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Cleaning up at the Ports
Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach major contributors to air pollution
The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are the largest contributors to the Los Angeles Air Basin’s air pollution. The volume of goods moving through the ports has quadrupled in the last seven years and is projected to quadruple again in the next fifteen years. The ports generate approximately 181 tons of NOx (nitrogen oxides, identified as a dangerous air pollutant) per day—the diesel trucks serving the ports alone emit 47 tons of NOx!
Assembly Bill 2042 (Lowenthal) is necessary legislation that would establish a baseline for air quality in anticipation of the inevitable growth of the ports.
AB 2042 will:
- Require the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), the Air Resources Board (ARB), and the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to enter into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to implement emission control measures related to operations at each of those ports.
- Require the SCAQMD to establish a baseline for air quality for the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach on or before September 1, 2005,
- Require that on or before January 1, 2006, and on or before January 1 of each year thereafter, the level of air pollution at both ports not exceed the specified baseline.
- Require the SCAQMD, ARB and both ports to consult with the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), industry stakeholders and environmental organizations.
According to the SCAQMD, cancer risk estimates at the ports are about 1 per every 700 people exposed, far above the 1-in-a-million risk level considered acceptable by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. According to the District, the ports are the largest single source of air pollution in the four-county jurisdiction of the District.
Given the anticipated growth at the ports, and the fact that almost all of the ships, trucks and equipment used at the port are fueled by cancer-causing diesel, it is important to do as much as we can to limit the increase in toxic emissions while the ports grow.
What You Can Do
AB 2042 has passed through the Legislature and is now on the Governor's desk. Please contact Governor Schwarzenegger and encourage him to sign AB 2042.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Fax: 916-445-4633
Email the Governor using his web form at http://www.govmail.ca.gov/.
