After a nearly six-hour meeting on May 12th, the Long Beach City Council voted 9-0 to deny appeals of the Port of Long Beach’s final environmental impact report for the Middle Harbor Project.
The event, at the Hyatt Regency Long Beach, will offer a forecast of cargo trends for the year ahead that considers the shaky world economy.
The move gives final administrative approval for construction to begin at Piers D, E and F. The $750-million modernization project is expected to create 14,000 permanent jobs and 1,000 construction jobs annually over the next decade while modernizing two aging terminals, increasing cargo capacity and cutting air pollution by half.
The cities of Riverside and Commerce and two coalitions representing environmental and community groups challenged the adequacy of the EIR. The appellants asked that the city council send the EIR back to the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners, which had approved the document in April.
After public comments from more than 70 people, the majority of whom spoke in favor of the project, the council rejected the appellants’ arguments.
Read more: For the news release, click here. For the Los Angeles Times’ editorial in support of the project, click here. Click here for the Long Beach Press-Telegram’s editorial in support.
View video: For video of the city council meeting, click here. For a video overview on the project, click here.
For more information: Click here for a brief fact sheet, or visit our environmental documents page for the full, downloadable EIR/EIS report.
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded its prestigious Clean Air Excellence Award to the Port of Long Beach for the Green Flag Program. This is the second year in a row that the Port has earned the recognition, one of the EPA’s top awards for environmental efforts.
The Green Flag program offers reduced dockage fees to shipping companies that voluntarily slow their ships to 12 knots within 40 nautical miles of the port. Slower ships burn less fuel and emit less air pollution.
The incentive program, which began in 2006, has helped to reduce harmful air pollution by hundreds of tons a year. Last year alone, it saved ocean carriers an estimated $1.6 million in fees last year. The port has committed $2.2 million a year to the program.
The Clean Air Excellence Awards recognize innovative, unique and sustainable pollution control efforts that provide a model for others in the country.
Read more: For the news release, click here. For more information on the EPA’s Clean Air Excellence Awards program, click here.
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The Port of Long Beach will make $42.5 million available for lease and loan subsidies in its latest round of Clean Trucks Program financing.
The financing will help new liquefied natural gas or diesel fuel trucks equipped with engines that meet the U.S. EPA's 2007 heavy-duty engine emission standard. The revised program will also fund retrofit devices that reduce diesel soot and oxides of nitrogen emissions by at least 85 percent and 25 percent, respectively. Funding is limited, and not all applicants will receive awards.
The Port began accepting applications on May 18, and the deadline is 4 p.m., Friday, June 5, 2009. In early July, a random drawing will be used to award financing in three categories: sterling Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) trucks; other U.S. EPA 2007 compliant LNG and diesel trucks; and retrofit devices. A single applicant may receive funding for no more than 10 vehicles, but the 10 awards can be spread over the three categories.
The Port of Long Beach will also provide up to $20,000 in a one-time payment for a California Air Resources Board verified diesel emission control retrofit device.
More information is available in English and Spanish at the Port's Clean Truck Center, located on Terminal Island at 3593 New Dock St. (Pier S Avenue and New Dock Street) and over the phone at 888-KLN-TRUX (888-556-8789).
Read more: Click here for a program overview. For the Spanish version, click here.
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A Federal Court's April 29, 2009, decision will allow most of the Port of Long Beach's Clean Trucks Program to continue. The judge upheld the Concession Agreement for the Clean Trucks Program but did not allow certain requirements such as hiring preferences, parking plans, health insurance and financial reporting. For more details, click here.
Based on the ruling, the Port of Long Beach has revised the Concession Agreement. To read it, click here.
Clean Trucks web portal: Visit the Clean Trucks web portal here.
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Environmental staffs at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles have released for public input the draft version of a comprehensive strategy to target and control remaining sources of water and sediment pollution in San Pedro Bay.
The draft Water Resources Action Plan, or WRAP, outlines a coordinated, scientifically based approach for effective cleanup strategies designed to work in conjunction with regulations soon to be issued by the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board.
The ports began creating and designing the plan in August 2008 with input from multiple stakeholders, including regulatory agencies, the maritime industry, environmental groups and others.
The draft WRAP was released on April 29 for stakeholder and public input through May 22, 2009. The ports will finalize the plan and present it to their respective harbor commissions for approval. For more information, click here.
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In April, containerized cargo at the Port of Long Beach declined about 26 percent from the same time last year. The Port's shipping terminals moved 408,705 twenty-foot equivalent container units, or TEUs, in April, compared to 556,585 in April 2008.
Imported cargo dropped to 199,051 TEUs, a 29.1 percent decrease from the prior year. Exports declined 30.9 percent to 112,976 TEUs. The number of empty containers, most of which are sent overseas to be refilled with products, declined by 14 percent to 96,678 TEUs. For the first four months of 2009, overall container trade has declined by nearly 29 percent, compared to the same time period in 2008.
Read the Data: Click here for the April 2009 TEU figures, and here for the latest tonnage summary reports.
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Hyundai Merchant Marine, OOCL and their terminal affiliates were honored recently by the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce with its IBA International Achievement Award for contributions to the local international trade community and the region.
The awards, given by the chamber's International Business Association (IBA), were presented during a luncheon at the Hyatt Regency on May 15th. In attendance were local dignitaries and keynote speaker Mickey Kantor, former Secretary of Commerce and U.S. Trade Representative.
The recognition also went to California United Terminals, a subsidiary of HMM, and Long Beach Container Terminal, a subsidiary of OOCL. Last year the companies made generous charitable contributions to the Long Beach community, including funding for education and parks.
This is the first time in the award's history that two recipients were recognized concurrently.
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• Middle Harbor Project Green Light
• Green Flag Wins EPA Award
• Clean Trucks Subsidies
• Court Upholds Clean Trucks Provisions
• Clean Water Plan
• April Cargo Trade
• Hyundai, OOCL Honored