The Los Angeles Harbor Commission on Friday, May 8, approved up to $44.2 million in port funding toward the 2009 Clean Truck Incentive Program at the Port of Los Angeles. The 2009 incentives will be used to help bring trucks into service at the port that run on liquefied natural gas (LNG), compressed natural gas (CNG) or lithium-battery electric power.
The commission says this initiative follows last year’s incentive program that put into service more than 2,200 trucks that currently meet or exceed 2007 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency emissions standards. Since the launch of the Clean Truck Program on Oct. 1, pollution at the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex has been reduced by more than 23 percent, according to the commission.
“Our goal is to put 1,000 alternative fuel trucks into service through our 2009 Clean Truck Incentive Program, and the funding our board just approved is a major step in that direction,” says Geraldine Knatz, the L.A. port’s executive director. “Natural gas technologies offer a variety of environmental benefits that make them a good fit for drayage in this market. Through this program, we will help truck operators purchase alternative fuel trucks and continue our aggressive efforts to reduce port truck emissions.”
The funds will be used to offer concessionaires in the Port of Los Angeles CTP incentives of up to $80,000 for each LNG or CNG truck they purchase. Port terminal operators or concessionaires also can receive up to 80 percent of negotiated cost for each electric truck they purchase for terminal or drayage truck use.
The port says that because its 1,000-truck goal for 2009 — 900 LNG/CNG trucks and 100 electric trucks — will cost up to $100 million, it is applying for grants from the U.S. Department of Energy, the California Air Resources Board and the California Energy Commission. The port says it will publish program guidelines and will begin accepting letters of intent within the next 30 days.
