Port of NY/NJ seeks to regulate draymen

Port of NY/NJ seeks to regulate draymen    The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has asked for the
1994 Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA) to be amended so that state and local entities can regulate trucking companies for “environmental” and “congestion” programs.
   In a letter to Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., the port authority said currently the motor carrier statute contained within the act “allows state and local entities to regulate trucking companies only for a narrow scope of ‘vehicle safety’ related programs.

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   'Unfortunately, the 30-year old statute fails to address the recent rise in volumes and concentration of containerized trade. While such growth has brought great economic benefits to ports and local communities, it has also created significant challenges in the areas of environmental protection and throughput efficiency. As a result, we believe the FAAAA needs to be reviewed and updated,” the port authority said.
   The letter asked Lautenberg, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee’s subcommittee on surface transportation and merchant marine infrastructure, safety and security, to consider revising the FAAAA “as you endeavor to draft and pass Transportation Reauthorization legislation.”

Coscia

   “Port trucking has a large impact on these issues due to the density and high concentration of port drayage at ports and in surrounding areas,” said the July 30 letter, signed by the authority’s Chairman Anthony R. Coscia, Executive Director Christopher O. Ward, and Deputy Executive Director Susan Bass Levin.
   The officials noted the authority has developed a clean air program that seeks to reduce pollution from marine terminals to improve health, reduce greenhouse gases, and help bring the New York/Northern New Jersey/Long Island Non-Attainment Area in line with the air quality standards of the Clean Air Act.
   The port authority said it is considering initiatives to reduce the amount of diesel pollution released by port trucks, “while taking into account the potential impact of any actions on the surrounding communities and independent drivers who service the ports.”
   The port's board of commissioners recently authorized a program designed to help replace more than 600 of the oldest, most polluting trucks serving the port's facilities with newer models. The program is partially funded through a $7 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Gatti

   But Peter Gatti, executive vice president of the National Industrial Transportation League, questioned whether revisions like those proposed by the port authority are needed to achieve its clean air goals. He said the port should be able to accomplish this goal through the existing law.
   “They want to be able to have other, broader powers,' Gatti said. 'If this was just an issue of clean air, that is one thing. There is no argument that the existing law already permits that.'
   Revision of the FAAAA could present serious problems to the transportation industry and shippers, he said.
   “It's going to have serious impacts on commerce if every small government entity like a port authority is allowed to regulate truck drayage in ports. You could have a real hodgepodge of different requirements and regulations that one port has and another doesn’t,” he said. “Non-uniformity is one reason that federal laws and rules and regulations exist.”

Oberstar

   The NIT League was one of a group of 32 organizations that sent a letter to Rep. James Oberstar, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, last month opposing the inclusion of additional exemptions under the FAAAA.
   That letter said that “despite assertions from those who support broader powers by local entities to regulate interstate commerce, we support continued efforts to improve air quality at America's ports.” ' Chris Dupin