San Pedro Bay Ports Exceed 2023 Clean Air Targets: A Model of Environmental Leadership
By Jacqueline M. Moore, Vice President, Pacific Merchant Shipping Association
*Values were calculated utilizing the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles’ individual 2023 Emission Inventory Reports (Starcrest Consulting Group). Discrepancies may occur due to rounding.
In 2010, the San Pedro Bay Ports published an update to the Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP), which established ambitious emission reduction targets for 2023. The goals were to reduce port-related emissions by 77% for diesel particulate matter (DPM), 93% for sulfur oxides (SOx), and 59% for nitrogen oxides (NOx) when compared to the 2005 baseline year. The Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles have recently released their annual Emission Inventory reports for 2023, and the combined data revealed reductions that exceeded every goal: 91% for DPM, 98% for SOx, and 72% for NOx. This is a two-decade success story.
While politicians and regulators can be talented at announcing aspirational goals, actually supporting and delivering on them is another story altogether. In contrast, the industry and ports at the San Pedro Bay complex have delivered expeditiously, beating their voluntary 2023 emission reduction targets by three years. This is a phenomenal achievement and should be applauded! Perhaps more importantly, by meeting and exceeding the CAAP’s goals, ports, and, of course, PMSA members who operate at the ports, are directly responsible for these emission reductions and have proven that voluntary, collaborative actions can be successful, without the need for additional regulations.
Even with this CAAP success story, the ports are continuously touted as the largest single source of pollution in the South Coast Air Basin (SCAB). This is simply not true, and no other industry is aggregated in this manner. Rather, port source emissions merit to be placed into context as a small contributor towards total emissions in the SCAB. The actual air emissions from operations at the Ports’ marine terminals themselves is small indeed, with cargo handling equipment (CHE) comprising only 0.5% of total SCAB NOx emissions.
And, while the vessels that call at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles are often censured as the “dirtiest” sources of emissions and impacting public health, these are most often nowhere near any sensitive populations, instead these emissions are nearly all at sea and far offshore while transiting the coast. Even so, the latest emissions inventory shows that diesel PM emissions from vessel sources have been reduced by an impressive and unprecedented 93% since 2005. Clearly, the categorization of painting these ships as “dirty” is disingenuous.
The impressive 2023 emission reductions prove the CAAP worked and is working still. We aren’t done yet. The industry and our port partners will continue to be leaders and make transformational progress, striving towards zero-emissions for CHE and heavy-duty trucks, and focusing our efforts on reducing greenhouse gases, which complement international efforts. As we look ahead, we remain committed to advancing new emissions-reduction technology and continuing our leadership in environmental sustainability.