The Los Angeles Harbor Commission approved a second set of modifications to the Port of Los Angeles tariff to allow truckers to continue operating existing trucks past the Jan. 1, 2010 ban date. The modifications were designed to be consistent with a Drayage Truck Rule Advisory issued by the California Air Resources Board on Dec. 8 that allowed truckers that have purchased a new truck or retrofit with private funds to continue to operate their existing truck until April 30, 2010, while waiting for the new truck to be delivered or the retrofit to be installed.
To qualify for the extension based on private purchase of a retrofit, the truck must be a Level 3 retrofit, and it also must have a 25 percent NOx reduction capability in order to be able to operate in the Port of Los Angeles. If the retrofit on order does not have this additional NOx reduction capability, it will not meet the San Pedro Bay Ports environmental requirements, so the extension will not be allowed in either the L.A. or Long Beach ports.
“We have worked closely with the Air Resources Board and the South Coast Air Quality Management District in recent months to get as much funding for new trucks into the hands of truck owners as we can,” says John Holmes, deputy executive director of operations for the Port of Los Angeles. “These tariff ban extensions will allow time for the trucks to be delivered.”
