LA Port approves plan for cleaner-running trucks

Commissioners at one of the nation's major seaports unanimously approved Thursday a final prong of a landmark plan intended to clean up some of America's dirtiest air.

The 4-0 vote by the Los Angeles Harbor Commission would usher in a new generation of cleaner-running trucks to carry goods in and out of the Port of Los Angeles each day. Truck traffic _ an estimated 70,000 trips daily at the adjacent ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach _ is considered a key culprit in the region's notoriously polluted air.

The plan still must be approved by the City Council.

But the plan and a key element _ requiring thousands of independent drivers to become employees of licensed trucking companies _ face an almost certain legal challenge that could delay environmental gains for years, as well as lead to higher prices for consumers, critics claim.

It is also unclear how the plan would dovetail with the neighboring port in Long Beach, which earlier adopted a plan that allows independent truckers to continue hauling goods, although with tough emission standards for their trucks.

"The next venue for the proposal will be in the court," Curtis Whalen of the Intermodal Motor Carriers Conference, an affiliate of trade group American Trucking Association, said in a statement. The Los Angeles plan will "undermine ... a workable clean-truck program."

At a news conference after the vote, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the city's harbor was at the forefront of efforts to shift to cleaner energy in an era of climate change. He blamed pollution at the port for causing a raft of health problems for local residents.

Los Angeles "has said enough is enough," the mayor told a cheering crowd, as ship horns sounded in the distance. In just months, "children will breathe easier, and so will their grandchildren."

Convinced of the legal soundness of the approach, commissioners insisted it was the best way to regulate thousands of independent drivers while ensuring port security and good maintenance of the truck fleet.

Under the plan, the nearly 17,000 independent truckers who work at the port would be required to become employees of trucking companies. The companies _ licensed motor carriers _ would be responsible for purchasing and maintaining trucks that meet tougher federal emissions standards. Independently owned trucks comprise more than 85 percent of the those going in and out of the ports.

To take effect, it must also be approved by the City Council.

The trucking companies will be eligible for grants covering up to 80 percent of the cost of newer, cleaner-burning trucks. And the port will also offer drivers $5,000 (euro3,242) to retire trucks built before 1989.

In time, port officials predict truck pollution could be slashed by as much as 80 percent in the region.

The current truck fleet is "made up of drivers earning low pay, driving dirty trucks and who may not meet security requirements," said commission President S. David Freeman.

Labor supports the plan. Some critics have charged it is little more than a thinly veiled effort to unionize low-wage drivers, a claim disputed by the commission.

"We want clean air, we want good jobs, we want to grow the port," said Maria Elena Durazo, head of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. "This proposal will give that to us."

In an editorial Thursday, the Los Angeles Times described the trucking plan as "an untested attempt at regulating the business that might run afoul of interstate commerce laws. By passing it, harbor commissioners will all but assure a legal battle that may go on for years."

In an earlier vote, the sister ports each voted to require trucks to meet tougher 2007 federal emissions standards by Jan. 12, 2012, along with a $35 (euro23) cargo fee to pay for the newer, cleaner-running trucks.

Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster said Los Angeles' decision could open the way to a long, expensive legal fight that would undercut the purpose of the plan _ cleaning up the air. Moreover, he said many independent drivers do not want to become trucking company employees.

"I think our plan is better. It doesn't place in jeopardy the clean-air program itself," Foster said.