The Port of Long Beach said it is joining the Port of Los Angeles in setting a plan to bar older trucks from operating at the port, and approved a tariff structure that will gradually limit access to all but the cleanest vehicles.
The tariff, which matches one enacted last week by its neighboring Port of Los Angeles, will cut pollution from short-haul drayage trucks working in the harbor by nearly 80% within five years, the port said in a statement Monday.
Both ports’ tariff structures are based on a progressive ban of older trucks. The schedule is:
• Oct. 1, 2008 — All pre-1989 trucks will be banned from port service.
• Jan. 1, 2010 — 1989-1993 trucks will be banned along with unretrofitted 1994-2003 trucks.
• Jan. 1, 2012 — All trucks that do not meet the 2007 federal standard will be banned.
“With this clean truck program, the Port of Long Beach has taken a major step forward for clean air,” Long Beach Harbor Commission President Mario Cordero said in a statement.
The plan will rely on an electronic identification system such as radio frequency identification to ensure port access only to newer, cleaner trucks, the port said.
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