Exporters making waves over ports’ clean-air plan
Agricultural exporters complained Thursday that the local ports’ clean-air plan could harm the national economy -- and California growers in particular.
Under the proposal, all 16,000 short-haul trucks that move goods to and from the wharves at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports would be scrapped or retrofitted starting next year at a cost of $1.8 billion. Drivers, the majority of whom are owner-operators, would work for companies that bid on port concession contracts with stiff environmental, equipment maintenance and workplace requirements.
But the Washington-based Agriculture Transportation Coalition, representing most of the nation’s export growers, said the costs could be devastating.
“The coalition works to assure that transportation does not render U.S. agriculture uncompetitive. Unfortunately, the proposed Clean Air Action Plan could do just that,” the group said in a letter to port officials, harbor commissioners, and the mayors of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
The cost of replacing the aging trucks would be funded largely by per-trip fees of $34 to $54 assessed on the licensed trucking firms and partly by state bonds and taxpayer money. Another portion of the plan would impose an exporter-paid $26 fee on every container of goods moved through the ports to help fund rail and highway improvements. Both measures are part of the ports’ joint plan to reduce deadly air pollution from all sources by 45% in five years.
But Roger Isom, vice president of associations representing 60 cotton gins and 1,200 cotton growers in the state, said growers wouldn’t be able to pass those costs on to consumers.
“Every producer gets paid the same,” Isom said. “It’s a world price. We are still in the game in California only because we have higher yields, but that gap is shrinking. You add on this and we either aren’t going to grow cotton or we will go to ports elsewhere.”
Port officials said that they welcomed the coalition’s letter and that the group’s concerns would be added to their deliberations.
“We are in the process of collecting input on the clean truck program,” said Geraldine Knatz, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles. “We appreciate the information provided by the Agriculture Transportation Coalition and this will be responded to, along with all the other comments received, as we continue to work on the plan.”
Numerous studies have shown elevated levels of diesel particulates and other harmful air pollutants on docks and in neighborhoods near truck-laden highways.
The coalition said that it understood the need to clean up the air around the nation’s ports, but that officials should keep in mind how quickly markets could shift, such as when West Coast ports were shut down for 11 days during a 2002 labor dispute.
“We produce the finest hazelnuts in the world. They come from Oregon,” the coalition wrote. “And almonds and pistachios and dried fruit from California. They are the first choice of Japanese confectioners.
“But when the West Coast ports were shut down,” the group added, “the Japanese confectioners got all the hazelnuts, almonds, and pistachios they needed from Turkey.”
