LONG BEACH, CALIF., May 1, 2017 — Members of the California Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition (CNGVC) today urged the San Pedro Bay Ports to develop and implement an aggressive clean truck program as part of the updated 2017 Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP). To accelerate the CAAP, the Coalition developed the Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) Now Plan, which offers a cost-effective opportunity, using proven technology, to drastically and immediately reduce emissions from the 13,000 heavy-duty trucks serving the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Coalition members outlined the ACT Now Plan at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo, the nation’s largest clean fleet trade show.
Approximately 80 percent of the region’s smog comes from the transportation sector. The single largest contributor to this pollution is heavy-duty trucks that haul goods in and out of the San Pedro Bay Ports through busy transportation corridors near homes.
The Act Now Plan calls on the Ports to immediately increase the number of zero‐ and near‐zero‐emission trucks deployed to dramatically improve regional air quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, drive job growth throughout the region and the state, and increase the competitiveness of the Ports and the entire California goods movement system.
As written, the Port’s CAAP Discussion Draft relies on a long-term transition plan to implement zero emission technology, leaving room for diesel trucks to continue polluting the air for another 17 years—affecting an entire generation. In contrast, Coalition members support Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Sustainable Freight Advisory Committee recommendation to deploy 100 percent zero- and near-zero emission trucks powered by renewable fuel within five years, by 2023.
“The latest generation of low-NOx, zero-equivalent natural gas engines powered by renewable natural gas exceed the required air quality standard by 90 percent and they are available today,” said Thomas Lawson, president of the California Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition. “There is no reason to wait to clean Southern California’s air.”
“This is a public health issue—especially for the underserved communities living near the freeways that serve the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach,” said Greg Roche, vice president of Clean Energy, which operates natural gas fueling stations across the country. “The ACT Now Plan can save a generation from the ill-health effects of the NOx and smog-forming emissions coming from diesel trucks.”
“Near-zero-emission heavy-duty natural gas trucks can immediately deliver clean-air benefits and transform the Ports’ diesel-dominated freight movement system,” said George Minter, regional vice president for Southern California Gas Co. “One truck engine manufacturer recently certified a new natural gas engine under the state’s new ‘Low NOx Standard’ that, when fueled by renewable natural gas, reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent, and provides the performance the trucking industry demands. This is a game-changing option.”
The ACT Now Plan encompasses all zero- and near-zero emission technologies and fuels, including natural gas, propane, battery electric, hydrogen fuel cell electric, and others that meet a 0.02 grams per brake horsepower hour NOx standard and can achieve a minimum 40 percent reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions using renewable fuels or energy.
By 2023, the ACT Now Plan would provide:
The full ACT Now Plan is available here.
Download a PDF of this news release.