Karin Dryhurst

Make Way for Clean Ports

Should low-income truck drivers have to pay to clean up for the dirty trucking industry?

The Coalition for Clean & Safe Ports has a call to action for Rep. James Oberstar and Rep. Pete DeFazio, House leaders on transportation, to pass the Clean Ports Act of 2010. The Act would allow cities like New York to follow the model of Los Angeles and replace pre-1994 trucks with newer, cleaner models. Amy wrote on the issue last month:

Today, the nation's most innovative port project, the Port of Los Angeles Clean Truck Program, has been partially blocked by a lawsuit from the American Trucking Associations. The ATA argues that federal law preempts local entities like ports from establishing standards for the trucking industry, even when it profoundly impacts local communities. As a result, the impressive gains already made by LA's Clean Truck Program -- replacing more than 6,600 dirty, diesel polluting trucks, removing 30 tons of diesel particulate matter from the Southern California air every year and cutting port trucking emissions 80 percent -- are at risk. If New Yorkers want to follow L.A.'s footsteps and successfully clean up our own ports, it's in our interest to see the federal law updated to give ports the unambiguous authority to set standards for local truck operations.

A 2008 DMI Marketplace of Ideas forum featured Sean Arian from the Office of L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and New York Rep. Jerrold Nadler talking about replicating the Los Angeles model in New York and elsewhere. Rep. Nadler announced in May that he is preparing legislation to amend federal law so ports can do just that.

You can watch members of Congress grilling representatives of the trucking industry here.

Karin Dryhurst: Author Bio | Other Posts
Posted at 12:33 PM, Jul 13, 2010 in Environmental Justice
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