsidize more clean truck purchases.
   The agreement calls for the Long Beach and Los Angeles ports and AQMD to provide at least $5 million each for truck subsidies, with the funds putting as many as 1,000 clean trucks on the roads, including up to 500 LNG fueled trucks.