18 Dec 07 `Dirty truck’ fee likely to begin in ‘08

Port authorities Monday are set to approve a $35 “dirty truck” fee on all loaded containers moved by truck in and out of the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.

The fee would be collected beginning June 1, 2008, and would help subsidize the replacement of an estimated 14,000 diesel rigs now serving the sprawling seaport complex.

Long Beach harbor commissioners are expected to approve the fee at their 1 p.m. board meeting Monday, while authorities in Los Angeles will vote on an identical plan for their port Thursday.

“Diesel trucks are a major source of port-related air pollution and present an unacceptable health risk to the public,” said Richard Steinke, executive director of the Port of Long Beach.

Harbor trucks are blamed for fouling the air with diesel soot and contributing to increased cancer, asthma and heart disease rates in local communities.

The fee, collected by marine terminal operators, would apply to all truck-moved containers through 2012 or until nearly all harbor trucks are replaced with models meeting federal 2007 emission standards.

New trucks emit up to 90 percent less pollution than older models.

Retailers and shippers will pay the impact fee. But many of them believe it will eventually raise the cost of consumer goods.

Authorities estimate the fee will generate up to $1.6 billion by 2012. State and local clean-air grants will contribute another $180 million for truck replacement, with money distributed to truck drivers and motor carriers beginning about mid-2008.

The money is being raised to help the industry comply with progressive emission regulations adopted by the ports in November.

Those rules initially ban all pre-1989 drayage trucks by Oct. 1, 2008, then grow increasingly strict through 2012, when all harbor trucks would need to meet 2007 EPA emissions standards - either through vehicle replacement or, in the case of trucks built after 1994, retrofit with a particulate filter.

“Because we’re insisting that truck replacement be done so quickly, we’re going to (financially) assist them so we can ensure that containers continue to move and truck drivers don’t just walk away from the port,” said Port of Long Beach Spokesman Art Wong.

Exempt from the fee are containers moved off the waterfront by train and empty containers.

Also, trucks moving a container from one terminal to the next would only pay once, Wong said.

Port staff are developing a program to distribute the money, and reportedly plan to use PierPASS for collection purposes.

PierPASS, a nonprofit agency, was established to collect fees on containers moved during peak traffic hours as a way to mitigate traffic and congestion problems in local ports.

Authorities are also developing a separate container fee to fund infrastructure projects, which they plan to announce in coming weeks.

In addition, State Sen. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, has proposed a $30 container fee for infrastructure and environmental projects that he hopes to pass in Sacramento in 2008. That fee would apply to the ports of Long Beach, Los Angeles and Oakland.

The meeting begins at 1 p.m. Monday at the Port of Long Beach Administration building at 925 Harbor Plaza.

Approval is required by a majority of the five-member commission.