Port Indirect Source Rule Newsletter #16

Together We’ve Come This Far — Let’s Cross the Finish Line for a Balanced Clean Air Future on November 7

Southern California’s community, business, and labor leaders showed strong support at the October 3 SCAQMD Governing Board meeting for the Cooperative Agreement proposed by the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The Board voted to advance the Agreement to its final vote on November 7.

We thank the Governing Board and SCAQMD staff for their leadership and commitment to a collaborative, results-driven approach to cleaner air. This Agreement demonstrates what’s possible when regulatory agencies and industry work together toward shared goals.

But the job isn’t done yet. We need your continued support at the November 7 meeting to ensure this balanced, cooperative solution moves forward. Opponents will be present, and it’s vital that supporters also show up and make their voices heard.

Your engagement has brought us this far—let’s finish strong and secure a Governing Board–approved Cooperative Agreement.

Date: Friday, November 7 at 9am

Location: SCAQMD Headquarters

21865 Copley Dr

Diamond Bar, CA 91765

Zoom Link: https://aqmd.zoomgov.com/j/16005288494

Restoring Regional Cooperation: A Model for Clean-Air Governance in California

By Thomas Jelenić, Vice President, Pacific Merchant Shipping Association

Not to be trite, but what a difference a few months make. Back in July, Southern California was set for a standoff that pitted the maritime industry, labor, and the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles against their local air quality regulator. It seemed all but certain that the region would abandon 20 years of collaboration and unprecedented progress on tackling port pollution.

This longstanding collaboration led the ports, industry, local government, labor, and regulators to collectively achieve global leading levels of emissions reductions. Those efforts reduced diesel emissions in our local communities by 90%. And the ports have reduced nitrogen oxides emissions faster than the region as whole, with nearly a 70% reduction.

As Washington and Sacramento collided in opposing policies on how to manage clean air regulations, it seemed inevitable that the San Pedro Bay ports and South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) regulators in Diamond Bar would also collide, not on differing goals, but on differing methods. Amazingly, that did not come to pass. Instead, on August 1st, the SCAQMD Governing Board granted the region a cooling-off period from the pending conflict. That vote gave the region 45 days to come together and once-and-for-all hammer out an agreement that would provide the framework for planning and building the infrastructure necessary to support the transition to zero emissions in San Pedro Bay.

Possibly even more amazingly, it worked. Forty-five days later, on September 15th, the staff of SCAQMD recommended that a Cooperative Agreement between the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles and SCAQMD move forward. The agreement lays out a clear schedule for planning zero-emissions infrastructure development. It also envisions additional “CAAP-Plus” measures that would build on the ports’ existing Clean Air Action Plan, offering new efforts to mitigate emissions from trucks, ships, locomotives, and other sources, that would be negotiated through the Spring. collective goals.

Now, the Cooperative Agreement will be considered by the SCAQMD’s Governing Board on November 7th. With an initial term of five years, the agreement has the potential to set aside previous differences on the how and refocus the region on pursuing the what that everyone agrees on: building the infrastructure necessary to further reduce emissions and support decarbonization.

The importance of this outcome cannot be overstated. The alignment of industry, local government, and regulators on the how makes success far more likely. Unfortunately, many do not see it that way. Some believe that success can only be achieved through top-down command-and-control regulation. California had such an approach. That ambitious agenda has been dismantled by its failure to generate broad support through consensus. Many saw hubris in these California regulations that sought to virtue signal through ever more impossible regulatory demands. That led to a backlash, not just in California, but nationally. This happened even though most Californians support the goals - the what - but these same Californians also saw the cost - the how - becoming untenable as we continue to face a cost-of-living crisis.

This new port Cooperative Agreement, however, represents true consensus in Southern California. With buy-in comes responsibility. The ports and SCAQMD will need to work together to achieve these infrastructure goals. The ports will need to engage their customers, the terminal operators and ocean carriers, to ensure that the plans that are developed can both successfully reduce emissions while maintaining San Pedro Bay’s global competitiveness.

The success that this Cooperative Agreement represents should be supported. PMSA encourages you to be in Diamond Bar with us on November 7th to voice your support for this agreement and a pathway to our collective goals.

Say #NoPortISR

If you know of anyone who should be added to this newsletter, please have them contact Natasha Villa at nvilla@pmsaship.com.