With pollution at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach a hot issue, state environmental officials have released a vastly expanded plan to reduce air emissions at the state’s ports and truck and train emissions from goods movement.

The initial plan released last December by the state Air Resource Board focused on measuring and reducing the pollution generated by international cargo as it’s offloaded from ships to trucks and trains. Environmental groups criticized the plan for underestimating health impacts of pollution and focusing too narrowly on international cargo.

The new plan, the subject of hearings in Long Beach on April 20 and 21, takes into account the movement of domestic cargo throughout the state, bringing the total cost of compliance over the next decade to between $6 billion and $10 billion.

The expanded focus will allow the ARB to impose tougher pollution controls on trucks, especially older ones. In the past, the trucking industry has resisted similar mandatory regulations, saying they are too expensive for independent truckers. The ARB plan also calls for increased retrofitting of diesel freight train locomotives.

Within the ports, the revised ARB plan gives the agency authority to order use of low-sulfur marine fuels on ships docked at ports and the use of electric power from shoreline hookups, a process known as “cold ironing.”

An element of the plan sure to generate controversy is its land use provisions. The ARB is proposing local governments consider the health impacts of air pollution in their permitting and planning processes, especially around ports and rail yards.

But perhaps the biggest change with the revised plan is not even mentioned: the lack of funding at the state level if a comprehensive infrastructure bond proposal does not make it on the November ballot. The ARB report said the state needs to provide $1 billion in subsidies just to retrofit or replace older trucks operating on port grounds. If bond funding is not available, the pollution control measures might have to be paid for through user fees or some other levy.

For more information on the ARB plan, log on to the agency’s Web site at arb.ca.gov and click on the link to the Board Meeting Agenda for April 20 in Long Beach.

Rail Agreement


On a related front, the ARB will hold a hearing on April 25 in El Monte to unveil potential future control measures to reduce railroad emissions. The move comes in response to the uproar created last year when the agency reached a secret agreement with Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Union Pacific railroads to reduce emissions. That agreement was widely criticized for both its secrecy and for not going far enough in reducing emissions from railroads.

River Cleanup


The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board has just come out with a plan to reduce the flow of metals into the San Gabriel River.

Faced with a March 2007 deadline to comply with a consent decree after environmental groups sued to reduce river contaminants, the water agency has proposed eliminating most of the copper, lead, zinc and selenium from the river over the next 10 years.

A draft plan now circulating for comment covers a large area in the San Gabriel River watershed, stretching from Irwindale to Long Beach. It would require all entities that produce these metals or discharge them into watershed including industrial plants, cities that operate storm drains and construction firms to reduce their discharges. The reduction targets are allocated using complex formulas.

A similar plan for trash that was proposed for the Los Angeles River met with fierce resistance from a coalition of cities led by Los Angeles. The cities lost their lawsuit last year and now must spend millions of dollars to install catch basins and other debris-control devices. Whether San Gabriel River watershed cities pursue a similar course remains to be seen.

For more information, log on to the water board’s Web site, waterboards.ca.gov/losangeles, click on the Total Maximum Daily Load (TDML) link on the left hand side, then go to the watershed window and select the San Gabriel River link.

Small Biz Assist


For years, the state has had an informal goal of directing one-fourth of the thousands of contracts it issues each year to small businesses, or those with 100 or fewer employees and with less than $10 million in revenues.

But like most guidelines, this goal slipped repeatedly. Even when it was codified into law in 2001, it was still met half the time as some agencies were more compliant than others. So late last month, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued an executive order requiring agencies to comply with the 25 percent target. Agencies that don’t must submit a corrective action plan to the Department of General Services. The state’s Small Business Advocate office also will conduct outreach seminars with small businesses.

Enterprise Zones


A state Assembly committee has proposed major changes to the state’s enterprise zone program to address concerns state tax credits are being abused.

The Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic Development and the Economy, chaired by Juan Arambula, D-Fresno, is recommending tightening the requirements for tax credits for companies in enterprise zones.

Currently, companies can claim tax credits of up to $34,000 for each employee hired who lives within the enterprise zone, regardless of the income level of that employee’s household. The committee’s proposal would make tax credits applicable only when the employees hired are from low-income households.

*Staff reporter Howard Fine can be reached by phone at (323) 549-5225, ext. 227, or by e-mail at

[email protected]

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