Press Release

August 15, 2006

Contact: Annette Kondo

213-630-1192 x. 103
818-599-4911 (cell)
Annette@coalitionforcleanair.org

Hamlet Paoletti, NRDC
310/ 434-2317
310/ 877-4686 (cell)
hpaoletti@nrdc.org

 

Californians Deserve Secure Ports, Safe Air and Safe Roads Without Bond Debt
New Study Reveals $30 Container Fee Won’t Adversely Impact State Trade
Ships Will Continue to Choose California Ports

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are the largest source of diesel pollution in the South Coast Air Basin. The shipment of cargo containers - into the ports and across the state – uses a vast network of ships, trucks and trains that emit deadly pollution. With international trade expected to triple in the next 20 years, the California Air Resources Board estimates 2,400 Californians will have their lives cut short each year from these toxic emissions.

Without cleaner technology to protect human health from dangerous air pollution, infrastructure improvements and stronger security to thwart terrorism, the California goods movement system may not be equipped to handle the trade boom.

The ports and the state Air Resources Board have proposals to fix these problems, but the plans lack funding. For nearly two years, state and regional leaders have considered container fees as a viable and responsible source of continuous revenue.

State Sen. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) is sponsoring legislation SB 927 (formerly SB 760) that would collect $30 from each container that enters the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports and divide it into thirds for:

  • New cost-effective technologies to reduce port air pollution,
  • Specific transportation needs, such as improving rail systems, and,
  • Specific security enhancement needs, such as container screening.

Industry opponents contend this user fee would cause ship traffic to divert from state ports. But a new expert study debunks those arguments. The report, by two maritime transport and energy experts (Cargo on the Move Through California: Evaluating Container Fee Impacts on Port Choice; professors James Corbett, University of Delaware, and James Winebrake, Rochester Institute of Technology), found that a container fee at Long Beach and Los Angeles ports would not adversely impact trade. (To view the report go to: www.coalitionforcleanair.org/pdf/reports/cca-reports-cargo-on-the-move.pdf)

The report concluded:

  • Projected cargo growth would far exceed potential ship traffic diversion, and, as a result, future ship traffic diversion would be “virtually unobservable.”
  • A port user fee, or container fee, at the ports of L.A./Long Beach would result in a negligible ship traffic diversion of less than 1.5 percent. The authors note that their conclusions are also considered conservative, so diversion will likely be even less than the reported findings.
  • The $30 would increase total ship voyage costs to L.A./Long Beach by only 1.5-2.5 percent on average.
  • A key factor for the minimal ship traffic diversion, is a strong preference for California ports because of its access to a lucrative market (roughly 40% of goods that enter Long Beach/Los Angeles remain in Southern California), extensive port infrastructure and cargo handling logistics.

            “This study shows that good health and good business can go hand in hand,” said Melissa Lin Perrella, senior project attorney with the Southern California Air Project, Natural Resources Defense Council.

As international trade thrives in the state, Californians will get stuck with a $200 billion health bill by 2020. Goods movement puts nearly 3,000 residents in the hospital each year, and it leads to more than one million school absence days annually.
           
“The lives and lungs of Californians should not subsidize international trade,” said Tim Carmichael, president of the Coalition for Clean Air. “Trade is a major economic engine for California but today it is also one of the largest sources of pollution in our state.  It is logical and efficient for the companies profiting from this trade to pay a small fee for the necessary infrastructure, security, and clean air investments.”

More than 90% of the millions of cargo containers that enter U.S. ports are never inspected. Experts say the chances of a nuclear weapon or “dirty bomb” slipping past our borders are high. Hong Kong is scanning all of its shipping containers; the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles should settle for no less. SB 927 will help position Southern California as the safest gateway to the U.S., protecting both communities, and the thousands of local workers in the trade and shipping industry. (See fact sheet: www.coalitionforcleanair.org/pdf/factsheets/SB760-8-8-06.pdf)

Californians understand the dual need to protect the state’s economic and security interests, while also insuring the health of its residents. A new July poll released by the Public Policy Institute of California, found that 71% of all adults surveyed (Republican and Democrat, in all regions of the state) were willing to support tougher air pollution standards for ships, trucks and trains that ship goods, even if it resulted in higher costs to business. (To view the complete PPIC survey, go to: www.ppic.org/content/pubs/survey/S_706MBS.pdf)

After years of government studies and reports revealing massive amounts of pollution from ports, residents are demanding a healthier and safer California without having to foot the bill. Greener, cleaner and more secure ports will save billions in healthcare costs and cargo backlogs. SB 927 is an investment in the state’s economy and future.

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For more than 35 years, the non-profit Coalition for Clean Air has worked to restore clean air to California. With offices in Sacramento, Los Angeles and Fresno, it is focused on reducing pollution, protecting natural resources and strengthening the California environmental community.

The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, nonprofit organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has 1.2 million members and online activists nationwide, served from offices in New York, Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

 

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