Congressional Leaders Push Feds On Behalf of L.A. Port

The battle over a landmark environmental and labor initiative in the L.A.-Long Beach harbor is heating up in the opening days of the 111th Congress, with Long Beach-area representatives Laura Richardson, Linda Sanchez and Grace Napolitano joining 28 Capitol Hill colleagues in blasting feds for attempting to upend a clean-trucks program.

In a Jan. 7 letter to the Federal Maritime Commission( CA_MOCs_to_FMC_POLA_Clean_Truck_Program_01-07-09.pdf), lawmakers accuse the 3-member board of unfairly siding with the trucking industry in a lawsuit to overturn the ports' joint plan to replace some 16,000 polluting diesel trucks in the harbor.

The truck plan, launched Oct. 1, forces companies to replace their rigs in favor of those meeting federal 2007 emission standards. The deadline is Jan. 1, 2012.

Specifically, the FMC voted 2-1 in early November to file a federal lawsuit which seeks to block the ports of L.A. and Long Beach from enacting a concession program aimed at enforcing the truck turnover. The case was delayed until at least late January pending further arguments.

The turnover plan, meanwhile, is now entering its fourth month without any noticeable disruptions in service or cost increases.

The congressional letter is the latest in a series of notes from lawmakers on behalf of the ports' plan - and in support of FMC Board Member Joseph Brennan, the lone dissenter, who called the lawsuit a "colossal mistake."

The issue has even garnered the attention of the incoming president. In late 2007, then-candidate Barack Obama penned a letter ( Obama_Ports_Letter.pdf) on behalf of L.A.'s concession plan, which requires trucking companies serving L.A.'s port to hire employee drivers and purchase trucks (with the ports' offering to pay up to 80 percent of the replacement cost).

By shifting the capital cost of new trucks to companies and not drivers, who average $12 per hour, the measure seeks to create a long-term solution to the chronic diesel pollution problems plaguing local communities.

Drivers, the argument goes, simply do not earn enough to purchase and maintain new rigs, which can cost $100,000 or more.

The FMC board, meanwhile, continues to carry two vacant seats. If Obama appoints two pro-labor/environment members in coming months, the balance of power may shift in favor of L.A. and the lawsuit could be dropped.

Obama, however, has not indicated if or when he will appoint new members.