TUESDAY | July 31, 2007

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s vision of simultaneously greening and growing the Port of Los Angeles will face one of its first tests this evening when the Port and Army Corps of Engineers conduct the first public comment meeting in five years to review the expansion of a major cargo shipping terminal operated by TraPac, Inc.

The new terminal will have improved efficiency—handling two-thirds more containers—while dramatically reducing the emissions of toxic pollutants to below current levels by 2015. This landmark project in technology and environmental mitigation has been in the planning stages since 2003 and will set the standard for the reinvention of the Port of Los Angeles.

Some of the features that make this possible include new on-dock rail; fewer and more efficient loading cranes; on-shore power plug-ins for berthing ships; improvements in truck access to the terminal, including a new main gate entrance; improved surface street and rail access just outside the terminal; and an unprecedented commitment to using cleaner burning fuels and pollution control technologies.

This terminal modernization project is a litmus test for the Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) which was approved jointly by the ports of L.A. and Long Beach last November. It is exactly the kind of project that was envisioned when drafters of that document agreed that it was possible to green and grow the ports at the same time by requiring and encouraging the private sector to invest in new technology that would achieve win-win results for the economy and the environment.

In 2006, the ports of L.A. and Long Beach broke a long standing rivalry and jointly produced a plan that would reduce pollution from port and port-related drayage operations in the Los Angeles Basin. The need to work together and with local, state and federal air regulatory boards is especially critical in light of the increasing volume in container cargo expected to be handled by the L.A. County ports in the coming decades. The CAAP established the environmental principles that would govern future development, and it is that document which provided the framework for the modernization of the TraPac terminal.  The mayors of both Long Beach and Los Angeles have lauded the CAAP because it addresses both the environmental and economic needs of our region.

Our ports and the many sectors of the goods movement industry associated with them contribute an estimated $52 billion and more than 500,000 jobs to the regional economy, dwarfing every other job-producing sector in Southern California. As manufacturing has declined, the goods movements industry has provided the best source of replacement jobs for these workers.

The TraPac terminal modernization using new technology represents exactly the kind of project envisioned in the CAAP, but there will be those who still find it not good enough. It is up to business to voice strong support at every possible venue. 

The first public comments will be tonight at Banning’s Landing Community Center, but it is important to contact port commissioners and other government officials during the public comment period for the draft EIR/EIS which will extend through Monday, Aug. 20. A final determination that this project meets its stated clean air goals cannot be made until the EIR is complete, so it is crucial that the business community push for the timely completion of this review process and continue to vocally support Mayor Villaraigosa’s plan for green growth at our ports.  Business stakeholders are encouraged to send letters or emails to port commissioners and elected officials today voicing support. Formal “for-the-record” comments regarding this project can be sent to ceqacomments@portla.org or via the Chamber's Web site.

The status quo, which would come from the rejection of new modernization projects at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, is the worst possible outcome. It neither cleans the air nor creates new jobs and will ultimately lead to more air pollution and traffic congestion. The modernization of the TraPac terminal offers a blueprint for success and deserves to move forward.

And that’s The Business Perspective.

by Gary Toebben, President & CEO, Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce

L.A. Business
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