News Release

August 5, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                             

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Martin Schlageter, campaign director
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Ports Investment Bill ( SB 974) approved by senate
Governor’s signature on popular bill would save lives

Sacramento, CA — On the heels of a statewide poll showing broad support, the state Senate today approved SB 974 (Lowenthal) with a 22 to 9 vote. The bill would clean up port pollution and fix intersections clogged with cargo traffic. Its long journey through the legislative gauntlet now puts it squarely in front of Governor Schwarzenegger.

 “After four years of analysis and debate, this bill remains the best funding option on the table to deal with the crises of port pollution and cargo congestion,” said Martin Schlageter, campaign director for the Coalition for Clean Air. “The Ports Investment Bill deserves the governor’s signature.”

The Ports Investment Bill was held back last year at the request of the governor, who expressed support for the concept in a September 2007 joint statement with the bill’s author, Senator Alan Lowenthal. Since that time, SB 974 has gained statewide support, including that of the Port of Oakland and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

One Republican senator, Bob Margett, voted in favor of the bill, as did Republican Assemblyman Bob Huff last month. Both represent areas of Southern California heavily impacted by increased cargo traffic and pollution. In a web posting about his support for SB 974, Assemblyman Huff wrote:

Almost half of this train and truck traffic travels east of the Rocky Mountains... That means it is the consumers of those products that will eventually be paying their fair share of this congestion relief container fee. I know of no other source of potential funding for our local transportation projects in which such a low percentage of the funds come from our own local taxpayers.

SB 974 would collect $30 per shipping container (20-foot equivalent unit, or TEU) that is processed through the Ports of Oakland, Long Beach and Los Angeles. This is expected to generate more than $300 million annually for investments to be equally split between:

• improvements in the freight rail system, with a heavy emphasis on fixing intersections where trains increasingly delay traffic
• projects to reduce air pollution from port operations and freight transportation.

Research by the California Air Resources Board shows that 3,700 Californians die prematurely each year due to pollution from ports and freight transportation. The shipment of cargo containers, reliant on a diesel-fueled network of ships, trucks and trains, is expected to triple in the next 20 years.

The Public Policy Institute of California last week released its statewide survey showing 61% of Californians in support of the fee to be established by the Ports Investment Bill. In no region of the state did support drop below 58%. Other key findings in the report include that “Californians continue to name air pollution as the most important state environmental issue."

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For more than 35 years, the nonprofit Coalition for Clean Air has been committed to restoring clean air to California. With offices in Sacramento, Los Angeles and Fresno, it is dedicated to strengthening the environmental movement by promoting broad-based community involvement, advocating responsible public policy and providing technical expertise.

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