A $2.4 million federal grant awarded to the Port of Long Beach (POLB) will help the complex begin to decrease its pollution levels just weeks after the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach approved its updated Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) that has goals of bringing it to zero emissions by 2035.
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The grant comes from the Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA) which was renewed in 2010, and through it, has provided funds nationally to help reduce diesel emissions. The $2.4 million awarded this week to the POLB will go toward retrofitting three gantry cranes to all-electric operations as well as retrofitting four tugboats with the “newest and cleanest” engines available, according to a release from the Port.
The port has previously received multiple grants from the DERA fund and since 2005 those awards have totaled over $14 million. That money has gone toward projects like installing emission-capturing devices and treatment systems on ocean-going vessels and replacing tractors that operate at the port.
“Every step we take to cut air pollution is one toward our ultimate goal of being the world’s first zero-emission seaport,” said Harbor Commission President Lou Anne Bynum in a statement issued by the POLB. “We thank the EPA for providing funds to facilitate these projects and improve the health of our community.”
It’s expected that the grant money will reduce carbon dioxide by over 15,000 tons as well as other pollutants (carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, hydrocarbons) over the next two decades. The equipment is expected to be installed by 2019.
The updated CAAP, which was approved with a unanimous vote earlier this month, is projected to cost about $14 billion as the two ports work to drive down emissions over the next 18 years. The CAAP holds guidelines for the kinds of trucks and dock equipment that must be in place as cleaner technology is developed with yet-to-be-determined fees for operators that are non-compliant by specific markers leading up to 2035.